Urmila Matondkar Joins Congress! From a Child Artiste in Masoom to Contesting in 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, a Walkdown Through the Life of the Rangeela Diva!

In one of the biggest breaking stories of the day, Urmila Matondkar has announced her decision to join the Indian National Congress, after she met Rahul Gandhi, the party chief. She is all likely to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai, her home city. With such a move, Urmila joins the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Raj Babbar, Shatrughan Sinha, Shabana Azmi, Jaya Bachchan, Jaya Pradha, Kirron Kher, Paresh Rawal, Hema Malini, Dharmendra and other Bollywood celebs who had made the transition from cinema to politics. Whether she will have a successful political journey as Kirron Kher or will drop out of the bandwagon disappointed like Mr Bachchan, only Time will tell! Urmila Matondkar Joins Congress Ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Meets Rahul Gandhi.

Urmila had a fascinating movie career, alright, before she took a sabbatical and got married. Urmila's acting career began as a child artiste when she made her debut in the 1980 Marathi film Zaakol. Her first Bollywood movie was Shashi Kapoor and Rekha-starrer Kalyug. But Urmila's most famous stint as a child actor was in Shekhar Kapur's Masoom. The "Lakdi Ki Kaathi" song that features her and a young Jugal Hansraj is still a favourite among the children. Sunny Deol to Join BJP and Contest 2019 Lok Sabha Elections from Gurdaspur, Punjab?

As an adult, Urmila made her lead debut, not in Bollywood, but in Malayalam cinema. Her first film Chanakyan came out in 1989 and had Kamal Haasan as the hero. Before that, she did supporting roles in Hindi films like Dacait and Bade Ghar Ki Beti. In Bollywood, her first film as the lead was the 1991 film Narasimha. In this action drama, starring Sunny Deol, Dimple Kapadia and Om Puri, she was cast opposite Ravi Behl.

A scene from the film Chanakyan:

Between 1991 to 1995, Urmila went on to act in a few Bollywood movies like Chamatkar, Bedardi, Aa Gale Lag Jaa that failed to work at the box office, despite the presence of stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn in them. Her better works in that period were in Drohi, and Telugu films Antham and Gaayam, all directed by Ram Gopal Varma. Rounding Up Birthday Girl Urmila Matondkar’s Dance Numbers That Spark Joy – Watch Videos.

A song featuring Urmila and Shah Rukh Khan in Chamatkar:

This association with RGV is what gave Urmila a fresh lease of life in her Bollywood career, and we all have to thank the 1995 film Rangeela for that. Also starring Jackie Shroff and Aamir Khan, Rangeela was a huge blockbuster, the credit of that goes to Urmila's transformation from a girl-next-door to a sizzling diva. The scene of her running along a beach in a petticoat to the beats of AR Rahman's "Tanha Tanha" is one of the most iconic scenes in Bollywood.

Check out the song "Tanha Tanha" from Rangeela here:

Some of Urmila's best works and big hits were all thanks to Ram Gopal Varma. In fact, even RGV delivered many of his masterpieces with Urmila in this era, like Kaun, Jungle, Satya, Bhoot. Even the underrated Daud and Company, where Urmila had a song cameo, are cult classics. However, Urmila's success rate with working with film-makers apart from RGV was very low, even though she was a part of commercial movies like Janam Samjha Karo, Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain, Dillagi etc. She achieved critical acclaim in the partition drama, Pinjar, but the movie failed at the box office. Her bilingual Indian was a huge hit, though, which reunited her with her Chanakyan co-star Kamal Haasan. Chamma Chamma Remake Out! Elli AvrRam Grooves on Flashier but Not Sexier Version of Urmila Matondkar's Song.

Watch a scene from Kaun here:

After 2003, Urmila and RGV drifted apart after the latter looked for new muses. Urmila focused on more character-driven performances and was a part of movies like Bas Ek Pal, Ek Hasina Thi, Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara, Naina, many of which gave her acclaim but didn't click at the box office. She also played the antagonist in Himesh Reshammiya's Karzzzz. Her last fully-fledged live-action role in Bollywood was in the Sanjay Dutt-starrer EMI, after which she took a break from Bollywood. She also voiced a leopard in Nikhil Advani's animation movie, Delhi Safari. Her last movie as a lead was in the Marathi film, Ajoba.

Watch a song from Karzzzz here:

Urmila was also a part of television shows in this period, like Waar Parriwar, Chak Dhoom Dhoom, Dance Maharashtra Dance either as a host or a judge.

In March 2016, Urmila gave us a surprise when pictures of her getting married to Kashmiri businessman, model and part-time actor Mohsin Akhtar Mir. Urmila also ended her Bollywood break briefly by appearing in a cameo in the 2018 film Blackmail. Now that she is all set to begin a new journey in politics, we wish the lovely Urmila all the best in this endeavour!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2019 02:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).