Anuradha Paudwal

• Genre: Hindi

About

A talented singer whose career has been inextricably bound to her personal life, Anuradha Paudwal seemed poised to take over Bollywood in the 1980s. She won a series of Filmfare awards for songs in films including Ustav, Aashiqi and Beta, and she was widely sought after. But her outspoken nature didn't serve her well in the film industry's dog-eat-dog atmosphere: Paudwal accused Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle of monopolizing the industry (not far from the truth) and found herself suddenly ostracized -- almost no film director would work with her. She moved to the T-Series label, working with Gulshan Kumar (who was also rumored to be her lover), and her star rose again. Unfortunately, an ill-conceived exclusive deal with T-Series slowed her momentum, and she was largely unheard from in film until after Kumar's untimely demise -- he was murdered in 1997.

- Sarah Bardeen