Hema Malini is an Indian actress, director and producer, as well as a Bharatanatyam

Bharatanatyam

Bharata Natyam or Chadhir Attam, is a classical dance form from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, practiced predominantly in modern times by women. The dance is usually accompanied by classical Carnatic music...

 dancer-choreographer. Making her acting debut in Sapno Ka Saudagar

Sapno Ka Saudagar

Sapno Ka Saudagar is a 1968 film. The film is produced by B. Ananthaswami and directed by Mahesh Kaul. The film stars Raj Kapoor, Hema Malini, Tanuja, David and Nadira. The films music is by Shankar Jaikishan....

(1968), she went on to appear in numerous Bollywood

Bollywood

Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 films, most notably those with actor and future-husband Dharmendra

Dharmendra

Dharmendra Singh Deol |Punjab]]), better known as Dharmendra, is an award-winning Hindi film actor who has appeared in more than 247 Hindi-language films as of 2011. In 1997, he received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Hindi cinema and also another Lifetime...

. She was initially promoted as "Dream Girl", and in 1977 starred in a film of the same name. During this period, she established herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses, noted for both her comic and dramatic roles, her beauty, and her accomplished classical dancing.

Malini is one of the most successful female film stars in the history of Indian cinema.
Appearing in over 150 films in a career span of 40 years, she has starred in a large number of successful films, and her performances in both commercial and arthouse cinema, were often recognised.