Deepa Sahi Explained

Deepa Sahi
Birth Date:November 30, 1962
Birth Place:Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Occupation:actress, Producer, director, script and story writer
Years Active:1984–present
Spouse:Ketan Mehta

Deepa Sahi is an Indian actress and producer, best known for her role as Maya in the 1993 movie Maya Memsaab, opposite actor Farooq Sheikh. She made her directorial debut with the movie Tere Mere Phere in 2011.[1]

Early and personal life

Deepa Sahi, an ethnic Punjabi,[2] was born in Dehradun in an Army background and is the youngest sibling in her family. She grew up in Meerut.[3] Her family later shifted to Canada, but she continued to stay in India. She had an elder sister who died at the age of 18.[3] Sahi pursued her education at Indraprastha College for Women,[4] and was a gold medalist in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics.[5] [6] Sahi later joined the NSD with the aim of becoming a director.[7] However, she started receiving acting offers from her NSD days, which prompted her to shift to acting. Sahi decided to direct her first film in the early days of her career but the film, Nana Karte Pyaar which was supposed to star Nana Patekar and Hema Malini failed to take off due to a recession.[8] She is married to film director Ketan Mehta, who is the nephew of freedom fighter Usha Mehta.[1] It is the second marriage for both of them.[5] Her cousins Meena and Tana are theatre actresses active in Delhi's theatre circuit.

Early career

An alumnus of NSD, Delhi, Sahi started off with a theater career, with strong social activism a core value of the productions she was involved with.

In her early film career she collaborated with noted auteur Govind Nihalani and made her debut with the 1984 film Party.[9] This was well received, and she subsequently acted in Aghaat (1985). Her thespian achievement, however, will always remain her role as the independent-minded and empowered lower-caste Punjabi woman she played in the highly acclaimed television film Tamas (1986).[3]

Commercial cinema

After marrying film director Ketan Mehta, she acted in several of his films including Hero Hiralal (1988), Maya Memsaab (1992) and Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India! (1995).[3] She wrote the screenplay for Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India!. Maya Memsaab was controversial for featuring an explicit sex scene between Sahi and then upcoming actor Shah Rukh Khan.[10] Her other notable films include Hum (1991),[3] Trinetra (1991) and Ek Doctor Ki Maut (1991).

Her last film appearances was in her husband's film Aar Ya Paar (1998)[11] She got a Filmfare best supporting actress nomination for Hum and National Award (Jury) for Maya Memsaab.[11]

In 2015, she returned to acting after 18 years appearing in her husband's film Manjhi – The Mountain Man in a cameo role as Indira Gandhi.[12]

Production career

She became a producer in 1993. She has produced seven films to date:

YearTitle
1993Maya Memsaab
1995O Darling Yeh Hai India
1997Aar Ya Paar
2003Rules: Pyaar Ka Super Hit Formula
Mangal Pandey (co-producer)
2014Rang Rasiya
2015Manjhi - The Mountain Man

Besides this, she has produced 12 TV series and is promoter of Maya Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. one of India's leading animation studios.[7] She was the CEO of Maya Entertainment from 2000 to 2002 and was responsible for the long-term strategy of the company; she made many entries into other animation avenues such as MAAC, etc. After her stint as the CEO of Maya Entertainment, she returned to her first love cinema. She made her directorial debut with the 2011 film Tere Mere Phere. Together with Ketan Mehta, she co-founded an animation company, Cosmos-Maya

Filmography

TitleYear
Party1984
Aghaat1985
Aar Paar1985
Tamas1986
Hero Hiralal1988
Dushman1990
Trinetra1991
Ek Doctor Ki Maut1991
Hum1991
Siasat1992
Maya Memsaab1992
Bhookamp1993
Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India! as (writer) (screenplay)1995
Aar Ya Paar 1997
Daughters of This Century2001
as (producer)2005
Tere Mere Phere as (Director)2011
Manjhi – The Mountain Man 2015
Toba Tek Singh as (producer)2018

Notes and References

  1. News: Sense of humour is important in a marriage . . 7 February 2011 . 9 December 2014 . 16 December 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141216143001/http://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/sense-of-humour-is-important-in-a-marriage/article1-659542.aspx . dead.
  2. HT Correspondent (12 December 2006), "History will pour out of every brick of Gobindgarh Fort, says Deepa Sahi", Hindustan Times. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  3. News: Maya in control! . . 9 September 2011 . 9 December 2014 . 21 December 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191221152357/https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/maya-in-control/article2437344.ece . live.
  4. News: DU has a lot on its ladies special platter . . 3 June 2009 . 9 December 2014 . 22 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151222081809/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/DU+has+a+lot+on+its+ladies+special+platter/1/44882.html . live.
  5. News: Ketan Mehta: I must be the craziest man Deepa has met in her life . . 28 October 2014 . 24 December 2014 . 30 October 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141030053034/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Ketan-Mehta-I-must-be-the-craziest-man-Deepa-has-met-in-her-life/articleshow/44948638.cms . live.
  6. News: DEEPA SAHI . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151222101136/http://whistlerfilmfestival.com/29-speakers/148-deepa-sahi . 22 December 2015 .
  7. News: I am too restless to be an actress: Deepa Sahi . . 2 September 2011 . 9 December 2014 . 12 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181012043230/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/I-am-too-restless-to-be-an-actress-Deepa-Sahi/articleshow/9832835.cms . live.
  8. News: No Rules, Make What You Want . . 2 October 2011 . 9 December 2014 . 23 December 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141223185441/http://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/hindi/article227588.ece . dead.
  9. News: I'm too restless to act: Actress-producer Deepa Sahi . . 28 September 2011 . 9 December 2014 . 14 December 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141214063822/http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-i-m-too-restless-to-act-actress-producer-deepa-sahi-1592550 . live.
  10. Web site: 18 Bollywood Controversies from the Past That Were a Big Deal Back then but Are Now Forgotten . 19 June 2020 . 4 June 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160604230553/http://www.scoopwhoop.com/18-Bollywood-Controversies-From-The-Past-Now-Forgotten . live.
  11. News: Rare sighting: Maya Memsaab Deepa Sahi . . 9 December 2014 . 12 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201012013708/https://movies.ndtv.com/photos/now-there-s-a-face-we-haven-t-seen-in-a-while-8949 . live.
  12. Web site: Deepa Sahi returns to the screen as Indira Gandhi - Times of India . . 19 June 2020 . 13 March 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170313120200/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Deepa-Sahi-returns-to-the-screen-as-Indira-Gandhi/articleshow/48261506.cms . live.