Forgotten Hotties: Marvellous Mamta!

Second in line in our special edition of Forgotten Divas is the Marvellous Mamta Kulkarni. The beautiful babe had an eventful career in the industry, which was sadly cut short. Here is a tribute to adventurous lady with hopes that she will come back for a well-deserved second inning at the box-office.

Mamta Mukhund Kulkarni, popularly known as Mamta Kulakrni , was born on April 20, 1972 in Mumbai. Brought up in a Marathi speaking household, she lived at Yari Road, Versova, Andheri West, along with two sisters, Mithila and Moulina.

The actress got instant fame in the industry when she debuted in the movie Tiranga (1992), solely for her ruttish image while her acting prowess was not appreciated much.

In fact in a career spanning almost a decade, the actress managed to bag only a handful of significant roles for her repertoire.

The actress shot to fame when she posed topless for a glossy magazine in the year 1993.

Although the actress' arms were properly placed to save her modesty, the cover created a huge controversy. This launched her career and in a way ruined her plans of becoming a serious actress.

Mamta was slammed with charges under India's obscenity laws. Attacked not only by the conservative groups but also the women's groups the actress retaliated by calling all of ‘them' hypocrites. Even though the cover created such a huge controversy, Mamta's conviction took its own sweet time.

When she was finally convicted in 2000, she was asked to pay a fine of Rs 15,000 and it seemed that the actress would finally be out of the line of fire.

However, just as soon as she got out of one she got into another controversy. At the hearing Mamta turned up wearing a burqa!

While it was obvious that the burqa was just a statement made in favour of her own case, when asked by the judge she claimed that she had donned the conservative attire to prevent being mobbed by the crowds.

Mamta's bold stunt caused her to be noticed by the local Islamic groups. But this time around, things seemed more serious as the actress even received death threats.

All this while, she continued to be dogged by other controversies too. According to reports, in 1997 she was reportedly paid a large amount to perform at a private function by a legislator from Bihar, who was later arrested after investigations into the Fodder Scam case.

Naturally, Kulkarni was interrogated, and as expected she denied any knowledge of the scam.

Though Kulkarni made her debut it 1992 with Tiranga, her actual debut was in Aashiq Awara opposite Saif Ali Khan. Her performance in the movie got her the coveted Filmfare Lux New Face Award and her talent seemed promising.

However her topless appearance on the cover seemed to have cursed her career in a way. Her supporting role in Waqt Hamara Hai did not get her any accolades.

In 1995 Karan Arjun proved to be a big for her as she starred opposite Salman Khan, Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan. Playing the role of Bindiya seemed to be perfect for Mamta and her career once again looked up.

The same year, Akshay Kumar romanced the actress in the third movie of the Khiladi series - Sabse Bada Khiladi. The movie did well at the box office but did not do much for the actress as her role was not a very substantial one.

Yet again in 1996, the actress was seen assuming her old bold role as she gyrated to Koi Jaye To Le Aaye in Ghatak.

The actress was almost fading away from the industry when she was offered a role in Rajkumar Santoshi's China Gate. This was the first time she was seen in a de-glam role and she shared the screen with the industry's finest actors.

Things did not work out well for the pretty actress, as relations between her and Santoshi soured. Rumours were rife that the actress was about to be dropped when gangster Chhota Rajan intervened. The movie flopped at the box-office.

To rub salt into her wounds, the movie's item number Chamma Chamma which was picturised on Urmila Matondkar was a huge hit. The song was even used in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge.

An angered Mamta alleged that Santoshi had chopped off her role when she had not complied with his sexual advances. Santoshi denied all rumours and the matter was buried.

This proved to be the final death blow to Mamta's career as she was hardly seen in any significant roles after this.

She is currently settled in New York with her NRI husband.

Mamta still shines in the hearts of her fans. Even though she is out of action, her breath-taking beauty makes us wish for a comeback someday. She certainly deserves a second chance!