Mandakini

Mandakini was born as Yasmin Joseph on July 30, 1969, in an Anglo Indian family in Meerut, to a British father and a Muslim mother. She was discovered by the greatest showman of Bollywood movies of all times, Raj Kapoor Rajkapoor is a film maker and movie director from >> Read More... and was cast in his movie 'Ram Teri Ganga Maili' against Rajeev Kapoor, the youngest son of Raj Kapoor. She was only 16 when she acted in this movie. She was nominated for Filmfare Awards for this movie. She went into controversies from her first movie itself in which some of her scenes were termed as vulgar specially in one scene where she was bathing in a flimsy white sari and her breasts were clearly visible and the other where she breastfed a child. 

She acted in some movies after that but she was in news not for her acting in movies but for her friendship with the notorious gangster Dawood Ibrahim. Rumour mongers went to the extent of stating that she has run away to Dubai to stay with Dawood Ibrahim permanently as his mistress. Later on, the rumours were proved wrong and it was known that she married an earlier Buddhist monk, Dr. Kagyur T. Rinpoche Thakur in 1990 and stays in Mumbai with her family. She takes classes in tibetan Yoga and a devout follower of Dalai Lama. She had a son who died in an accident in the year 2000. She also has a daughter.  Some of her movies are Zordar, Loha, Tezab (Special appearance), Param Dharam, Pyar Karke Dekho and many others. She left acting after movie Zordar in 1996 and settled down with her family.

Another Version of this Bio...

Mandakini was born on 30 July 1969 in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Her birth name was Yasmeen Joseph and she was raised in a mixed-race family where her father Joseph was British and her mother was Muslim. She started her acting career at the age of 16. Her debut was in the 1985 film, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, where she played the lead role of Ganga Singh.There was a lot of controversy regarding some scenes she played in this film, being described as vulgar and exploitative, but the producers characterized those scenes as tasteful. Nevertheless, this film brought immense popularity for Mandakini, and she earned a Filmfare nomination as Best Actress.

She continued acting and had a very successful career for the next 5 years. Some of her most popular movies include, Simhasanam (1986), Aag Aur Shola (1986), Loha (1987), Param Dharam (1987), Tezaab (1988), Jung Baaz (1989) and many others. Her last film in which she acted was Zordaar (1996), after which she ended her acting career and devoted herself completely to her husband and children. Mandakini made an attempt in the music industry, releasing two pop albums, but none of them were successful. Mandakini is a follower of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama and currently she runs the Tibetan Herbal Centre, a center for Tibetan medicine, together with her husband Dr. Kagyur T. Rinpoche Thakur.