Sangeeta Bijlani

Sangeeta Bijlani (born 9 July 1960) is an Indian former actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who is known for winning the title of Femina Miss India 1980. She represented India at Miss Universe 1980. She started her acting career starring in Hindi films, playing a lead role in the film Qatil (1988) and was one of the three female leads in the film Tridev (1989).

Bijlani was born on 9 July 1960 in Bombay (present Mumbai), Maharashtra, India into a Sindhi Hindu family.

Bijlani began modelling at the age of 16. She went on to do many commercials including ads of Nirma and Pond's soap. Sangeeta received her popular name "Bijli" from her modelling days.

Bijlani was crowned Miss India Universe Title in 1980. She represented India at the Miss Universe pageant in Seoul, South Korea where she won Best National Costume award designed by her mother Poonam Bijlani.[citation needed ]

Bijlani made her Bollywood debut in 1988 with Qatil, opposite Aditya Pancholi and then went on to act in Tridev, Hathyar, Jurm, Yodha, Yugandhar, Izzat and Lakshman Rekha.[citation needed ] She did a bilingual in Hindi and Kannada opposite Vishnu Vardhan. She was nominated by the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress category for Jurm opposite Vinod Khanna and was directed by Mahesh Bhatt and scripted by Salim Khan. She has also worked with Mahesh Bhatt, Mukul Anand, J.P. Dutta, Rahul Rawail and N. Chandra.[citation needed ]

Bijlani made her small-screen debut with Chandni - "a tale of power, revenge and love" in early 1996 opposite actor Shahbaz Khan. She also went on to produce Hasna Mat, with Kader Khan on Star Plus and Kinarey Milte Nahi on Zee TV.

Bijlani and Salman Khan started dating each other in 1986 when they were still modelling and their relationship ended as Khan was caught cheating. Years later, the duo shared hugs and kisses during Khan's 57th birthday.

On 14 November 1996, Bijlani married cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin in Mumbai. The marriage ended in a divorce in 2010.

A 2016 Bollywood film Azhar, directed by Tony D'Souza, was based on her life and depicts her relationship with her ex-husband and Indian cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin. Bijlani's character was played by Nargis Fakhri in the film.[10][11] According to media reports, Bijlani was not happy with her portrayal in the film as she was called the "house breaker" and further planned to sue the filmmakers.[12][13] However, Emran Hashmi the lead actor in the film slammed the media reports that Bijlani is unhappy with her character.[14][15]