Remembering Bina Rai, one of the finest actresses to grace bollywood.

Bina Rai was a leading Hindi film actress of the 1950s and 1960s, admired for her charm and versatility. She was born Krishna Sarin in Lahore on 4 June, 1931, and completed her schooling in her hometown. 

Even as a young girl, she was passionate about cinema and shared this love with her supportive family.

Bina Rai completed her bachelor’s degree in Arts at the Isabella Thoburn College, Lucknow. 

Achala Sachdev and Bina Rai in a still from the movie Madh Bhare Nain (1955)

She developed an interest in acting, and took part in college theatre before leaving for Mumbai in her first year itself to enter into a talent contest / casting call. She won the contest, and along with the prize money, she got an offer to act in the lead role of a film – Kishore Sahu’s Kali Ghata (1951).

Later, she acted in Aurat (1953), a film based on the biblical story of Samson and Delilah. The film turned out to fateful for Rai, as it marked her meeting with her future husband, her co-star Premnath. After getting married, the two set up their own production company called P N Films, producing and working on a number of films together including Shagufa (1954), Prisoner of Golconda (1956) and Hamara Watan (1956).

Bina Rai’s joint ventures with her husband were largely unsuccessful, and remain some of her less noteworthy work. The films she is best remembered for, on the other hand, are Anarkali (1953), Ghunghat (1960), and Taj Mahal (1963) – all of which co-starred actor Pradeep Kumar. Though she had quite a successful run in the film industry, she chose to leave it behind in the late sixties and focus on her family. In her career of about 17 years, she acted in close to 30 films – working on relatively fewer projects per year than many of her contemporaries.

Bina Rai with husband Prem Nath and son Prem Krishen.

Bina Rai passed away at the age of 78 on December 6, 2009 after a cardiac arrest.