Reena Roy is an accomplished Bollywood actress who appeared in leading role in a number of movies from 1972 to 1985. Apart from ruling the Hindi film screen, she has also appeared in a few Punjabi movies. She began her career in the year 1972 with the movie "Zaroorat" which earned her recognition in the film industry. She was one of the highest-paid actresses of her time. She was famous for playing glamorous and strong women centric roles.

Early Life of Reena Roy
Reena Roy was born on 7 January, 1957. She came from a broken family, a Muslim father and Hindu mother, who got divorced after having four children. Her father Sadiq Ali was a small-time actor and her mother Sharda Rai acted in the film "Bawre Nain" and also turned producer for the film "Gunehgar Kaun". Reena is the third child of the family. She started acting in films from her teenage. She was born as Saira Ali but was renamed Roopa Rai. Her name was again changed to Reena Roy by the producer of her first film "Zaroorat'.

Career of Reena Roy
Reena Roy made her cinematic debut on big screen with the movie "Zaroorat" in which she appeared alongside another newcomer Vijay Arora. She is now commonly known as the “Zaroorat Girl”. Although she became noticeable in the film industry after "Zaroorat", she had to struggle to get a movie with strong story line later on. Following few years the actress got movies with feeble scripts which were not enough to support her career. She became popular for her brilliant performance in "Jaise ko Taise" in 1973 and dance in the rainy scene with the song "Ab ke sawan mein jee dare".

Reena Roy achieved her first success with the movie "Kalicharan" in 1975, which was the directional debut of the Indian director Subhash Ghai. In the movie she was featured alongside Shatrughan Sinha and the movie proved to be super hit at the box office. Her performance received considerable appreciations and the duo afterwards teamed up again with for several other movies. Reena Roy's movie "Vishwanath", once again under the direction of Subhash Ghai added another blockbuster to her career in 1978. She also starred in the movie "Nagin' in 1976 which earned her the first "Filmfare nomination for Best Actress". She played the role of a female snake with superficial powers in "Nagin" who avenges the death of her lover by killing five men. Following this, she had several releases such as "Muqabla", "Pyaasa Sawan", "Badaltey Rishtey Badle Ki Aag", "Arpan", "Aasha", "Apnapan" which provided a great boost to her career and the actress gained huge fame in the film industry.

Reena Roy won the "Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award" for her movie "Apnapan" where she played the role of a gold-digger who leaves her husband and child and then wanting her son back. She became a leading lady of Hindi films and a demanded actress. In this era, she appeared on screen with some of the renowned Bollywood actors like Vinod Khanna, Dharmendra and Rajesh Khanna. In the year 1982 her movies exceeded the number of releases of any other actress, by numbering 13. The year was marked as the most successful one in her career, earning her 8 major grosser. She became a versatile actress because of her dance performances. She performed the classical "natyam" in the movie "Rocky". She appeared as the sophisticated city model in "Karishma" and a village girl in "Dharam Kanta".

One of the most challenging phases arrived for her in the movie "Ladies Tailor" in 1981 where she appeared alongside Sanjeev Kumar. While her film "Lakshmi" failed at the box office, she became successful with the other one, "Sanam Teri Kasam" produced by her sister Barkha Roy in 1982.

She also appeared in Punjabi films like "Walayati Babu", "Sat Sri Akal" etc. She retired from films at the peak of her career and her last films were "Inteha" with Raj Babbar and "Ghulami" where she acted with Dharmendra. She made her comeback in Bollywood after a long break with the movie "Aadmi Khilona Hai" in 1992. She has also acted in serials such as "Eena Meena Deeka" produced by Barkha.

Filmography of Reena Roy
Selective Filmography of Reena Roy are as follows:

Films	Year
Zaroorat	1972
Milap	1972
Goonj	1974
Nagin	1976
Kalicharan	1976
Aasha	1980
Rocky	1981
Gair	1999
Refugee	2000

Awards and nominations of Reena Roy
• In 1976 she was nominated for the "Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her role in "Nagin"
• In 1977 she won the "Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award" for "Apnapan"
• In 1980 she was nominated for the "Filmfare Award for Best Actress" in "Aasha".

Personal Life of Reena Roy
Reena Roy married Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan in 1983, when she was at the height of her career. The couple later got divorced. Reena Roy gained custody of her daughter Sanam after her ex-husband got re-married. She launched an acting school in 2004 along with her sister Barkha. She was also involved in the campaign for the Indian National Congress.