Dimple Kapadia (born 8 June 1957) is an Indian actress predominantly appearing in Hindi films. Born and raised in Mumbai by wealthy parents, she aspired to become an actress from a young age and received her first opportunity through her father's efforts to launch her in the film industry. She was discovered at age 14 by the filmmaker Raj Kapoor, who cast her in the title role of his teen romance Bobby (1973), which opened to major commercial success and gained her wide public recognition. Shortly before the film's release in 1973, she married the actor Rajesh Khanna and quit acting. Their daughters, Twinkle and Rinke Khanna, both briefly worked as actresses in their youth. Kapadia returned to films in 1984, two years after her separation from Khanna. Her comeback film Saagar, which was released a year later, revived her career. Both Bobby and Saagar won her Filmfare Awards for Best Actress. Through her work over the next decade, she established herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses.
While her initial roles often relied on her perceived beauty and sex appeal, Kapadia was keen to challenge herself and expand her range. She was among the first actresses who starred in women-centred Hindi action films but found greater favour with critics when she took on more dramatic roles in both mainstream and neorealist parallel cinema. Appearing in films ranging from marital dramas to literary adaptations, she played troubled women sometimes deemed reflective of her personal experience, and received acclaim for her performances in Kaash (1987), Drishti (1990), Lekin... (1991), and Rudaali (1993). For her role as a professional mourner in Rudaali, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress and a Filmfare Critics Award. She also had supporting roles in the crime dramas Prahaar (1991), Angaar (1992), Gardish (1993) and Krantiveer (1994), the latter securing her another Filmfare Award.
Starting in the mid 1990s, Kapadia became more selective about her work, and her screen appearances in the following decades were fewer. She was noted for her portrayal of middle-aged, complicated women courted by younger men in Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and the American production Leela (2002). Her later credits include leading roles in Hum Kaun Hai? (2004), Pyaar Mein Twist (2005), Phir Kabhi (2008), Tum Milo Toh Sahi (2010) and What the Fish (2013), but she attained more success with character roles in Being Cyrus (2006), Luck by Chance (2009), Dabangg (2010), Cocktail (2012) and Finding Fanny (2014). Some of these roles were cited in the media as a departure from the regular portrayals of women of her age in Hindi films. Roles in the Hollywood thriller Tenet (2020), action film Pathaan (2023), as well as the streaming series Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo (2023), brought her further recognition.
Dimple Kapadia was born on 8 June 1957 in Bombay to Gujarati businessman Chunibhai Kapadia and his wife Bitti, who was known as "Betty". Chunibhai was from a wealthy Ismaili Khoja family, whose members had "embraced Hinduism" while still regarding Aga Khan as their religious mentor. Pakistani singer Faisal Kapadia was Chunibhai's cousin. Bitti was a practising Ismaili. As an infant, Dimple was given the name Ameena (literally, "honest" or "trustworthy" in Arabic) by Aga Khan III, by which she was never referred to. She is the eldest of four children; her siblings, all of whom have died, were sisters Simple (also an actress) and Reem, and a brother, Suhail.
The family resided in the Bombay suburb Santacruz, where Kapadia studied at St Joseph's Convent High School. She described herself as having matured quickly, and often made friends with children older than herself. Her father was disowned by his conservative family after she was cast for her first film Bobby in 1971. At age 15, she married the actor Rajesh Khanna, then aged 30, after a short courtship. Having been a fan of Khanna, she later said marrying him was the "biggest high" of her life during this period. The wedding was performed according to Arya Samaj rites in her father's bungalow in Juhu on 27 March 1973 and was followed by a grand reception event attended by thousands later in the evening—six months before the release of Bobby. At her husband's behest, Kapadia quit acting following the marriage. She gave birth to two daughters, Twinkle (born 1974) and Rinke (born 1977).
Kapadia separated from Khanna in April 1982 and returned with her two daughters to her parents' house. She returned to acting two years later. In a 1985 interview with India Today, she remarked, "The life and happiness in our house came to an end the day I and Rajesh got married", saying her unhappy marital experience had included inequality and her husband's infidelity, and called their marriage "a farce". The hostility between Khanna and Kapadia, who were never officially divorced, subsided over the years; despite not having ever reunited, they were seen together at parties; Kapadia acted opposite Khanna in his unreleased film Jai Shiv Shankar in 1990 and campaigned for his election to the Indian National Congress a year later. Their daughters similarly became actresses and, after marriage, retired from acting. The elder daughter Twinkle is married to the actor Akshay Kumar. Asked in Filmfare in 2000 whether she would want to remarry, Kapadia said: "I'm very happy and content ... once was more than enough". Khanna fell ill in early 2012, and Kapadia stayed by his side and took care of him until his death on 18 July that year. She was with him when he died and said his loss, along with the deaths of her sister Simple and her brother, left her feeling "truly abandoned".
Kapadia is an art lover and has experimented with painting and sculpture. In 1998, she started a company called The Faraway Tree, which sells candles that she designs. Having been a candle enthusiast and finding candle-making therapeutic, she went to Wales and took a workshop with Blackwood-based candle artist David Constable. According to the Indian press, Kapadia's business venture has inspired other candle enthusiasts to start similar businesses. Her candles were presented and offered for sale at a number of exhibitions.
Kapadia, who was an avid movie viewer, aspired to be an actor since childhood. Her acting career was initiated by her father, who socialised with film-industry professionals and frequented parties hosted by screenwriter Anjana Rawail. Through his contacts, Dimple was almost cast to play the younger version of Vyjayanthimala's character in H. S. Rawail's Sunghursh (1968), but was eventually rejected because she looked older than the part called for. After she turned down an offer to play the protagonist in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Guddi in 1970, another opportunity arose in 1971 when Raj Kapoor was looking for a young, new female lead for his planned teen romance. Munni Dhawan, a close friend of Kapoor, suggested he consider Kapadia, having been acquainted with her father. In June that year, at the age of 14, Kapadia performed a screen test for the film on the sets of one of Kapoor's productions. Impressed with her spontaneity and improvisation, Kapoor cast her in the part. The film, which was named Bobby, was released in September 1973. It starred Kapoor's son Rishi Kapoor as Raj Nath, the son of a wealthy Hindu businessman, and Kapadia was given the title role of Bobby Braganza, the teenage daughter of a Christian fisherman from Goa. The story follows the love affair between Raj and Bobby in the face of his parents' disapproval of their relationship due to class prejudice.
Bobby was a major commercial success—India's highest-grossing film of the year and ultimately second-earning film of the decade—and Kapadia was lauded for her performance, which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress (tied with Jaya Bhaduri for Abhimaan). Qurratulain Hyder of The Illustrated Weekly of India noted she acted with "natural ease and freshness". Several of Kapadia's lines in the film became popular, particularly, "Mujhse dosti karoge?" ("Will you be my friend?"), and the "miniskirts, midriff-baring polka dot shirts, and fabled red bikini" she wore made her a youth fashion icon in India. Consequently, polka-dotted dresses were often referred to as "Bobby Print". Bhawana Somaaya of The Hindu credits Kapadia with starting the merchandising of film memorabilia in India, and Mukesh Khosla of The Tribune said Bobby established her as a "cult figure" because she led the fashion trends. In later years, Kapadia credited Raj Kapoor for her development as an actor: "The sum total of me today as an actress, whatever I am, is Raj Kapoor". In 2008, Raja Sen from the web portal Rediff.com ranked her performance in Bobby as the fourth-best female debut of all time in Hindi cinema: "An elfin little girl with big, lovely eyes, nobody quite portrayed innocence as memorably as Dimple in her first outing. She was candid, striking, and a true natural ... here was a girl who would redefine glamour and grace, and make it look very, very easy indeed."