Divya Rana

Divya Rana Biography

Divya Rana is a former Bollywood actress of 1980’s. She is now known as Salma Manekia. Her most noticed role is Raj Kapoor’s Ram Teri Ganga Maili, where she appeared in supporting role. Divya began her career with the film ‘Ek Jaan Hain Hum’ (1984) opposite Rajeev Kapoor and her second movie was Ram Teri Ganga Maili, once again with the same hero. Later she appeared in Bollywood movies like Watan ke Rakhwale, Andha Yudh and Ek hi Maqsad. But as she couldn’t make it big, she quit the industry. She got married and settled in Dubai and later became successful in photography and ceramic sculpture. Now she conducts exhibitions of her artistic skills in India as well as abroad.

Her debut film, 'Ek Jaan Hai Hum' though contained good songs, was not a commercial success. But Raj Kapoor gave her another role in his next movie - Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1986) which proved to be successful. Later she played lead heroine opposite Mithun Chakraborty in 'Maa Kasam' directed by Shibu Mistra and 'Aakhri Muquabla' directed by Sudesh Issar. She played lead role opposite Raj Kiran in 'Woh Din Ayega' (1987) directed by Satyan Bose. She was also seen in lead heroine’s role in 'Aurat Aur Pathar' opposite Arun Govil, of television series, Ramayana fame.

Param Dharam, Himmat aur Mehanat, Pucca Badmash, Hatyara, Watan Ke Rakhwale, Andhaa Yudh, Ek Hi Maqsad, Agun and Akhri Muquabla are her other Bollywood appearances. But none of the movies were commercially successful. So she quit film industry soon after marriage and settled in Dubai. She met G. Raghu at Bangalore and from him, learned various techniques in ceramics. Then she took this career seriously. She has worked with Victor Banerjee in a Bengali film, Agoon and also wishes that her film ‘20 Rupees’ with Nana Patekar, directed by Chandra Barot will be released someday.

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Updated: October 11, 2015