Poonam Dhillon, born on April 18, 1962, in Kanpur, India, is a renowned actress and model, one of three children to former Aeronautics Engineer Amrik Singh and Gurcharan Kaur. Her siblings include a brother and a sister, Dr. Rishma Pai, who practices medicine in Bombay. Poonam studied at Carmel Convent High School in Chandigarh.
Poonam's rise to fame began when she won the Miss India '77 Crown, opening doors for modeling and magazine covers. Her breakthrough role in the hit film 'Trishul' featured the iconic song 'Gapuchi Gapuchigam gam', which remains popular even today. She then appeared in 'Noorie' in 1979, catapulting her to stardom.
Poonam's on-screen pairing with Rajesh Khanna was incredibly successful, yielding four super-hits, including 'Dard', 'Nishan', 'Zamana', and 'Awam'. She also starred in critically acclaimed films like 'Redrose', which unfortunately did not perform well at the box office.
Subsequent to her debut in 'Kaala Patthar', Poonam went on to star in a string of successful films, including 'Dard', 'Red Rose', 'Biwi OBiwi', 'Yeh To Kamaal Ho Gaya', 'Teri Meharbaniya', 'Karma', 'Batwara', 'Kasam', and 'Sohni Mahiwal'. She has also acted in regional language movies in Bengali, Tamil, and Kannada.
Poonam's movie career as a leading lady spanned from 1978 to 1992, with notable films like 'Trishul', 'Noorie', 'Kaala Patthar', and 'Virodhi'. In 1988, she married film maker Ashok Thakeria, with whom she had two children, Anmol and Paloma. The couple divorced in 1997.
Poonam is currently involved in various projects, including hosting Zee TV Africa's 'Chusth Dhrusth' show and acting in a Zee TV serial, 'Kitty Party'. She has also won an award for her role in the Hindi play 'The Perfect Husband' in 2005. Poonam has been associated with Zeenext.com as a Consulting Editor and was responsible for pioneering the makeup van business.
