Lillete Dubey

Lillete Dubey (born 7 September 1953) is an Indian actress and theatre director.

She has worked in Indian and international theatre, television and films in Hindi and English languages.

Dubey was born Lillete Keswani on 7 September 1953 in Pune to Sindhi Hindu parents.

Her father, Gobind Keswani, was an engineer with the Indian Railways, and her mother, Lila Keswani, was a Gynaecologist from Lady Harding who later worked with the Indian Army.

After Dubey's birth the family moved to Bikaner and later to Lucknow where she studied at Loreto Convent and then went to Rustom Boarding school in Pune.

After Rustoms, she came to Delhi and studied at Carmel Convent.

When she was in Class IX, the family moved back to Pune and she joined St. Mary's (Pune), where she first started acting.

She completed her M.A in English from LSR and her second master's degree in mass communications from IIMC.

Dubey began her career with Barry John in Delhi and was the founding member of his group - Theatre Action Group in 1973.

Lillete Dubey married Ravi Dubey in 1978.

In 1991 she set up her own theatre company - The Primetime Theatre Company.

Dubey is best known for her film performances Zubeidaa, Monsoon Wedding (Winner Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival), Chalte Chalte, Baghban, Kal Ho Naa Ho, My Brother…Nikhil, Delhi in a Day, Bow Barracks Forever (Best Actress Filma Madrid International Film Festival), 3 Days to Go (Best Actress Simon Sabela Awards, KZN South Africa), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (BAFTA- Best Ensemble Cast) and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and Sonata.

In theatre, she is known for her work like, '30 Days in September', 'Adhe Adhure' (Best Actress Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards), 'August - Osage County', Dance Like a Man, 'Where did I Leave my Purdah', and 'Salaam Noni Appa' amongst others.

Lillete Dubey's entry into films was quite by chance when her husband was posted to Mumbai in 1995, and she has often called herself an 'accidental film actress’.

She debuted with the film Love You Hamesha starring Akshaye Khanna and Sonali Bendre in 1999.

The movie was directed by Kailash Surendranath.

After that, she played a supporting character in Bawandar, directed by Jag Mundhra and starring Nandita Das, in 2000.

It was based on the story of a rape victim, Bhanwari Devi, from Rajasthan.

Her career breakthrough was in 2001 when she essayed the role of Aunty Rose in Shyam Benegal's classic Zubeida and won many hearts and next as Shabana, the mother of the female protagonist Sakeena (played by Amisha Patel) in the movie Gadar: Ek Prem Katha.

Her second hit, Monsoon Wedding, came out later in the same year and became yet another milestone in her film career.

Divya Unny from Open (Indian magazine) said,

She acted in her first film Zubeidaa (2001) at the age of 47 which would have been considered a late start for an actor.

Even as an independent actor, Dubey created a niche.

She has defied expectations many times on screen.

She was the only actress her age who could carry off smoking a cigarette in a shiny blouse and petticoat, with rollers in her hair, in Monsoon Wedding (2001)."

The following year, in 2002, she again portrayed the role of one of the lead characters’ mother in the movie Om Jai Jagadish, directed by Anupam Kher.

Her on-screen daughter was Urmila Matondkar.

She played the role of ‘Shanti Patel’, the wife of Paresh Rawal in Baghban (2003).

She played the role of Jaswinder "Jazz" Kapoor in Kal Ho Naa Ho, in 2003.

She played Jazz, an older female character that is fierce, unapologetic, and in touch with her sexuality.

In 2004 she played the role of Preity Zinta's reel mother in the movie Lakshya.

The film was directed by Farhan Akhtar and starred Hrithik Roshan as the male lead.

In the same year, she also worked in Anjan Dutt's Bow Barracks Forever, a film that revolved around the troubles faced by the Anglo-Indian people to keep up their lifestyle, in the post-independence era and which won her the Best Actress award at the Madrid International Film Festival.

Lillete worked on a long short film ‘Seasons Greetings’ with Celina Jaitley.

Ravi Dubey died of pancreatic cancer in 2015.

The couple have two daughters, Neha Dubey and Ira Dubey, both of whom have played a variety of small and supporting roles in theatre, film and television.

Lillete is the eldest of three siblings.

She has a sister, Lushin, and a brother, Patanjali.

He is the founder of the Lemon Tree hotel group.

Lushin is the wife of Pradeep Dubey, a noted academic.