Lillete Dubey

Lillete Dubey (born 7 September 1953) is an Indian actress who has worked in theatre, television and Bollywood films.

Early life

Dubey was born in Pune as Lillete kiswani to a Sindhi Hindu family. Her father, Govind Kiswani, was an engineer who worked with Indian Railways, and her mother, Leela, was a gynaecologist. The widespread belief that Dubey is a Christian or of mixed-race parentage is totally incorrect. Her father wanted to give her a "modern" sounding name, and came up with "Lillete" as a faux-French derivation of her mother's name, Leela, with the intended meaning being "little Leela." Dubey, however, never liked her name "from day one."

Dubey is the eldest of three siblings. She has a sister, Lushin (named after Ilyushin, a Russian aircraft), and a brother, Patanjali, named in honour of the ancient rishi who compiled the Yoga Sutras. Lushin is the wife of Pradeep Dubey, a noted academic.

Career

Dubey has appeared in numerous movies, including Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding co-starring Nasiruddin Shah, Kal Ho Naa Ho, which starred Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan and Jaya Bachchan, Baghban alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Bow Barracks Forever alongside her daughter Neha Dubey, and Housefull alongside Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone.