Biography
Bindiya Goswami was born on January 6, 1962, in India to a South Indian father and a Catholic mother. Growing up, she aspired to become an air hostess like her elder sister, Pearl. However, at the age of fourteen, she attended a party at the home of her neighbor, composer Pyarelal. There, Jaya Chakravarthy, mother of superstar Hema Malini, noticed her and thought she resembled Hema. Jaya introduced Bindiya to films, casting her in Jeevan Jyothi (1976) and then Mukti (1977). Although Mukti was released first and became a hit, Jeevan Jyothi did not succeed. Nonetheless, Bindiya caught the attention of prominent filmmakers, including Basu Chatterjee, who cast her in three films, with Khatta Meetha (1977) being a success. Hrishikesh Mukherjee cast her in Golmaal (1979), which became the biggest hit of her career. Ramesh Sippy cast her in Shaan (1980), pairing her romantically with Shashi Kapoor, who had played her father in Mukti just a few years earlier. Bindiya also appeared in several films with Vinod Mehra, such as Dada (1979). However, her career was disrupted when she married Vinod Mehra at age 18, despite him already being married to Meena Broca. Although Vinod’s marriage to Meena was unconsummated and short-lived, the resulting publicity negatively affected Bindiya’s career. Their marriage lasted four years and ended in divorce when she was 22. Despite this, Bindiya harbored no resentment toward Vinod and spoke of him respectfully after his death in 1990, calling him a "great soul." In 1985, she began a relationship with director J.P. Dutta and married him that same year. They have two daughters, Nidhi and Siddhi. Bindiya ceased acting and took up costume designing for her husband’s films, including Border (1997) and Refugee (2000). She also supported her daughters’ ambitions in the entertainment industry, with Nidhi pursuing acting and Siddhi working in production. Bindiya expresses pride in her daughters and speaks fondly of her happy marriage of over 30 years.
