Indian Film Actress with Super Star Rajesh Khanna: Padma Khanna

Padma Khanna (born 10 March 1949) is an Indian actress, dancer and director. She appeared mainly in Hindi and Bhojpuri films in the 1970s and 1980s. She is most remembered for her role in the film Saudagar with Amitabh Bachchan and also as Queen Kaikeyi in Ramanand Sagar's epic series Ramayan (1987–1988). She has acted in two Telugu films with N. T. Rama Rao Desoddarakulu and Rajaputra Rahasyam.

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Born in 1949, Khanna started her Kathak training when she was just about 7 by Pandit Birju Maharaj. She was born in Benaras and was introduced to Bollywood under the suggestions of actresses Padmini and Vyjayanthimala.

Khanna debuted as an actress in the 1961 Bhojpuri film Bhaiyya when she was just 12. She got her break in 1970 when she played a cabaret dancer in Johnny Mera Naam. She often played dancers, appearing in films like Loafer, Jaan-E-Bahaar and Pakeezah in which she acted as a double for Meena Kumari during mujra numbers. In the 1980s, she played Queen Kaikeyi in Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan which aired on Doordarshan.

In 2008, she choreographed and acted in a musical based on the epic Ramayana with 64 actors and dancers at Avery Fisher Hall, New York, directed by her husband, Jagdish L. Sidana. She also directed a Bhojpuri film, Nahir Hutal Jaya (2004).

She was married to the late film director Jagdish L. Sidana. She currently resides in New Jersey, USA, and runs Indianica Dance Academy in Iselin, New Jersey. She has a daughter, son and daughter-in-law.