Mumbai, Sep 14 (IANS): Veteran actress Asha Parekh, who is known for ‘Teesri Manzil’, ‘Upkar’, ‘Kati Patang’, ‘Nadaan’ and others, is currently holidaying in Australia.

The actress took to her Instagram on Saturday and uploaded a picture from her vacation. The picture shows her standing against the backdrop of the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the night.

She wrote in the caption, “Sydney Harbour Bridge. Holiday in Australia with the family. Moments to cherish.”

In fact, Asha has an Australian connection. Her niece Mubina Patanwala has worked at the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.

Asha Parekh made her acting debut as a child artist with ‘Maa’ after director Bimal Roy saw her dance at a stage function. She subsequently starred in ‘Baap Beti’. The film's failure disappointed her, and even though she did a few more child roles, she quit to resume her schooling.

She decided to give it another try in her teens and made her lead debut with ‘Dil Deke Dekho’ (1959) and went on to establish herself as a leading actress in the 1960s and 1970s. She is regarded as one of Hindi cinema's finest actresses and has worked in more than 85 films, in a career spanning over four decades.

She was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1992 for her contribution to the field of cinema. She was also feted with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2020.

Director Raj Khosla gave her a serious image by casting her in tragedienne roles in three of her favourite films, ‘Do Badan’, ‘Chirag’, and ‘Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki’.

The actress was romantically involved with director Nasir Hussain who was already married, but out of respect for both their families, she couldn't marry him. She remained unmarried, claiming that her reputation of being unapproachable made people hesitate to ask for her hand in marriage.