Reena Roy, the actress who ruled Bollywood for many years, was born on January 7, 1957. Reena Roy is a Bollywood actress who has played every character on the big screen, from the lead to the mother. Her name has also appeared on the list of the highest-paid actresses of her era.
It has been 20 years since Reena Roy left films. She was last seen in the film Refugee, where she played Abhishek Bachchan’s mother.
Reena Roy, who played the most roles opposite Jitendra in Bollywood films, is from a Muslim family. Her birth name was Saira Ali. Sadiq Ali, his father, was a junior actor, and Sarada H Rai, her mother, was an actress and production manager.
Reena Roy has two elder sisters and one younger brother, so she has four siblings. Her parents were divorced, after which her mother changed the names of her four children from Muslim to Hindu.
Reena’s name was changed from Saira Ali to Roopa Rai, and her sisters were named Barkha and Anju. At the same time, his brother, Raja, who was the youngest of four siblings, was named Raja.
Reena Roy Career
She entered Bollywood in 1972 with the film Zaroorat. As soon as she entered Bollywood, Roopa Rai changed her name to Reena Roy.
She was paired with a newcomer from FTI, Danny Denzongpa. Many established actresses rejected the movie because of its steamy scenes.
The film was released and failed miserably at the box office, but Reena Rai caught everyone’s attention.
For the next 3 years, Reena was given the role of either the second lead or a B-grade film. But at that time, Reena had to prove herself, so she accepted whatever film offers came her way.
Reena Rai achieved real success in 1976 when two of her films became box office superstars. The movies were Naagin and Kalicharan.
In the movie Naagin, Reena plays the role of a wishful serpent whose partner is killed by six friends, and the serpent then takes revenge on them. When this film was released, many people did not expect much from it, but it proved everyone wrong, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1976.
People also did not expect much from Reena’s second film, Kalicharan. Subhash Ghai, who had been a flop actor until then, directed it. He started acting with Rajesh Khanna in Aradhana, but never became successful.
The same Shatrughan Sinha had primarily played negative roles till then, and, through this film, appeared for the first time as the solo lead actor. Reena Roy, till then, was mostly seen as a B-grade actress or a second lead. But by shocking everyone, this film became a 1976 superhit, and after that, Reena Roy’s career shone.
After 1976, Reena Roy became involved in many superhit films. She has done the most films with Jitendra, 22. Shatrughan Sinha is number two, with whom she has done 17 films.
By the beginning of the 1980s, Reena Roy was considered one of the industry’s top heroines. She was compared to heroines like Rekha, Hema Malini, and Zeenat Aman, and was among the highest-paid actresses of that era.
The pairing of Shatrughan Sinha and Reena Roy in Kalicharan was well received by the audience, so the producer repeated the pairing in other movies as well.
Along with the good onscreen chemistry between the two, their friendship gradually deepened, and this friendship turned into love. Then, there used to be a lot of news about these two in the media, and there were even reports that both of them were going to marry each other.
During this time, Shatrughan Sinha surprised everyone and married Poonam Sinha, whom he had met on a flight.
It is said that this significantly hurt Reena, but Shatrughan continued his affair with Reena even after marriage. Shatrughan’s wife, Poonam, was also aware of this. Poonam taunted Reena Rai indirectly in the media many times.
Reena Roy marriage
The Whirlwind Romance: How It All Began
Before Mohsin Khan entered her life, Reena had already experienced heartbreak. She had been in a seven-year relationship with Shatrughan Sinha, her co-star in Kalicharan. Their relationship ended in 1980 when he married Poonam Sinha. The breakup was painful and very public. Reena was often described as the other woman, and the story filled film magazines and gossip columns.
By 1983, she wanted a fresh start. That was when she met Mohsin Khan, a well-known Pakistani cricketer. He was confident, successful, and respected in his sport. Their relationship moved quickly and attracted attention on both sides of the border.
Mohsin was not an ordinary player. He was a stylish batsman who represented Pakistan in Test cricket and also played county cricket in England. As their bond grew stronger, they decided to marry. In 1983, they held their wedding in Karachi, Pakistan. The ceremony brought together two different worlds, Indian cinema and Pakistani cricket.
At the time, Reena was 26 years old and one of Bollywood’s leading actresses. After marriage, she chose to step away from acting. She moved to Pakistan and began a new chapter focused on family life. It was a major decision that changed the direction of her career and personal journey.
Early Days: A Daughter and a New Dawn
For a while, it seemed to work. Reena and Mohsin welcomed a daughter, Jannat, in the mid-1980s (exact date private, but speculated around 1984-85). Reena stepped back from the industry she’d dominated, choosing motherhood over movie sets. Mohsin, meanwhile, dabbled in Bollywood himself, starring in films like Saathi (1991)—a perk of marrying a cinema icon. They split time between Pakistan and London, where Mohsin owned a plush manor. “It was a good phase,” Reena hinted in a rare Times of India chat years later. I picture her cradling Jannat, maybe humming a lullaby from Aasha, thinking she’d found her happily-ever-after.
But beneath the surface, cracks were forming. Love, it turns out, couldn’t bridge every gap—not cultural divides, clashing dreams, or the weight of two larger-than-life personas.
Why It Fell Apart: The Unravelling of a Dream
By the late 1980s, Reena and Mohsin’s marriage began to face serious problems. What once seemed strong slowly weakened. In the early 1990s, their relationship ended. Their divorce was finalised sometime between 1990 and 1992, closing a chapter that had started with great hope.
Many factors appeared to create distance between them. Life after marriage had brought major changes. Reena had left her successful film career and moved to a new country. Mohsin was managing his own professional commitments and public life. The pressures of expectations, career shifts, and personal differences gradually took a toll.
Over time, the strain became difficult to repair. Interviews and media reports from that period suggest that misunderstandings and lifestyle differences played a role. Like many high-profile marriages, their relationship struggled under public attention and private challenges.
In the end, they chose to separate. Their divorce marked the conclusion of a union that had once captured headlines but could not withstand the pressures it faced.
1. Lifestyle Clash: Two Worlds Too Far Apart
Reena was deeply connected to Mumbai and the Indian film industry. She had grown up and built her career in that environment. It was busy, demanding, and familiar to her. Mohsin lived a very different kind of life. As an international cricketer, he moved in elite circles in London and enjoyed fame in Pakistan.
In a 2023 interview with G Sports, Mohsin said that he wanted to stay in Pakistan because he believed it was their identity. Reena, however, found it difficult to adjust. In an interview with The Times of India, she later admitted that she could not adapt to his lifestyle.
Mohsin also wanted British citizenship and hoped to settle permanently in London. This created further distance between them. Reena missed the comfort and familiarity of her own world. Leaving behind her career and home was already a major change. Over time, feeling out of place in a new country and culture added to the strain in their marriage.
2. Loneliness and Distance
Mohsin’s cricket career required constant travel. He played matches in England and toured other countries as well. During this time, Reena often stayed in Pakistan or London with their daughter, Jannat. The frequent separation created a sense of loneliness.
In an interview featured by Bollywood Shaadis, Reena shared that she once called her mother from London and asked what the meaning of marriage was. Her mother advised her to endure it. That advice reflected the thinking of many families at the time. Still, Reena later admitted that she found it difficult to accept a life of silent adjustment.
She said she tried to make the relationship work and close the emotional gap between them. However, the long periods apart and their different expectations gradually increased the distance. Over time, both the physical separation and emotional strain became harder to manage.
3. Cultural and Personal Misalignment
A marriage between two countries often brings added pressure. There are differences in culture, faith, family expectations, and social life. Reena was born Saira Ali to a Muslim father and a Hindu mother, so she understood what it meant to have a mixed identity. Mohsin, however, was strongly connected to his Pakistani roots and national pride.
At first, their relationship seemed to rise above these differences. Over time, daily life made those gaps more visible. Media reports, including TheBridalBox, described Mohsin as enjoying a more glamorous social life filled with parties and high-profile circles. Reena, by contrast, appeared to prefer a simpler and more grounded lifestyle.
Mohsin once said he was never impressed by beauty alone and valued a good human being. Reena had stepped away from her career and moved countries in hopes of building a stable home. Despite that, their expectations from life may not have fully aligned.
As responsibilities grew and routines settled in, those early differences likely became harder to ignore. Cultural contrasts, lifestyle choices, and personal values can quietly shape a marriage. In their case, those differences may have created a divide that became difficult to close.
4. The Custody Tug-of-War
The divorce did not end quietly. It led to a painful custody dispute over their daughter, Jannat. In the early stages, Mohsin was granted custody and took her to Karachi. For Reena, the separation was deeply distressing.
In a 2023 interview with The Times of India, she said she did everything she could to bring her daughter back. She spoke about seeking emotional strength wherever she could find it, including spiritual guidance. According to her account, she believed Mohsin expected that the distance from her child would pressure her into relocating to London. She felt that custody was being used as leverage during that period.
The situation changed after Mohsin remarried in the years following their divorce. Custody of their daughter eventually shifted back to Reena. After regaining custody, she renamed her daughter Sanam.
The custody battle became one of the most difficult chapters of her life. It marked a period defined by legal struggle, emotional strain, and her determination to reunite with her child.
5. No Room for Compromise
In a 2023 interview with Hindustan Times, Mohsin said that he had no regrets about the marriage. He explained that he had married a human being, not a film star, and remained firm in his resolve to build his life around Pakistan. His priorities were clear, and he did not express disappointment about how things unfolded.
Reena, however, reached a different conclusion. By 1992, she returned to India without Mohsin. Her daughter joined her later. The move marked a turning point. In an interview with BollywoodShaadis, she said that she would have come back earlier if not for her mother’s advice to endure the marriage.
Their long term goals no longer matched. Mohsin wanted a life centered in Pakistan. Reena felt drawn back to India, where her roots and career had begun. Over time, those separate visions left little room for compromise.
Her decision to return to India reflected a choice to rebuild her life on her own terms. It closed one chapter and opened another, shaped by independence and personal resolve.
Aftermath: Picking Up the Pieces
By 1992, Reena had returned to India at the age of 35. She was a single mother and no longer at the peak of her film career. She tried to make a comeback with films like Aadmi Khilona Hai in 1993 and Refugee in 2000. While these projects brought her back to the screen, they did not restore the level of success she once enjoyed.
Mohsin chose to remain in Karachi. He remarried and built his life there. Despite the past, he stayed in contact with their daughter, Sanam. In a 2023 interview, Reena said she remained in touch with him and added that she wished him well.
Reena never remarried. Instead, she focused on raising Sanam and later started an acting school in Mumbai. Her life after divorce became centred on motherhood and rebuilding her professional path. Over time, she created stability for herself through resilience and steady effort.
Why It Matters: A Tale Beyond the Tabloids
Reena Roy’s marriage to Mohsin Khan wasn’t just a celebrity split—it’s a human story. It’s about chasing love across borders, only to find it can’t always hold. It’s about a woman who gambled big—career, heart, home—and lost, then fought to reclaim what mattered most. I think of her in Nagin, fierce and unyielding; that spirit carried her through this too. The rumors—her resemblance to Sonakshi Sinha, Shatrughan’s shadow—still swirl, but this chapter? It’s hers alone, a testament to resilience over regret.
Reena Roy and Sonakshi Sinha
Many gossip channels spread the rumour that Sonakshi Sinha is the love child of Reena Roy and Shatrughan Sinha.
It is very upsetting to live with this. In an interview, she said that such a rumour is not new in this industry. Earlier, People called Dimple Kapadia the love child of Nargis and Raj Kapoor.
He further said that Sonakshi Sinha’s face is very similar to her mother Poonam’s. In her early films, Sonakshi was probably given some Reena-like makeup to give her an Indian look, so there is a slight resemblance in the face.