# Mandakini (actress)

Yasmeen Joseph Thakur, (née Joseph) professionally credited as Mandakini, is an Indian former actress. She is best remembered for her lead role in the 1985 popular film Ram Teri Ganga Maili.

## Early life

Mandakini was born in Meerut as Yasmeen Joseph to a British father and a Kashmiri mother. At the young age of 16, she was discovered by film director Raj Kapoor and given the screen name "Mandakini".

## Film career

Mandakini got her first movie in the Hindi film industry when she was cast in the lead role in the 1985 movie Ram Teri Ganga Maili by film producer-director Raj Kapoor opposite his youngest son Rajiv Kapoor. The film was a blockbuster, and it earned Mandakini a Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. She caused a stir after she was seen partially nude in two sequences of the film.
She then acted in a few more successful films, such as Dance Dance with Mithun Chakraborty, Kahan Hai Kanoon with Aditya Pancholi and Pyaar Karke Dekho with Govinda, but could not recreate the success of her first movie. The actress decided to bid adieu to the Bollywood industry after her 1996 film Zordaar.

## Personal life

Mandakini married a former Buddhist monk, Dr. Kagyur T. Rinpoche Thakur, and embraced Buddhism. Her husband had gained fame in childhood as the baby featured in Murphy Radio advertisements in the 1970s and 1980s. The couple have a son named Rabbil and a daughter Rabze Innaya. After embracing Buddhism and becoming a follower of the Dalai Lama, Mandakini started running classes in Tibetan yoga, while her husband runs a Tibetan Herbal Centre.

### Links to Dawood Ibrahim

In the early 1990s, she was briefly linked to gangster Dawood Ibrahim, when she was seen with the gangster in Dubai. While she admitted to meeting him, Mandakini strongly denied the rumours of any affair with him".

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
| 1985 | Mera Saathi | Shanti |
| 1985 | Ram Teri Ganga Maili | Ganga | |
| 1986 | Simhasanam | Visha Kanya | Telugu film |
| 1986 | Om | | |
| 1986 | Jeeva | Nalini | |
| 1986 | Aag Aur Shola | Usha | |
| 1986 | Jaal | Madhu | |
| 1986 | Mazloom | Meena | |
| 1987 | Apne Apne | Ila | |
| 1987 | Loha | Seema | |
| 1987 | Pyaar Karke Dekho | Urvashi | |
| 1987 | Bhargava Ramudu | Roja | Telugu |
| 1987 | Dance Dance | Janita | |
| 1987 | Hawalaat | Leela | |
| 1987 | Param Dharam | Bijli | |
| 1988 | Pyaar Mohabbat | | |
| 1988 | Jeete Hain Shaan Se | Julie | |
| 1988 | Shoorveer | Meena | |
| 1988 | Commando | Asha Malhotra | |
| 1988 | Hum To Chale Pardes | | |
| 1988 | Maar Dhaad | | |
| 1988 | Maalamaal | Honey | |
| 1988 | Tezaab | Nikita (special appearance) | |
| 1988 | Agnee | Ayushi | |
| 1989 | Naag Nagin | Ichchadhari Nagin Chandni | |
| 1989 | Kahan Hai Kanoon | | |
| 1989 | Aakhri Baazi | Rita | |
| 1989 | Jung Baaz | Sangeeta Mathur/Neena Ninjo | |
| 1989 | Na-Insaafi | Kamli | |
| 1989 | Hisaab Khoon Ka | Preet K. Kaushal | |
| 1989 | Desh Ke Dushman | Anita Madan | |
| 1989 | Ladaai | Geeta Verma | |
| 1990 | Sheshnaag | | |
| 1990 | Shandaar | Anita Chaurasia | |
| 1990 | Naya Khoon | Dr. Seema | |
| 1990 | Jaan-E-Wafa | | |
| 1990 | Dushman | Laxmi | |
| 1990 | Pyar Ke Naam Qurbaan | Gauri | |
| 1990 | Taqdeer Ka Tamasha | Rajni | |
| 1990 | Andha Bichar | Special | Bengali film with Mithun |
| 1991 | Antarer Bhalobasha | Jhilik | Bengali film with Tapas Paul |
| 1991 | Deshwasi | Maryada Shivpal Singh | |
| 1992 | Pyaar Ka Saudagar | Shalini Arun Verma | |
| 1992 | Naach Govinda Naach | | |
| 1994 | Mayadari Mosagadu | | Telugu film |
| 1996 | Zordaar | Neha | |