Padmini Kolhapure is an Indian actress who appeared in Bollywood films during the 1970s and 1980s.
Padmini Kolhapure is from a Maharashtrian family. Her father, Pandharinath Kolhapure is a classical singer whose family was from Kolhapur and Goa. Her mother, whose family hailed from Mangalore, held a job working for the airlines. Her father's first cousins are singers Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.
As a child, she sang in the chorus for songs in films like Yaadon Ki Baaraat, Kitab and Dushman Dost along with her sister Shivangi (married to Shakti Kapoor). Padmini also later sang for her own films like Vidhaata ("Saat Saheliyan"), Hum Intezaar Karenge and Sadak Chaap (with Kishore Kumar). She also released an album with Bhappi Lahri called Music Lovers. She performed for the Greater London Council at the Royal Albert Hall in London with Baapi Lahiri and his troupe in 1986.
It was Asha Bhosle who suggested Padmini's name to Dev Anand, who then cast her in Ishq Ishq Ishq (1975). This led to other films, such as Dreamgirl (1978), Zingagi, and Saajan Bina Suhagan (1978).
Her mother quit her airlines job to be a full-time chaperone as Padmini picked up more roles. Her most famous child role was playing a child in Raj Kapoor's 1977 film Satyam Shivam Sundaram. Her success led to her most controversial role in Insaaf Ka Tarazu (1980), a remake of Lipstick (1976), where she played the rape victim that was originally played by Mariel Hemingway. She earned the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for her performance. She also graduated to heroine roles at the age of 15 in Nasir Hussain's Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai opposite Rishi Kapoor. The film flopped, but she reunited with Rishi Kapoor for his father Raj Kapoor's film Prem Rog in 1982. The film earned her a Filmfare Best Actress Award. She also earned a special acting award for Ahista Ahista.
Padmini was known for her professionalism and diligence