Bollywood celebs grace the launch of Asha Parekh's biography The Hit Girl

Bollywood's 'jubilee girl' Asha Parekh launched her autobiography Asha Parekh: The Hit Girl amidst much fanfare in Mumbai today. The 74-year-old said, "I feel it was a nice time when I was part of the golden era. I wouldn't like to be there today because there's too much of media, paparazzi, stress and too much of too many things. Today, there's so much that the stars go through."

Salman Khan, who wrote the foreward for Asha, was all praises for his Asha aunty and all other actresses of that era. He said they led the cleanest life professionally and personally. Many other Bollywood stars also attended the launch. Present on the occasion were two of Asha Parekh’s closest friend from the industry--Waheeda Rehman and Helen, and some of her finest co-actors and heroes, Dharmendra and Jeetendra. Also seen were Imran Khan, Richa Chadha, Jackie Shroff, Aruna Irani along with Anandji (Kalyanji-Anandji) & Pyarelalji (Laxmikant-Pyarelal)

Asha Parekh worked as a child actress, before making her big Bollywood foray with the 1959 Shammi Kapoor starrer Dil Deke Dekho, helmed by Nasir Hussain who later cast her in multiple films including Teesri Manzil, Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, Phir Wohi Dil Laaya Hoon and Caravan.

During her prime, Asha worked with directors like Shakti Samanta, Raj Khosla, Vijay Anand and leading actors like Dharmendra, Joy Mukherjee, Jeetendra, Sunil Dutt, Rajesh Khanna and Shammi, but chose to bow out from the screen in the mid-1990s.

Asha Parekh was the first woman to be appointed chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) from 1998-2001, a stint as President of CINTAA (Cine and TV Artists Association) and she continues to work for the welfare of film industry workers.