Bollywood / This famous Bollywood actress once claimed in court that she earned money through prostitution

Bhubaneswar, Nov 5: What would it take for a celebrated Bollywood actress to make an extraordinary personal admission in a courtroom to reclaim her own money? For Mala Sinha, the answer, according to a fellow actress's recollection, lay in an Income Tax raid, Rs 12 lakh and a legal battle that left her deeply regretful.

In 1978, Income Tax officials raided Sinha's Mumbai residence and discovered Rs 12 lakh allegedly concealed behind a bathroom wall. The money was seized, following which her father, Albert Sinha, approached the court to recover it.

To understand the magnitude of the discovery, Rs 12 lakh in 1978 was an enormous sum. For perspective, India's annual income-tax exemption threshold was only around Rs 8,000 in the early 1980s. A World Bank study also recorded that in 1979-80, individuals earning above Rs 1 lakh annually faced an average effective income-tax rate of 52.3 per cent. The recovered amount was therefore many times the annual income of even high-income taxpayers.

What happened inside the courtroom?
The unusual episode was recounted by actress and television presenter Tabassum, whose account was reported by 'The Indian Express' in September 2025.

According to Tabassum, Sinha's father wanted the money returned, arguing that it represented his daughter's hard-earned income. However, their lawyers warned that recovering money considered undeclared income would be difficult.

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Tabassum recalled that the lawyers suggested Sinha appear in court and establish that acting was not her only source of earnings and that the money constituted her personal income.

Sinha made an admission involving prostitution to explain the money's source. She later told Tabassum that although the statement helped her recover the Rs 12 lakh, she regretted making it, insisting that it was untrue.

The star beyond the controversy
Born Alda Sinha on November 11, 1936, in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Mala Sinha was of Nepali origin. She began as a child artiste in Bengali cinema before becoming one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses.


Her memorable performances included Guru Dutt's Pyaasa (1957), Dhool Ka Phool (1959), Anpadh (1962), Gumrah (1963), Jahan Ara (1964), Himalay Ki God Mein (1965) and Aankhen (1968).

Sinha married Nepali actor Chidambar Prasad Lohani in 1966 after meeting him during the making of 'Maitighar'.

They had a daughter, Pratibha Sinha, who also became an actress.