She also did a cameo in Nasir Hussain's film Manzil Manzil (1984) with whom she had earlier done 6 films. It also started a long association with Hussain who cast her as his heroine in six more films: Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai (1961), Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon (1963), Teesri Manzil (1966), Baharon Ke Sapne (1967), Pyar Ka Mausam (1969), and Caravan (1971). Precisely eight days later, film producer Subodh Mukherjee and writer-director Nasir Hussain cast her as the heroine in Dil Deke Dekho (1959), opposite Shammi Kapoor, which made her a huge star. At sixteen she decided to try acting again, and to make her debut as a heroine, but she was rejected from Vijay Bhatt's Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959) in favour of actress Ameeta, because the filmmaker claimed she was not star material. The latter film's failure disappointed her, and even though she did a few more child roles, she quit to resume her schooling.

Famed film director Bimal Roy saw her dance at a stage function and cast her at the age of ten in Maa (1952) and then repeated her in Baap Beti (1954). Parekh started her career as a child artist under the screen name Baby Asha Parekh. Her mother enrolled her in Indian classical dance classes at an early age and she learned from many teachers, including Pandit Bansilal Bharati. Her mother, Sudha aka Salma Parekh, was a Bohra Muslim and her father, Bachubhai Parekh, was Hindu Gujarati. Asha Parekh is a Gujarati born on 2 October 1942.

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