If she was Suriya’s bubbly heroine in 'Nerukku Ner', a good 13 years ago, Simran Bagga was just that, even last year in 'Varanam Aayiram'. But that was Simran, the ever-charming, and glowing Simran, who best knew her strengths.

The best big mix of dance, glamour and acting, Simran’s arrival clearly signaled the arrival of Gen X in Kollywood. From a mere spark in 'Once More', Simran grew on to be the raging fire of her generation, acting even with Kamal Haasan.

Despite the earlier arrival of actresses like Rambha, it was Simran who clearly spelt glamour in the film scene through her films from 'VIP' to even her last before marriage 'New'. Perhaps Simran wasn’t just talented and glamourous, but lucky as well. A lot of her success is attributed to the period that saw her peak; it was then that the careers of Vijay and Ajith, the next superstars, met with meteoric rise.

If she set a style statement with 'Vaali 'that only she could meet with, her acting did not go unnoticed as a mother in 'Kannathil Muththamittal' (‘Amrutha’ in Telugu). Dancing standards went a notch up even for Vijay after Simran’s “Aal Thotta Boopathy” and her one song act playing herself in 'Pithamagan' comes across even today as one of the best reprieves in a serious story.

Irrespective of her average success in Telugu industry she had the opportunity to act with all the top stars of Tollywood such as Balakrishna (Samarasimha Reddy, Seema Simham, Narasimha Naidu, Okka Magadu), Chiranjeevi (Daddy, Mrugaraju), Nagarjuna (Bava Nachadu) and Mahesh Babu (Yuvaraju).

Her performance in ‘Nuvvuvasthavani’ (2000) and Narasimha Naidu (2001) won her Nandi Awards and also Filmfare Awards for the respective years.

She has also forayed in to Telugu Television industry with ‘Simran Marapurani Kathalu’ a daily series of interesting chronicles on MaaTV, produced by Pyramid Saimira Productions.

Unlike many others her age and time, Simran stayed on top for close to a decade. Despite having worked with the who’s who in the industry, the offer to be cast along with the superstar missed her in a whisker when the offer came to play the title role in 'Chandramukhi'. Here’s IndiaGlitz wishing her a happy birthday and hoping she grabs that opportunity in her second innings at least.