She played lead heroine in films from 1946 to 1963, wherein her roles in "Do Bhai" (1947), "Shaheed" (1948), "Nadiya Ke Paar" (1948), "Ziddi" (1948), "Shabnam" (1949), "Paras" (1949), "Namoona" (1949), "Arzoo" (1950), "Jhanjar" (1953), "Aabroo" (1956), "Bade Sarkar" (1957), "Jailor" (1958), "Night Club" (1958) and "Godaan" (1963) are considered her career's best performances. She played character roles since 1963, and was critically acclaimed for her performance in "Shaheed" (1965). She appeared in three films of Rajesh Khanna, namely "Do Raaste" (1969), "Prem Nagar" (1974), "Maha Chor" (1976), in "Anhonee" (1973) with Sanjeev Kumar and in eight films with Manoj Kumar namely "Shaheed", "Upkar" (1967), "Purab Aur Paschim" (1970), "Shor" (1972), "Roti Kapda Aur Makaan" (1974), "Sanyasi" (1975), "Dus Numbri" (1976) and "Santosh" (1989).