in countries such as China, Malaysia and Russia. For her role of Radha, a woman in a dilemma about her feelings for her husband and her former lover, Vyjayanthimala was awarded with the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She then co-starred with Dilip Kumar for the sixth time in Ram Mukherjee's Leader. The film was a comeback film for Kumar, whose last film was Gunga Jumna, also co-starred Vyjayanthimala. Like most of Vyjayanthimala and Kumar's films, their on-screen chemistry received praise from critics, where Deepak Mahan from The Hindu said: "What made the film even more enjoyable was the equally spirited response of doe-eyed Vyjayantimala, oozing oodles of impish charm in every frame. The pair carried the film on their shoulders, giving abundant joy and mirth to audiences with their outstanding histrionics. Their interactions make the film worth going miles to watch and it is certain that without their resolute shoulders". However, the film Leader did not fare well at the box office, where it was labelled as below average. During the making of Leader, Rediff describes Vyjayanthimala as "recalcitrant" which annoyed Kumar. The film was followed by Gemini Film's Zindagi, directed by Ramanand Sagar. A female-centric film, it features Vyjayanthimala alongside Rajendra Kumar, Raaj Kumar and Prithviraj Kapoor. Zindagi became a success at the box office, where it celebrated a silver jubilee theatrical run and was the fourth highest-grossing film of that year with a verdict of "hit". Soon she signed for Anjali Pictures' Phoolon Ki Sej, with Ashok Kumar and Manoj Kumar, and this became her third consecutive hit of the year. Her last release in 1964 was Ishaara, in which she co-starred with actor Joy Mukherjee for the first time, and her performance ensured that the film was a box office success. Later successes and retirement In 1965, Vyjayanthimala starred in two commercial disappointments; Naya Kanoon, with Ashok Kumar and Bharat Bhushan and Nam Iruvar with T. R. Mahalingam, but both the films are considered masterpieces by critics. Naam Iruvar became her last Tamil film. In 1966, Vyjayanthimala starred in Do Dilon Ki Dastaan, which failed at the box office. After some box office flops, Vyjayanthimala soon signed alongside Rajendra Kumar in the swashbuckler ruritanian romance Suraj. Directed by T. Prakash Rao, the film had Mumtaz, Bharathi Vishnuvardhan and Neetu Singh. Suraj was huge box office success and was one of the popular costume dramas in Hindi