|
|
|
| Free E-magazine |
| Subscribe to our Free E-Magazine on Films. |
| Learn More |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Home > Luminaries of the Indian Film Industry > Actresses in Indian Cinema > Nargis
| |
| | Nargis
| |
| |
 Nargis was born at Allahabad with the name Fatima Rashid. She was the daughter of actress, singer and filmmaker Jaddanbai, when just 5 years old, her mother introduced her as a child star named Baby Rani. Her screen name was an inspired choice for the fragrant white flower she was named after could well be said to sum up her career. As an actress and star, she had few rivals. Her film career began with Talash-e-Haq as Baby Rani at the tender age of 5 years. The performances in R.K. Films` Awaara, Barsaat and Shree 420, to name just three, are unforgettable - a still from Barsaat became the emblem of R.K. Films!
Her on-screen characters were the kind that seemed doomed by their own beauty, and are seen by many critics as stereotypes from Islamic literature. Clearly, her films, her directors and co-stars were such that her talent had an appropriate launchpad. She worked with the best. Her characterization was always natural and convincing - and she imbued her screen personas with a dignity that is sorely missed in the 80s and 90s. The cinema of these decades can boast of stars and superstars but there are no legends.
 Off-screen, her affair with the already married Raj Kapoor was a matching of soul and spirit. After Awaara (1951) she worked almost exclusively with him even turning down her mentor Mehboob`s Aan (1952). The Raj Kapoor and Nargis pair had chemistry hitherto unseen on the Indian screen. The passion that each had for the other poured out on the screen as they romanced each other in several films - The song Pyar Hua Ikrar Hua from Shree 420 (1955) with Nargis and Raj under the umbrella in heavy rain is subliminal romance at its best. Nargis knowing Raj Kapoor`s obsession for white took to dressing in white and was known as his lady in white. She even met the then Home Minister Moraji Deasai to try and get him to sanction a marriage between her and Raj Kapoor!
 It is a well-known story that while shooting for the film, Mother India Nargis was trapped amidst lit haystacks. As the flames got higher and higher, Sunil Dutt playing her rebellious son, Birju, in the film ran through the fire and rescued her. He proposed to her and Nargis married Sunil Dutt and quit films after marriage. She did lend her voice in Sunil Dutt`s `one actor movie monument` Yaadein (1964) and she did make a comeback of sorts expertly playing a woman with a split personality in Raat Aur Din (1967) winning the National Award for the same.
Nargis was the first film personality to be awarded the Padmashree and later her charitable work for spastics saw her nominated to the Rajya Sabha. She died of cancer in 1981, the same year her son Sanjay Dutt made his screen debut with Rocky.
| |
| |
|
