Her powerhouse performances and feisty charm have etched an eternal place in the hearts and minds of cinegoers. Deservedly, Nargis Dutt ranks among the greatest actresses to have graced Indian cinema.
Nargis Dutt (1 June 1929–3 May 1981), 'the lady in white', was the daughter of the famous singer, Jaddanbai. Fortunately, her mother did not groom her in singing but in acting and the actress made her debut in films at the tender age of six in a movie called 'Talaash e Haq' in 1935.
However, her career as a heroine took off by the time she was 14, when Mehboob Khan cast her in 'Taqdeer' in 1943, opposite Motilal. Call it sheer coincidence or what you will, but most of Nargis's films had her cast opposite top notch heroes like Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Ashok Kumar with an occasional film with Pradeep Kumar ('Raat Aur Din') or a Balraj Sahni ('Lajwanti'). If she did 'Jogan', 'Deedar', 'Mela', 'Babul', 'Hulchul' with Dilip Kumar, she was Raj Kapoor's muse beginning with his 'Aag', 'Barsaat', 'Awara', 'Aah', 'Shree 420', 'Jagte Raho' and 'Chori Chori'. Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and she did 'Andaz'.
The showman is believed to have immortalised their first meeting in the famous sequence in 'Bobby', when Rishi Kapoor first sets his eyes on Dimple Kapadia at her house, with her face half covered in flour. This is how Raj Kapoor and Nargis first met, when the young filmmaker landed up at Jaddanbai's house to meet her young daughter for a role in 'Aag'. The rest, as they say, is history. But their romance soon died and 'Jaagte Raho' was Nargis's last appearance in a RK movie. However, her best as an actress was yet to come.
In 1957, filmmaker Mehboob Khan, who had earlier made films like 'Humayun', 'Taqdeer' and 'Andaz' with Nargis, now cast her in the most famous role of her lifetime – 'Mother India'. Initially, Dilip saab was to play her husband and son in the movie but it was decided to have two actors for the two roles and Raj Kumar and Sunil Dutt walked into the movie.
Rajendra Kumar played the good son in the movie. Nargis's epic performance in this movie as Radha, immortalised her for posterity. 'Mother India' went on to get nominated for the Academy Awards, besides winning Nargis the best actress award at Filmfare and the Karlovy Vary film festival in Russia.
After the famous fire on the sets of 'Mother India', where Sunil Dutt, who played her son in the movie, acted like a real life hero and rescued Nargis, the duo fell in love and got married. Nargis did not altogether retire from acting and shone once again in 'Raat Aur Din' (1967), a performance which won her the National award for 'Best Actress'.
Nargis and Sunil Dutt formed the Ajanta Arts Cultural Troupe which roped in actors and singers and held stage shows in the border areas to boost the morale of the security forces. Leaving her acting career behind her, Nargis now concentrated on social work and became the first patron of the Spastics Society of India.
She also served a term in the Rajya Sabha, when she was nominated in 1980. Besides her social work, Nargis was also busy bringing up their three kids, Namrata, Priya and Sanjay. But her life was cut short by pancreatic cancer, which claimed her life on May 3, 1981, just four days before the premiere of her son, Sanjay's debut movie, 'Rocky'.
She was feisty, dignified, passionate and principled. As one thinks of her, many images flash past the mind's eye, of her frolicking in the rain with Raj Kapoor in 'Shree 420', or being serenaded by him in the moonlight, or when she shoots down Dilip saab's character in 'Andaz', or of the long suffering but chaste Radha, spurning the advances of Kanhaiyalal in 'Mother India'.
Nargis is immortalised by her many performances and her memory will endure for times to come. If death had not cruelly snatched her away, Nargis would have been celebrating her 81st birthday. Truly, they don't make them like her anymore! And Dutt's a great truth.
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