Nargis Biography: Nargis Dutt (born Fatima Rashid; 1 June 1929 – 3 May 1981) was a Bollywood actress and politician from India. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the annals of Indian cinema, she made her screen debut in a small role in Talash-E-Haq (1935) at the age of six, but her acting career began with Tamanna (1942).
Early Life and Education
Nargis was born in Calcutta as the daughter of Jaddanbai, a Muslim vocalist from Allahabad, and Uttamchand Mohanchand, a Hindu Mohyal from Rawalpindi. Anwar Hussain, her only sibling, also became a cinema actor.
Nargis Career
Fatima was recruited for the film industry at a young age. She made her film debut in the 1935 film Talashe Haq as “Baby Nargis” when she was six years old. Her stage moniker, Nargis, is derived from the flower’s name. In all subsequent films, she was credited as Nargis.
After making her film debut, Nargis appeared in a number of films; she achieved lasting renown for her adult roles, beginning at the age of 14 in Mehboob Khan’s 1943 film Taqdeer opposite Motilal. In the late 1940s and 1950s, she starred in a number of popular Hindi-Urdu films, including Barsaat (1949), Andaz (1949), Awaara (1951), Deedar (1951), Shree 420 (1955), and Chori Chori (1956). She co-starred alongside Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar in the majority of her films.
Her most prominent role was in the 1957 Oscar-nominated rural drama Mother India by Mehboob Khan. She received the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance. After her 1958 marriage to Sunil Dutt, Nargis gave up her film career following the release of her final few films to focus on her family. She made her final film appearance in 1967’s Raat Aur Din, for which she won the first National Film Award for Best Actress in this category. She was also nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for this film.
Family
Her father, Mohanchand Uttamchand Tyagi, was an affluent Hindu Brahmin from Rawalpindi, Punjab (present-day Pakistan), who later converted to Islam and took the name Abdul Rashid. Her mother, Jaddanbai, was a classical Indian vocalist.
During the production of ‘Awara’ and ‘Shree 420,’ Nargis had an affair with her co-star Raj Kapoor. However, when Raj Kapoor refused to divorce her wife, Krishna, she severed ties with him.
According to some reports, when actor Sunil Dutt rescued her life from a raging fire on the set of the film ‘Mother India,’ she fell deeply in love with him and decided to marry him. On 11 March 1958, she converted from Islam to Hinduism prior to her marriage to Sunil Dutt. She altered her name from Nargis to Nirmala Dutt following her marriage.
She eventually gave birth to the Bollywood superstar Sanjay Dutt as well as two daughters, Priya (a member of the Indian Parliament) and Namrata, who is married to the Indian actor Kumar Gaurav.
Nargis Personal Life
Nargis had romantic ties to Raj Kapoor, with whom she co-starred in the majority of her films. However, the rumoured affair never occurred, and Nargis married actor Sunil Dutt (himself a Mohyal from Jhelum, British India). According to reports, Dutt saved her life during a fire disaster on the set of Mother India. The couple wed on March 11, 1958, and together they had three children: Sanjay, Namrata, and Priya. Sanjay Dutt subsequently became a highly accomplished film actor. Namrata wed actor Kumar Gaurav, the son of veteran actor Rajendra Kumar, who had appeared in Mother India alongside Nargis and Sunil Dutt. Priya became a politician and has served as a member of parliament (Lok Sabha) since 2005.
It was the first troupe to perform in Dhaka after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and the formation of Bangladesh. Nargis, along with her husband, founded the Ajanta Arts Cultural Troupe. Which featured several of the era’s most prominent actors and singers, and entertained Indian soldiers at remote frontiers. Later on, Nargis advocated for spastic infants. She became The Spastics Society of India’s first patron. Her social work for the organisation earned her recognition as a volunteer.
Nargis Death
Nargis was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer years later and received treatment at Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York. Her condition deteriorated upon her return to India, and she was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. She entered a coma on May 2, 1981, and died on May 3, 1981. Her absence at the May 7, 1981 premiere of her son’s debut film Rocky, where one seat was reserved for her. She was a nationally renowned event.
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