Nargis Dutt: First Lady of the Indian Screen passes away

Nargis entering Parliament House (left) and in Angaray: A multi-faceted personalityIt was both inevitable and expected, but that did not lessen the shock. When Nargis, 52, unsurpassed First Lady of the Indian Screen, Member of Parliament and social worker, died early on May 3, the profound sense of shock in the country was not alleviated by the knowledge that she was suffering from a fatal form of pancreatic cancer. Of the last eight months of her life, she had spent almost six in New York's Sloan-Kettering Institute, battling the disease in a series of debilitating operations.But even in the anguished, protracted period of her illness, she possessed a dignity that had become over the years of her celebrated life a kind of hallmark. Whether as a raging sex symbol of the '50s or as a dedicated social worker and spokesperson for the film industry, she exuded a charisma compounded of not only her good looks and star status, but a superiority of integrity and conviction unusual in the glamour industry.Early in her life, when there was talk of her marriage, Nargis is said to have casually remarked: "But who will marry the daughter of a tawaif?" Playful and provocative as the remark was, it was also without pretension in a woman who transcended her social origins, her image of a sex symbol, and her political career to become synonymous with motherhood and martyrdom as she portrayed it in her greatest role in Mother India 25 years ago.Last fortnight, thousands of fans thronged the lane leading to her Pali Hill bungalow to catch a last glimpse of her. At the Chandanwadi Cemetery, where she was buried next to her mother, Jaddanbai, a famous singing girl of the 1920s, police was called to suppress the mob that gathered. Large sections of the crowd were too young to have seen her in her heyday, but this was typical of her extraordinary appeal.Her entry into the Rajya Sabha last year, her subsequent hospitalisation, and her long-drawn-out fight for life in New York, all of which have made their way into the national press, added volumes to the legend of Nargis.The last rites were performed by Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Zoroastrian and Christian priests but she was buried with Muslim honours. Said her husband Sunil Dutt who, in the last nine months, has been reduced to a gaunt shell of a man, his clothes loose and ill-fitting on his tall frame: "I wanted her to experience all the dignity in death which she was used to in life. She was such a great person. I wanted everyone, of whatever faith, to think of her and pray for her."National radio and television networks reacted with an admirable promptitude, and within hours of her early morning death the news was flashed across the country. Bombay Doordarshan cancelled its scheduled feature film and ran instead her last film, Raat Aur Din a brilliant portrayal of a schizophrenic Jekyll and Hyde woman who alternates between home-loving and street-walking.Tributes: But perhaps the most accurate measure of her standing, both within and outside the world of films, lay in the stream of tributes that poured into the Dutt household that Sunday. Outpourings of sympathy and grief came from all over the country, from the film industries of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, from ministers, the prime minister, civil servants and elder citizens, from those in the Government and those opposed to it.Possibly the greatest tribute came from Sharkat Hussain Fatmi, president of the Pakistan Film Trade Association, who called her "the subcontinent's top actress," In a front page editorial of Screen, the cinema's trade paper, editor B.K. Karanjia evoked her mystique by saying, "there must have been something great in her, in the woman more than the star, to have inspired such great, such undying love."In spite of her success and her wealth, Nargis, unlike many others, remained unchanged. Recalled Sardar Akhtar - wife of Mehboob Khan, the him maker - a well known star of the '30s who coached Nargis: "When Mehboob sahab cast her in Taqdeer, she was a simple schoolgirl. We treated her like our own daughter and to the end she gave us the same respect and love she would have given her parents." Akhtar recalls how she used to give the young Nargis Rs 10 on the occasion of Id. And to the last, Nargis always made it a point of visiting Akhtar along with her children and demanding Rs 10 when Id came around.Playing the lead opposite Raj Kapoor: A memorable associationThe death of Nargis marks what posterity might record as the end of an era in Hindi cinema. Along with Madhubala and Meena Kumari, Nargis epitomised a remarkable period in the development of Indian films. She started the trend of female martyrdom that persists to this day, but the heady romance of her period has died with her.Nargis' classics, produced by Mehboob Khan and Raj Kapoor, live on in the foreign markets, where they are more sought after than many modern movies. The '60s and '70s saw a new type of popular movie, a type which laid more stress on looks than histrionics. But Nargis, in a timely move, had retired from films at the height of her own popularity after winning the 'Urvashi' for her last role in Raat Aur Din.Born Fatima Rashid in 1929, she got her first film break only five years later, when Mehboob Khan cast her in a child's role in Talaash-e-Haq. At 14, she played her first leading role, as heroine of Mehboob's Taqdeer. Nargis, as she was now called, rapidly shot to the top with her next few films, including Romeo and Juliet, Daroga, Kismat, Lahore and Humayun, another Mehboob production. The prolific actress starred opposite leading male stars of the day, including Dilip Kumar (Jogan, Babul, Hulchul, among others), Ashok Kumar, Motilal and Raj Kapoor.Screen Love-pair: And it was opposite Raj Kapoor that Nargis made her greatest films, epoch-making romances which continue to thrill fans of the pair, even today. Kapoor's first film Aag which starred Nargis and Kamini Kaushal, marked the start of a partnership that was to last almost 8 and 15 movies.Barring Boot Polish, every film made by Raj Kapoor during this period starred Nargis opposite Kapoor's tramp or hobo. Mehboob's Andaaz, also filmed in the late '40s, had Kapoor and Dilip Kumar vying for her in the end. Every Raj Kapoor classic, including Aah, Barsaat, Awara, Shree 420 and Jaagte Raho included Nargis as female lead, and they also co-starred in outside productions like Amber and Chori-Chori.In 1956, at the peak of her career, Mehboob cast her in his colour remake of Aurat titled Mother India. She was awarded, for this role, the Padma Shri, another Filmfare award to add to her collection, and the top award at the Karlovy Vary film festival of the USSR.She fell in love with Sunil Dutt, who played her son in the film, and soon after they got married. Although her brilliant performance in Raat Aur Din came after her marriage, her marriage marked her retirement from the medium she had dominated for 15 years.She now threw herself into social work, though she continued to be associated with the film industry in Bombay. For a short while she was president of the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association and, in the early '60s, she helped start the Ajanta Art Group for the entertainment of army troops in border areas. Says Raj Kapoor, who wooed her for almost 8 years before she finally chose Dutt: "She took upon herself the sufferings of others, forgetting her own. She was a great artiste and a greater soul "Combining motherhood with social work, Nargis worked with various groups engaged in the rehabilitation of spastics and handicapped persons. Her life after retiring from films is best described by Maharashtra Governor OP. Mehra: "She has left behind a glorious chapter of service to art and also to the people of the country, especially the handicapped. Nargis represented the best in Indian womanhood - a devoted mother, an ideal wife and a champion of women's rights."Last wish: With her nomination to the Rajya Sabha last year, Nargis became the first actress MP in India, even though she could attend only a single session of Parliament. Accompanied by Sunil Dutt early in March, she returned to Bombay from New York, but started developing complications almost immediately.Two weeks later she was in the Breach Candy Hospital, where her condition gradually deteriorated. Although there was never any real hope of her recovery, her death, when it did come, seemed like a cruel twist of fate against one who had suffered enough anyway.Her only son, Sunjay, was scheduled to make his debut in Rocky later the same week, and it had been Nargis' express wish that the film be released with all the fanfare necessary to launch him into stardom (in and out of coma during the last few days she is reported to have said that she wanted to see the premiere, if she could.) Since she had insisted on it, the film's release was not delayed and, at mid-fortnight, Rocky was released as planned, though Nargis was not present at her son's coming of age on the screen.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 21, 2013 15:49 IST--- ENDS ---

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Nargis Dutt: First Lady of the Indian Screen passes away

The death of Nargis marks what posterity might record as the end of an era in Hindi cinema. Along with Madhubala and Meena Kumari, Nargis epitomised a remarkable period in the development of Indian films.

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