Sanjay Dutt and his sisters Priya and Namrata Dutt remember their mother-veteran star Nargis Dutt on her 41st death anniversary. The Bollywood actor took to social media and wrote a heartfelt note. Meanwhile, Namrata recounted how her mother fought cancer bravely and how her father Sunil Dutt stood with her to the end.
Namrata described her family’s temporary relocation to the United States during Nargis’ treatment in an article by Pinkvilla. “Dad was with her from morning to night, every day.” He’d feed her and clean her. We sisters would also take turns caring for her. “I’m sure he sobbed in private, but Dad never told us what he was going through,” she said.
The nautch girl in Indian cinema has been a subject of immense adoration and an emblem of poise, elegance, beauty and charm. Rekha in Umrao Jaan, Meena Kumari in Pakeezah, Aishwarya Rai in the remake of Umrao Jaan and more recently Deepika Padukone in Bajirao Mastani, have been onscreen representatives of this dancer who has been, it is argued, undervalued in our literature. Keeping the same in mind, an event was recently organised in Delhi that sought to revisit the era of the nautch girl.
Nargis Dutt, who sadly passed away in 1981, was loved reel and in real. Subhash K Jha celebrates the actress in this very special feature.
Nargis was in her 20s when she played her future husband Sunil Dutt’s 70-year-old mother in Mehboob Khan’s magnum opus Mother India, an epic tale of Good Son, Bad Son and Conflicted Mother with Nargis in a performance that defined dramatic acting for all times to come.
