Nargis - A Spirited Actress

Nargis, considered to be one of the most well-known actresses in the Indian Hindi film industry, was born as Fatima Rashid. Her screen name means 'Narcissus', the flower. Making her screen debut as a child actress in the 1935 movie Talash-E-Haq, she began her actual acting career with the 1942 film Tamanna. She was introduced into the world of cinema by her mother Jaddanbai, who was a classical singer and courtesan, to avoid her from becoming a courtesan too.

She has made many critically acclaimed movies with the celebrated actors Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar. Some of the best picks are Barsaat, Awaara, Andaz and Deedar. During her career, which spanned from the 1940s to the 1960s, her most successful movie was Mother India. This movie won her the Best Actress award at the Filmfare Awards. Appearing as Radha in this movie, it was one of the best known roles she had ever played. It was on the sets of this movie that she met her future husband Sunil Dutt, who had reportedly saved her from a fire during the film-shoot. Nargis chose to quit acting after her marriage. The couple was blessed with three children, Sunil Dutt, Namratha and Priya Dutt.

Nargis was the recipient of the Urvashy Award, the highest honor bestowed on a movie actress in the Indian film industry. Other prestigious awards that she received were Karlovy Wary Award, National Film Award and the esteemed Padma Shri, which was for the first time conferred on a film actress.

Apart from winning many awards, Nargis formed the Ajanta Arts Cultural Troupe, along with her husband. Comprising of many well-known actors and actresses, this troupe entertained the Indian soldiers at borders. Her troupe was one of the first ones that performed at Dhaka, after the Indo-Pakistani war. Mrs Dutt was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha. However, she could not complete her tenure as she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and succumbed to it.

Other than being known as a great actress, Nargis was also recognized as an ardent social worker. She was the first patron of The Spastics Society of India, where she worked for the benefit of spastic children. Even after her death, her presence was obvious, as her seat was left vacant on the premier of her son Sanjay Dutt's debut movie, Rocky. She has the Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Foundation established in her memory.