On the 4th June 1936, Nutan was born in Bombay, the eldest child of famous 40's actress Shobana Samarth. Nutan is by far India's most sensitive and attractive actress. She has performed every role with a certain moral superiority and grace. Her face, described by late make-up maestro Sarosh Mody as ".. a cameraman's dream because she has no bad angles.", was much admired in later years,
but when young she was dismissed as 'skinny' and 'ugly', so it was a surprise that in 1949 Chandulal Shah and K Asif were going to cast her as the heroine opposite Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar. Unfortunately the film fell through.
In 1950 Nutan starred in a film directed by her film star mother Shobana Samarth, appropriately titled - Hamari Beti (1950). Nutan was only 14. Previously she had starred as a child artiste in Nala Damayanti (1945) directed by her father Kumar Sen Samarth. In 1951 she reached her first peak with her first hits, Hum Log (1951) and Nagina (1951),
along with being crowned the first ever Miss India.
After a short stint at a Swiss finishing school - Le Chatelaine - Nutan gained a major breakthrough with her exceptional performance as a juvenile delinquent in Seema (1955). As a result she proved that the best location in the world is an actress' own face.
Nutan's unique quality, which set her apart from her contemporaries, was that she was a thinking actress who tried to perceive the undeveloped motivations of her characters. Consequently, a fleeting expression on her face conveyed much more than expansive dialogue. For instance, in Seema (1955) we can see the tempests raging and dying in her eyes as the bhajan 'Manmohana bade jhoote' sung by Lata Mangeshkar salves her stricken soul.
Lata Mangeshkar has singled out Nutan as the heroine whose expressions conveyed the impression that she was genuinely singing a song. Even though Nutan herself had a beautiful voice of her own, she chose to concentrate on her acting rather than her singing. In the 1960 film Chhabili (1960), Nutan sang 'Aye Mere Humsafar'. (To hear a portion, click here
http://freespace.virgin.net/jamal.akbar/ayemereh.htm)
In 1959 she married a naval Lieutenant Commander by the name of Rajnish Bahl and eased out of films when her son, Mohnish Bahl was born. But the spotlight shone bright once again after the award winning Bandini (1963), a portrayal that remains etched on our minds as one of the finest in Indian cinema. As Kalyani, Nutan had no screaming matches or drunken hysterics or other conventional indicators of high-voltage histrionics. Instead, Nutan appears as a quiet woman with passions raging within her. Bandini (1963) captured an artist performing at her awesome peak. She was one of the first actresses to risk playing unconventional roles, years before the New Cinema movement of the 1970's.
Through the 60's and 70's this much honoured actress regularly picked up awards for diverse roles in films like Milan (1967), Saraswati Chandra (1968), Saudagar (1973) and Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978). Renowned directors as distinct as Bimal Roy, Manmohan Desai, Raj Khosla and Basu Bhattacharya have named her as their favourite actress.
Right into the 80's she maintained her pre-eminence, acting for the first time on screen opposite Dilip Kumar in Karma (1986). Interestingly, Nutan first starred opposite Dilip Kumar in a film made in 1954 called Shikwah, directed by Ramesh Saighal, produced by Rajendra Jain with music by Anil Biswas. This film was never completed. Scenes from this film can be seen in the 1983 film called Film Hi Film starring Pran. This film comprises of scenes and songs from incomplete films that were never seen by the public.
Nutan retained her gracious style and sensitive portrayals way into maternal roles as she was increasingly asked to do. Her dairy farm, her antique laden home, her piloting of her son Mohnish's career, her bhajan singing and her search for spirituality, took up her time. Nevertheless, she continued to act. After over 40 years in the profession, Nutan passed away in February 1991 at the age of 54 to cancer. She died as she would have wished - with one more film to be released.
Nutan has won 6 Filmfare Awards
Edited by Swar_Raj - 18 years ago
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