Indian actress
Lalita Pawar
(18 April 1916 ? 24 February 1998) was a prolific
Indian
actress, who later became famous as a
character actress
, appearing in over 700 films in
Hindi
,
Marathi
and
Gujarati cinema
. She holds a
Guinness world record
of longest acting career spanning over 70 years. Pawar won the
Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
for her performance in the comedy-drama
Anari
. She featured in hit films such as
Netaji Palkar
(1938), made by
Bhalji Pendharkar
, New Hana Pictures'
Sant Damaji
, Navyug Chitrapat's
Amrit
, written by VS Khandekar, and Chhaya Films'
Gora Kumbhar
. Her other memorable roles were in the films
Anari
(1959),
Shri 420
and
Mr & Mrs 55
, and the role of
Manthara
, in Ramanand Sagar's television epic serial
Ramayan
.
[1]
Biography
[
edit
]
Pawar was born as Amba Laxman Rao Sagun on 18 April 1916, into an orthodox family in
Yeola
in
Nashik
.
[2]
Her father Laxman Rao Shagun was a rich silk and cotton piecegoods merchant.
[3]
She started her acting career at age nine in the film
Raja Harishchandra
(1928), and later went on to play lead roles in the silent era and 1940s films, in a career that lasted until the end of her life, spanning seven
decades
.
She co-produced and acted in a silent film
Kailash
(1932), and later produced another film
Duniya Kya Hai
in 1938, a talkie.
Lalita Pawar, playing the lead in film,
Himmat-e-Marda
(1935).
In 1942, as a part of a scene in the movie
Jung-E-Azadi
, actor
Master Bhagwan
was to slap her hard. Being a new actor, he accidentally slapped her very hard, which resulted in facial paralysis and a burst left eye vein. Three years of treatment later, she was left with a defective left eye; thus she had to abandon lead roles, and switch to character roles, which won her much of her fame later in life.
[4]
She also played the leading lady with the top heroes of the era like
Paidi Jairaj
,
Trilok Kapoor
,
Gajanan Jagirdar
etc.
She was known particularly for playing
maternal
figures, especially wicked
matriarchs
or
mothers-in-law
. She also notably played the strict but kind Mrs. L. D'Sa in
Anari
(1959) with
Raj Kapoor
. Under
Hrishikesh Mukherjee
's direction, she gave the performance of a lifetime,
[5]
for which she received the
Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
. Also, as the tough matriarch who falls in love in
Professor
(1962), and the devious hunchback
Manthara
in
Ramanand Sagar
's television series
Ramayan
. She was honored by the Government of India as the first lady of Indian cinema in 1961.
[6]
Personal life
[
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]
Her first marriage was to Ganpatrao Pawar, which ended after he slept with her younger sister. She later married film producer Rajprakash Gupta, of Ambika studios, Bombay. Her son Jai Pawar become a producer and worked with her in movies like Manzil. Jai Pawar had 2 sons Sanjay Pawar and Manoj Pawar. She and her husband in Juhu,Mumbai with her son Sanjay Pawar and great-grand daughters Anushka and Aanya Pawar. She died on 24 February 1998 in Aundh,
Pune
, where she had been staying for a while, due to
mouth cancer
.
[7]
Selected filmography
[
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]
Television
[
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Awards
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]
References
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External links
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1955?1975
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1976?2000
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2001?present
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International
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National
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Artists
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