Nargis Dutt (born Fatima Rashid; 1 June 1929 – 3 May 1981) was an Indian actress and politician who worked in Hindi cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, Nargis often portrayed sophisticated and independent women. Her work was in a range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, and earned her various accolades. In 2011, Rediff.com listed her as the greatest Indian actress of all time.
In a career spanning three decades, Nargis made her screen debut in a minor role at the age of six with Talash-E-Haq (1935), but her acting career actually began with the film Tamanna (1942). Nargis had her first leading role with Taqdeer (1943). Nargis had her breakthrough with the romance film Andaz (1949) and the musical Barsaat (1949). Following this she starred in Raj Kapoor's crime drama Awaara (1951), which was a major critical and financial success. After a brief setback in the early 1950s, she reemerged with the comedy-drama Shree 420 (1955) and the romantic comedy Chori Chori (1956). Nargis starred in Mehboob Khan's Oscar-nominated epic drama Mother India (1957), the highest-grossing film in India at that point of time, for which she won Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She would appear infrequently in films during the 1960s. Some of her films of this period include the drama Raat Aur Din (1967), for which she received the inaugural National Film Award for Best Actress.
Nargis married her Mother India co-star Sunil Dutt in 1958. Together they had three children, including the actor Sanjay Dutt. Along with her husband, Nargis formed the Ajanta Arts Culture Troupe which hired several leading actors and singers of the time and held stage shows at border areas. In the early 1970s, Nargis became the first patron of The Spastic Society of India and her subsequent work with the organisation brought her recognition as a social worker and later a Rajya Sabha nomination in 1980.
Nargis died in 1981 of pancreatic cancer, only three days before her son Sanjay Dutt made his debut in Hindi films with the film Rocky. In 1982, the Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Foundation was established in her memory. The award for Best Feature Film on National Integration in the Annual Film Awards ceremony is called the Nargis Dutt Award in her honour.
Early life
Nargis was born on 1 June 1929 as Fatima Rashid in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (now Kolkata, West Bengal, India) into a Punjabi Muslim family. Her father Abdul Rashid, formerly Mohanchand Uttamchand Tyagi ("Mohan Babu"), was originally a wealthy Punjabi Hindu heir of the Mohyal Brahmin caste from Rawalpindi who had converted to Islam. Her mother was Jaddanbai Hussain, from Benares City, Benares State, who was born into a Muslim family of Hindu Brahmin origin which had converted to Islam; and was a Hindustani classical music singer and one of the early pioneers of Indian cinema. Nargis' family then moved from Punjab to Allahabad, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, before settling in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency. She introduced Nargis into the movie culture unfolding in India at the time. Nargis' maternal half-brother, Anwar Hussain, was also a film actor.
