Kamini Kaushal (born as Uma Kashyap, 24 February 1927) is an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films and television. She is noted for her roles in films such as Neecha Nagar (1946), which won the 1946 Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at Cannes Film Festival and Biraj Bahu (1955), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1955.
She played lead heroine in films from 1946 to 1963, wherein her roles in Do Bhai (1947), Shaheed (1948), Nadiya Ke Paar (1948), Ziddi (1948), Shabnam (1949), Paras (1949), Namoona (1949), Arzoo (1950), Jhanjar (1953), Aabroo (1956), Bade Sarkar (1957), Jailor (1958), Night Club (1958) and Godaan (1963) are considered her career's best performances. She played character roles since 1963, and was critically acclaimed for her performance in Shaheed (1965). She appeared in three of Rajesh Khanna's films, namely Do Raaste (1969), Prem Nagar (1974), Maha Chor (1976), in Anhonee (1973) with Sanjeev Kumar and in eight films with Manoj Kumar namely Shaheed, Upkar (1967), Purab Aur Paschim (1970), Shor (1972), Roti Kapda Aur Makaan (1974), Sanyasi (1975), Dus Numbri (1976) and Santosh (1989). In the 2010s, she took brief but praised supporting roles in the action comedy Chennai Express (2013) and the romantic drama Kabir Singh (2019), both of which rank among the highest grossing Indian films.
Early life
Kamini Kaushal was born in Lahore. She is the youngest of two brothers and three sisters. She is the daughter of Prof. Shiv Ram Kashyap, Professor of Botany, University of Punjab at Lahore, British India (present-day Pakistan). Prof. Kashyap is widely regarded as the father of Indian Botany. Her father was a distinguished botanist who discovered six species of plants. She was only nine when her father died on 26 November 1934. She did her B.A. (honors) in English literature from Government College in Lahore. She got an offer to act in films through Chetan Anand in 1946 with Neecha Nagar.
Talking about her teenage years, she said in an interview, "I had no time to fool. I didn't have any crush. I was busy swimming, riding, skating and doing radio plays on Akashwani, for which I was paid Rs 10." When her elder sister died in a car accident, leaving behind two daughters, Kaushal had to marry her brother-in-law, B.S. Sood in 1948. She set up home in Bombay where her husband was a chief engineer in Bombay Port Trust. Her elder sister's daughters are Kumkum Somani and Kavita Sahni. Kumkum Somani has written a book for children on Gandhi's philosophy and Kavita Sahni is an artist. Kamini had three sons after 1955, Rahul, Vidur and Shravan.
In the 1950s, the couple lived in a spacious manor-type house "Gateside" in Mazagaon, which was allotted to her husband by BPT.
