Mithyl Banymandhub
“Oh life to live, life already lived,
time that comes back in a swell of sea,
time that recedes without turning its head,
the past is not past, it is still passing by,
flowing silently into the next vanishing moment.”
Octavio Paz
Remembering Nargis, her films and her co-stars inevitably takes one to a period of the Indian cinema which cannot be obliterated from one’s memory. The mind recalls a time before the advent of the television, when for many families in Mauritius the cinema was an entertainment they looked forward to.
The protagonists we admired and appreciated were not just movie stars. They were rites of passage. We grew up watching them. We learned to suffer from them. We walked, talked and behaved like them. We learned about life as we agonized over the moral choices our stars had to encounter. Despite the passage of time, there are moments when we are reminded of these men and women who, besides being larger than life, entertained us. We also used to read avidly whatever information was available about them.
Passage to England Thwarted
Nargis was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on June 1, 1929. Her mother, Jaddan Bai, was an ambitious person who was determined to excel as a singer. Her father, Uttamchand Mohanchand (Mohan Babu to all those who knew him) was born in a prosperous family. He had been admitted to a medical college in England. He was in Calcutta to attend a preparatory course before boarding the ship which would take him to England.
At his first glimpse of her, while Jaddan Bai was singing, Mohan Babu was overwhelmed. He informed his family that he had changed his mind about the career in the medical field. Instead, he wanted to marry the woman he had fallen in love with.
Jaddan Bai was already married and was the mother of two sons, Akhtar and Anwar Hussein. Mohan Babu ignored this fact. He solved the issue of religion by converting to Islam and took the name of Abdul Rashid. They were married in Calcutta in 1928. When a year later their daughter was born, she was named Fatima Abdul Rashid.
Bombay Beckons
Jaddan Bai moved to Lahore in 1931. She joined the Player and Photophone Company where she became an accredited singer. The cultural climate inexorably drew her to filmdom. Two years after her arrival in Lahore she started appearing as heroine in films while singing her own songs.
It dawned upon her that she had to shift to Bombay (now Mumbai) if she wanted to take advantage of the opportunities the medium offered. With three films behind her, she travelled to Bombay with her family in 1934 with plans ready for a new film.
She launched Sangeet Films whose maiden venture, Talashe Haq, was released in 1935. People reacted to the movie, first, because Jaddan Bai was the music composer. Second, it was the film in which Nargis enacted a brief role. The little girl, then six, was referred to as Baby Rani. Her mother was the main actress.
Nargis was bent on pursuing her studies. Her father ensured that she came to appreciate the value of education since an early age. She was admitted to one of Bombay’s prestigious private schools, Queen Mary’s, where she developed an interest in reading. Although she did not join a university after her success at the Cambridge Certificate (school leaving) examination, she acquired the sophistication of a well groomed lady.
Ease and a Natural Grace
Involved as she was in the world of films, Jaddan Bai would no doubt have thought of a film career for her daughter. It was, however, clear in her mind that any such development should happen in a well-planned way or not at all.
Baby Rani’s appearance in Talashe Haq, had attracted the attention of some people in the film Industry. K.A. Abbas recalled her as “a shy, quiet girl with sad and large eyes who acted with ease and a natural grace”. Her mother discouraged many producers who approached her with offers insisting that her daughter was too young for a career in films.
Then one fine morning an old and esteemed friend Jaddan Bai could not ignore knocked at her door. He was a renowned and respected producer-director. He came with a request to take Baby Rani to the studio for a screen test in connection with his new project. That film-maker was no one else but the legendary Mehboob Khan.
When he told Jaddan Bai that he wished to cast her daughter in his next film, she reasoned that one film would not affect her academic plans. It was the daughter who raised objections. She was more interested in her studies. Mehboob Khan managed to convince her to act in Taqdeer only when she had exacted a promise from him that he would not bother her to act in more films.
Screen Name for a Budding Heroine
Mehboob Khan chose the screen name, Nargis, for his budding heroine. She liked the sound of her new name and felt like a new person. Taqdeer was released in 1943. Nargis, who acted against a polished veteran like Motilal, overnight attracted the attention of everyone. In the words of her biographer, T.J.S George, “A tiny gap between the front teeth stood out like a beauty spot”. Although Nargis was not much used to the camera she displayed a certain flair in front of it. She had taken to acting as though she had discovered her vocation. The experience with Taqdeer was hardly behind her when she signed up with Fazli Brothers Films for a venture titled Ismat (1944). Unfortunately it did not help her acting career. Mehboob Khan and his Humayun were to contribute to further her career. The plot revolves around the second Mughal emperor, Humayun, son of Babur and father of Akbar. The film exposed her to glamour as she was cast opposite Ashok Kumar. It was considered as a rare distinction for a new heroine to star opposite Motilal first and then Ashok Kumar.
Her Films
Nargis had no release in 1946. She appeared in Romeo and Juliet and Mehandi in 1947. Both failed at the box office. Romeo and Juliet was produced and directed by Akhtar Hussein, her brother. Despite the failure of his first venture, he proceeded with Anjuman, which was released the following year. It, too, was not a commercial success. Even then, 1948 turned out to be a busy year for Nargis. Besides Anjuman, she was busy shooting for Anokha Pyar, Mela and Aag. Anokha Pyar was the first film in which Dilip Kumar starred opposite her. They acted together again in Mela. The release of both films in the same year made Nargis and Dilip Kumar “a winsome romantic couple”. In Aag she acted for the first time with Raj Kapoor.
Mehboob Khan’s Andaz and Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat labelled as “milestone movies” were greatly appreciated. She was to appear in other films side by side with those who were launched under the R.K banner. The latter include Awara (1951) Aah (1953) Shri 420 (1955). She acted opposite Dilip Kumar in Andaz, (1949) which also featured Raj Kapoor, Babul and Jagan (1950), Deedar and Hulchal (1951). The films, in which she appeared outside the R.K. banner gave her job satisfaction and financial security.
A Stamp on Her
When she accepted the role in Mother India which was released in 1957, her mind was set in another direction. She would no more act in R.K Films. B.D Garga, one of the most incisive writers on films, way back in 1989, wrote in Cinema in India, “An interesting fall out of Mother India was that it finally ‘type-cast’ Nargis. It put a stamp on her that made it all but inconceivable for her to be accepted in a ‘lesser’ role – and offer Mother India every other role could only be lesser”. When he was asked by her biographer, T.J.S George, to name Nargis’s three best pictures, Dilip Kumar replied, “Her best picture was Mother India. Her second best picture was Mother India. Her third best picture was Mother India”. She was awarded the Karlovy Vary award (1956) for her role in the film.
Circle of Fire
During the shooting of Mother India in Gujarat, Nargis was trapped in a circle of fire. Sunil Dutt was the first to realise what had happened. He rushed into the fire. After some moments of anxiety he “carried a slightly burned, badly shaken Nargis to safety”. He sustained some serious burns. This incident brought “an emotional affinity between the two”. Not long after, Sunil Dutt formally proposed to her. They were married on March 11, 1958.
K.N. Singh, her co-star in many films said, “With marriage it was like she had reached home. She thought God had come to earth in the form of Sunil Dutt. So much did she worship him”.
At the request of her husband she put an end to her film career. He considered it his duty to provide for the family. In 1964, however, Nargis produced and wrote the story of Yaadein an experimental film which was conceived around one character, Sunil Dutt. She appeared before the camera in 1964 for Raat aur Din, a family venture, wherein she plays a double role.
Health Problems
In 1979, Nargis started having health problems. The diagnosis revealed that she was afflicted by a cancer of the pancreas. She was taken to the Slaon Kettering Cancer Centre in New York.
In March 1981, she was well enough to travel back to Bombay. Unfortunately within ten days there was a relapse. She was admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital.
She breathed her last in ‘solemn tranquillity’ on May 3, 1981. She was fifty-two years old.
Nargis rests in peace by the side of her mother and father in Sonapur.
Source
George, T.J.S. The Life and Times of Nargis. New Delhi: Harper Collins, 1994.