Grand old lady of Bollywood Zohra Sehgal passes away at 102

[email protected] (Cine News)
July 11, 2014

Sehgal passesMumbai, Jul 11: Veteran film actress, theatre and TV personality Zohra Sehgal passed away today. A heart patient, Sehgal was admitted to the Max Hospital in south Delhi's Saket area after being diagnosed with pneumonia on Wednesday. She died of a heart attack at 4.30 pm on Thursday.

Sehgal, often called Bollywood's laadli, was last seen in films like Cheeni Kum and Saawariya. In a career spanning almost eight decades, she acted in a number of Bollywood and even Hollywood films.

Sehgal use to reside with her daughter, renowned Odissi danseuse Kiran Sehgal. In 1994, she was diagnosed with cancer, but she fought the disease and recovered.

In 2008, Zohra Sehgal was named the 'Laadli of the Century' by the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF)-Laadli Media Awards.

As a youngster, Sehgal was passionate about dance. Her tryst with showbiz began with dance when she joined Uday Shankar in 1935 and worked with him for a few years.

She went on to teach dance in Almora later, and that's where she met painter and dancer Kameshwar Sehgal and married him. She later took to dramatics with the Prithvi Theatre in 1945. She worked with them for 14 years, travelling to various cities, and even joined the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA).

From Prithviraj Kapoor to Raj Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor, she worked with four generations of Bollywood's famous Kapoor family - and she didn't let age dampen her spirit at all.

Sehgal, considered a doyen of Indian theatre, appeared in over 20 films. She will be best remembered for her appearances in Bhaji on the Beach (1992), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Dil Se (1998) and Cheeni Kum (2007).

Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who directed her in two of his films - "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Saawariya, had once said, "To call her a livewire is an understatement."

He couldn't think of a second name for a particular role in Saawariya other than her."It had to be Zohraji and no one else. There was a kind of hesitation within me - after all Zohraji is 94. But all our doubts were dispelled once she came on the sets," Bhansali had said during the shooting of Saawariya. "Her enthusiasm gets to all of us," he added.

She was perhaps one of the first Indians to have a taste of international entertainment. In the mid-1960s, she featured in an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Rescue of Pluffles, and then also anchored a few episodes of television series Padosi.

While she was in London, she featured in a film called The Courtesans of Bombay, directed by James Ivory in 1982. There was no looking back in international showbiz thereafter. She went on to feature in TV series like The Jewel in the Crown, My Beautiful Launderette, Tandoori Nights and Never Say Die.

Sehgal came back to India in the 1990s. She was around 80 years old then. While many would have thought she would quit the entertainment world, she wasn't ready to hang up her boots.

On the small screen, she featured in Amma and Family, and bagged roles in big banner movies.

When it comes to awards, in 1998 she was honoured with the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honours, following which she received the Kalidas Samman in 2001, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 2004. In 2010, she was bestowed with the Padma Vibhushan. Small parts or big, Sehgal continued to spread smiles on the celluloid and will always be remembered as the grand old lady of Indian cinema.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

Kochi, Feb 7: The younger brother of noted playback singer K J Yesudas was found dead in the backwaters near here, police said.

The body of 62-year old K J Justin, who had reportedly gone missing from his house in Thrikkakara near here on Tuesday evening was found floating in the backwaters near Vallarpadam Container Terminal on Wednesday, they said.

The relatives identified the body, police said adding it was later sent for autopsy at General Hospital here.

A General Hospital spokesperson said the body was handed over to his relatives on Thursday evening after autopsy was performed.

The funeral is expected to be held after the arrival of Yesudas from abroad, police sources said.

Police said the initial investigation suggested it was a case of suicide.

According to police, Jusin's relatives have informed the investigation team that he had been showing signs of suicidal tendency for the last one week as he was allegedly facing some financial problem.

His relatives were not available for comments.

Son of the renowned musician late Augustine Joseph, Justin is survived by his wife.

Justin had been a regular presence at popular ganamela programmes here in the past, sources said.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Mumbai, Jan 9: A day after Deepika Padukone visited the JNU campus to express solidarity with students who had been attacked, her film "Chhapaak" made another splash on Wednesday over the name of its antagonist.

While Deepika was the focus of many a discussion on social media and beyond for showing up at a public meeting in the university, the film, based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal, was also making news for quite another reason.

In what could well be a storm in a 'Twitter cup', "Nadeem Khan" and "Rajesh" began trending on the microblogging site after a magazine article claimed the name of the antagonist had been changed. By 4 pm, 'Nadeem Khan' clocked close to 60,000 tweets and 'Rajesh' close behind with 50,000.

In 2005, Laxmi was disfigured for life when a man called Nadeem Khan and three others allegedly hurled acid at her in Delhi's upscale Khan Market.

In the film based on her life, the narrative remains the same but the names have been changed. So, Laxmi is 'Malti' Agarwal and Nadeem becomes 'Babboo' aka 'Bashir Khan'.

On Wednesday, Swarajya magazine wrote an article headlined, "The Ways Of Bollywood: In Deepika Padukone-Starer Chhapaak, Acid Attacker Naeem Khan Becomes ‘Rajesh'." "As part of a backlash against Padukone's JNU 'meet and greet', social media users researched the names of the characters involved in the movie Chhapaak and conspicuously found the name of main perpetrator Naeem Khan absent," the article alleged.

But in the Meghna Gulzar directed film, there is no mention of any Nadeem or Naeem Khan. Moreover, Rajesh is the name of Malti's boyfriend.

Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Babul Supriyo jumped into the controversy, saying it was another example of "absolute hypocrisy".

"...When you say all characters are fictitious and don't have any resemblance with living beings and all of that, this is absolute hypocrisy. When you change the name which also changes the religion, it has been done very deliberately," Supriyo told a TV channel when asked to comment on the controversy.

South Delhi BJP MP Ramesh Biduri also called for a boycott of the movie.

With Deepika grabbing attention by going to JNU, many appreciated her 'silent solidarity' but others criticised her for "supporting the Leftists" and said it was a promotional stunt ahead of the release.

"#BoycottChhapaak" was trending on Twitter as was "#ISupportDeepika".

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Going down the memory lane, late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's close friend and actor Rhea Chakraborty recalled her memories with the departed actor as Rajput's untimely demise completed one month on Tuesday.

This marks the 'Jalebi' actor's first social media post dedicated to Rajput after his demise.

Chakraborty took to Instagram to post two pictures of herself with the 'Kai Po Che!' actor and complimented the post with a long emotional note.

She began the note by stating how she is "still struggling" to face her emotions and said that she will never come to terms with the actor's demise.

"Still struggling to face my emotions.. an irreparable numbness in my heart. You are the one who made me believe in love, the power of it," she wrote.

"You taught me how a simple mathematical equation can decipher the meaning of life and I promise you that I learnt from you every day. I will never come to terms with you not being here anymore," she added.

Terming Rajput as the "greatest physicist," the 'Mere Dad Ki Maruti' actor then recalled Rajput's passion for astrophysics.

"I know you're in a much more peaceful place now. The moon, the stars, the galaxies would've welcomed "the greatest physicist "with open arms," Chakraborty wrote.

Full of empathy and joy, you could lighten up a shooting star - now, you are one. I will wait for you my shooting star and make a wish to bring you back to me," she added.

Remembering the bond that she shared with him, Rhea wrote, "You were everything a beautiful person could be, the greatest wonder that the world has seen. My words are incapable of expressing the love we have and I guess you truly meant it when you said it is beyond both of us."

"You loved everything with an open heart, and now you've shown me that our love is indeed exponential," she added.

The 28-year-old actor ended the note by stating how she will love Rajput for a "lifetime."

"Be in peace Sushi. 30 days of losing you but a lifetime of loving you....Eternally connected. To infinity and beyond," she wrote.

Chakraborty and Rajput were close friends and were also set to share the screen space in the film 'Happy Anniversary.'

Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14. The investigation in the case related to Rajput's demise is currently underway for which Chakraborty was also interrogated by Mumbai Police.

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