Legendry Actress - " Nutan"
Veteran actress Nutan is the most adored actress by the film connoisseurs even years after her demise. This beautiful actress with her radiant smile, expressive eyes and natural acting made her mark in the golden age of cinema.
Nutan is by far India's most perceptive and attractive actress. She has performed every role with superiority and grace. Her face had no bad angles and hence she was described as " a cameraman's dream" by late make-up maestro Sarosh Mody. She had the most piercing screen eyes. This respected bollywood actress appeared in several successful moviesof the 50s and 60s. She was highly appreciated for her acting abilities and she gained an identity as an adepted dramatic actress. She had the record of winning five Filmfare Awards for best actress.
Nutan Samarth was born in June 1936 in Mumbai. She came from a highly educated and cultured family. Her father, Kumarsen Samarth was the deputy publicity officer with films division. While her mother, Shobhana Samarth, was a leading actress of that era. Nutan was the eldest child of actress shobhna Samarth. Her younger sister Tanuja is also an actress. Her parents separated when she was still a child.
Nutan started her career as actress as a 14yr child in home production Hamari Beti ( 1950). In 1952 she won the Miss India title. She decided to take a break in the mid 50s and flew to Switzerland to pursue studies. While she was there, producer S. Mukherjee gave her an offer for the film Seema. Seema was a blockbuster and career graph of Nutan raised making her a huge star. In 1959, she married naval lieutenant commander Rajnish Behl and was blessed with son named Mohnish Behl.
Nutan not only had a graceful personality and acting skills but also had a sweet voice. In 1960 film Chhabli she sang 'Aye Mere Humsafar'. She also sang many devotional songs. In her later years she spend most of her time in her dairy farm, antique laden home, piloting her son's career, bhajan singing and search for spirituality. Her health took a worse turn in 1989. She developed cancer of the liver and left for heavenly abode in 1991 at the age of 54. Her narrative as a human being is depicted in a book called, " Nutan - Asen Mi Nasen Mi " written by Lalita Tamhane.
Nutan's Five Award winning Films:
1) Seema:
Seema is the film that first brought front Nutan's ability as an actress.Her portrayl of a juvenile delinquent in the film earned her massive applause. The film was written, produced and directed by Amiya Chakravorty. In Seema, her face was myriad of expressions. it was a brilliant performance which gave Nutan her first filmfare award for best actress.
Seema is a story of Gauri, a girl from poor family. She lost her parents at childhood and lived with her uncle and aunt. One day one of the servent steals a necklace of a child and blames Gauri for that. Police comes and arrests Gauri. The judge gives bail but Gauri wants to take revenge. Police again arrests her and sends her to an ashram / remand home. Babuji, played by Ashok Kumar is the head of the ashram. Gauri likes him and falls in love with him. Babuji suffers from heart disease and wants Gauri to get married with his brother, but his brother wants his elder brother to get married with Gauri. Finally Babuji marries Gauri.
The music for the lyrics written by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, is beautifully composed by Shankar-Jaikishan. The melodies like, ' tu pyar ka sagar hai', 'suno chotisi gudiya ki lambi kahani' , 'manmohana bade jhoothe' became the classic hits.
2) Sujata:
Sujata was released in 1959. The film was produced and directed by Bimal Roy. The simple story is brilliantely handled by the director. Nutan, who played the character of Sujata lives the role. The film also starred Sunil Dutt, Shashikala and Lalita Pawar. Sujata is a story of romance between a Brahmin young man, Adheer played by sunil Dutt and an untouchable woman Sujata. Sujata was unwillingly adopted by a couple, Upendra and Charu. Upendra loves the little girl and names her Sujata. Charu cannot bring herself to love the girl beacuse she is an untouchable. Sujata falls in love with Adhir, a brahmin by caste. One day Charu falls downstairs and is rushed to hospital. Blood of rare group is required to save her life. Fortunately Sujata's blood group matches and she willingly donates her blood. Charu recovers and realises her mistake. Finally Adhir and Sujata gets married.
The film has a Manipuri dance beautifully choreographed by Little Ballet troupe. The music is composed by S.D Burman and the lyrics are written by MAjrooh Sultanpuri. The wonderful songs like, 'sun mere bandhu re', 'hawa dhere ana', 'jalte hain jiske liye' are hits till today. Nutan got her second filmfare award for Best actress in Sujata. The film was even nominated in the Cannes Film Festival in 1960.
3) Bandini:
Bandini was released in 1963. The film tells the story of an unusual prisoner named Kalyani. It tries to explore the sufferings and sacrifices of a strong yet weak Indian women. Kalyani is imprisoned in India because she falls in love with a freedom fighter Bikas, played by Ashok Kumar, during British raj. Bikas leaves her in the village and never comes back. While in prison, the jail doctor Deven, played by Dharmendra falls in love with Kalyani. They are always shown in partition after Deven proposes her. The climax beautifully expresses the dilema of Kalyani to choose between Bikash and Deven. The character of Kalyani gets lifted from that of a woman who is a prisoner to one who defines her own freedom.
The film is directed by Bimal Roy. S.D Burman composed the music for the film and sang a few songs. The film has songs like, 'mora gora ang lai le', 'o janewale ho sake to laut ke ana', ' main bandini pyar ki', ' mmere sajan hai us par'. Nutan won her third filmfare award for Bandini.
4) Milan:
Milan was released in 1967. the film was a remake of a Telgu film Mooga Manshalu. It is among the earliest film based on the theme of reincarnation. Milan is a story of Radha, played by Nutan, the beautiful daughter of rich zamindar. She is ferried across the river by a young boatman Gopi, played by Sunil dutt. In the course of this daily travels, a strong and sweet bond of love develops between them which the society decides a s unusual. The climax of the movie is very touchy in which Radha and Gopi ends there life by drowning in the river. But they meet again and again in every reincarnation.
The film is directed by A. subba Rao and was released in India in Hindi and Bengali. The music is composed by Laxmikant - Pyarelal. Soft and sweet melodies like, 'sawan ka mahina', hum tum yug yug se ye geet', 'ram kare aisa ho jaye'captured the heart and became the most memorable scores of the duo. Nutan won her fourth filmfare award for this film.
5) Main tulsi Tere angan Ki:
Mein Tulsi Tere Angan ki was released in 1978 and was produces by Raj Khosla. It is based on the marathi novel 'Ashi Tujhe Preet' The film starred Nutan as Sanjukta Chauhan, Vinod Khanna as Ajay Chauhan and Asha Parekh as Tulsi. Tulsi, a prostitute falls in love with Thakur Rajnath singh played by Vijay Chauhan but the chauhan family is against this marriage. Tulsi accepts the family's opposition. She gives birth to a child named Ajay and passes away. Rajnath gets married to Sanjukta. Sanjukta acknowledges Tulsi's contribution in her husband's life and raises Ajay as her own child.
The music for the film is composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal and has songs like , 'mein tulsi tere angan ki', 'saiyan rooth gaye'. The film won Nutan her fifth Filmfare award for best actress.
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