NARGIS

NARGIS

Nargis Dutt, born Fatima Rashid but known by her screen name, Nargis.

Born: June 1, 1929, Kolkata

Died: May 3, 1981, Mumbai

Married: Sunil Dutt 

Children: Sanjay Dutt, Priya Dutt, Namrata Dutt

Nargis dated actor Raj Kapoor, who was her co-star in the films Awara and Shree 420. Raj Kapoor was already married then and had children. After he refused to divorce his wife that Nargis decided to end their year’s long relationship.Nargis married actor Sunil Dutt. Sunil Dutt had saved her life from a fire accident on the sets of Mother India.The couple married on 11 March 1958 and had three children together: Sanjay, Namrata, and Priya. Sanjay went on to become a very successful film actor. Namrata married actor Kumar Gaurav, son of veteran actor Rajendra Kumar who had appeared alongside both Nargis and Sunil Dutt in Mother India. Priya became a politician, and since 2005, has been a Member of Parliament, from Maharashtra.

Along with her husband, Nargis formed the Ajanta Arts Cultural Troupe, which roped in several leading actors and singers of the time, and performed at remote frontiers to entertain the Indian soldiers; it was the first troupe to perform in Dhaka, after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and the formation of Bangladesh. Later, Nargis worked for the cause of spastic children. She became the first patron of The Spastics Society of India. Her charitable work for the organization got her recognition as a social worker.

Nargis was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent treatment for the disease at Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Upon her return to India, her condition deteriorated, and she was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. She sank into a coma on 2 May 1981 and died the next day. Her absence at the premiere of her son's debut film Rocky on 7 May 1981, where one seat was kept vacant for her, is a nationally famous event.

Nargis is buried at Badakabarastan in Marine Lines, Mumbai. A street in Bandra, Mumbai was renamed Nargis Dutt Road in her memory after her death.