Actress Kamini Kaushal, one of the earliest heroines of Hindi cinema, who started her career in the classic film Neecha Nagar in 1946 and acted in several films till 2022, died at her Mumbai home. She was 98 years old.
One of the industry’s highest-paid actresses in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Kaushal acted alongside the trio of Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor before moving into character roles in the 1960s.
Her last screen appearance was in Aamir Khan’s 2022 film “Laal Singh Chaddha” at the age of 95, marking her 76th year in films.
“She died at her home in Mumbai late Thursday night. She would have turned 99 in February,” Sajan Narayan, a close friend of the family, told news agency PTI.
Kaushal was born Uma Kashyap on February 24, 1927 in Lahore. His father, Shiv Ram Kashyap, was considered the father of Indian Botany and taught as a professor at the Punjab University in pre-partition Lahore.
Kaushal, the youngest of two brothers and three sisters, graduated in English literature from Government College, Lahore.
His film career began when family friend and film producer Chetan Anand approached him for his film “Neecha Nagar” in 1946. In this film, she acted with actor Rafiq Anwar and Anand’s wife Uma. The film won the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film award at the first Cannes Film Festival in 1946.
This film, which depicts the gap between wealth and poverty, is considered a classic film. Late star Zohra Sehgal also started her career with this film and famous sitar player Ravi Shankar gave its music.
It was Chetan Anand who changed her name to Kamini Kaushal to avoid confusion between the two Ummas.
After the success of “Neecha Nagar”, Kaushal worked extensively with the triumvirate of Hindi cinema – Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor – in films like ‘Jail Yatra’, ‘Do Bhai’, ‘Aag’, ‘Shaheed’, ‘Nadiya Ke Paar’, ‘Ziddi’, ‘Shabnam’ and ‘Aarzoo’.
She played the lead role in filmmaker Bimal Roy’s acclaimed 1954 film “Biraj Bahu”, which won the National Film Award and earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
Kaushal also played the lead role in the film adaptation of Premchand’s famous novel “Godaan”. She played the role of a mother on screen in Manoj Kumar’s 1967 hit film “Upkaar”. At that time he was only 40 years old.
Kaushal starred in Kumar’s hit films “Purab Aur Paschim”, “Sanyasi”, “Shor”, “Roti Kapda Aur Makaan”, “Dus Numberi” and “Santosh” and played her mother in each role.
Kaushal played the role of Rajesh Khanna’s mother in the 1974 film “Prem Nagar” and the 1976 film “Maha Chor”. She appeared as Aunty Shalini in “The Jewel in the Crown”, a popular British television serial in 1984.
Despite being very selective in his choice of films during his career, Kaushal worked till the end. Towards the end of his life, he worked in Shahrukh Khan starrer “Chennai Express” and Shahid Kapoor starrer “Kabir Singh”.
She was 95 when she played the role of an elderly woman traveling in a train in “Laal Singh Chaddha”.
Apart from films, Kaushal also worked in several television programmes, including “Chand Sitare” on Doordarshan, “Shanno Ki Shaadi” on StarPlus and “Waqt Ki Raftaar” on DD National. Kaushal succeeded his brother-in-law B.S. after his sister died in a car accident in 1948. Married Sood and became the adoptive mother of two daughters. They had three sons, Rahul, Vidur and Shravan.
As soon as the news of his death broke, many people paid tribute to him on social media.
The official handle of the Producers Guild of India read, “We pay tribute to the versatile Kamini Kaushal ji, whose captivating acting has enthralled millions in a career spanning over seven decades. Condolences to the family.”