Nargis Dutt: Lesser known facts

Nargis was born as Fatima Rashid on June 1, 1929. She made her screen debut as a child artiste in Talash-E-Haq in 1935. This was when she was christened as Baby Nargis in the film's credits. The screen name stuck and Fatima was known as Nargis, henceforth. Between 1940-1960, she made a superhit pair with Raj Kapoor in films like Barsaat, Awara and Aag and has been immortalised in the RK emblem. She was only 28 years old when she played Radha in the Academy Award-nominated Mother India (1957). She has won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for Mother India. However, immediately after, Nargis married her Mother India co-star, actor Sunil Dutt and almost quit acting, only appearing sporadically in a few movies. Her three children - Priya, Namrata and Sanjay Dutt were reportedly very close to her. On her 86th birthday today, we take a look at some lesser known facts about the actress, as revealed by her children over the years...

Nargis was also involved in her husband's production venture. Along with Sunil Dutt, Nargis formed the Ajanta Arts Cultural Troupe, which involved several leading actors and singers of the time and held stage shows at border areas. Nargis was also involved with a lot of charity work. In early 1970s, she became the first patron of Spastics Society of India, and her subsequent work with the organisation brought her recognition as a social worker, and later a Rajya Sabha nomination in 1980. In 1982, the Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Foundation was established in her memory. The award for best feature film on national integration in the annual National Film Awards ceremony is called the Nargis Dutt Award in her honour. The latest Google Doodle commemorative logo pays tribute to yesteryear actress Nargis Dutt on her 86th birthday today.

Namrata remembers her mother Nargis as a fun-loving person. She has been quoted as saying in reports that, “She was a great swimmer. As a young girl, she played cricket and football with her brothers - Anwar and Akhtar Hussain. She was a pucca tomboy!” Nargis carried no halo of stardom around her. Namrata adds, “She’d happily eat paani puri from the chaatwallah down the road. She’d watch movies in a theatre. While her nieces wore burqas, she’d say, ‘Who wants to suffer in a burqa?’” Reportedly, Nargis had no qualms about shop hopping in bazaars either. “One day mom, her friend Indra Gidwani, Priya and I went to a mall in Delhi. But Indra aunty got lost and went on asking every shopkeeper, ‘Nargis ko dekha kya?’ Soon word passed around and before we knew it, a herd was following mom,” Namrata reminisces in the report.

Apparently, Nargis was a people’s person and a phone freak. Talking about the same, Namrata says in the report, “When she’d lie on the mat for her massage, the phone would be brought next to her. Dad would say, ‘How can she relax when she continues talking?’” Apparently Sanjay Dutt's fascination with Nargis' phone time continued even after her death. Namrata recalls a funny incident where years after her demise, Sunil once joked, saying that had their mother owned a mobile, he would have been broke!

Post her marriage to Sunil Dutt, Nargis gave up films for good. While she was at the peak of her career, even receiving the Filmfare Award for her performance in Mother India, Nargis had no qualms to give up her career. Nargis was, in fact, happy to give up stardom to revel in her role as a homemaker. She even went on to learn cooking. Recalling the parties, Namrata says, “We always had people coming home. January 1 was celebrated as the Ajanta Arts' anniversary. The entire industry would turn up. She’d cook matka gosht on sigdi and seal it with flour. Our foreign guests would be fascinated when the matka was opened."

Nargis Dutt was always dressed up for the ocassion. She was in sync with world fashion, unlike her contemporaries. She sported a shot crop when Indian actresses reveled in their long tresses. Nargis played the village belle and urban chic chick with equal ease. She was dubbed as the Lady in White, given her penchant for white sarees. “She wore only cotton and organza with little embroidery. She never wore jewellery, maybe just small studs or pearls and two gold bangles. Later, she began wearing a rudraksh mala. She’d chant on the same mala,” reveals Namrata.

Despite being an independent woman, Nargis had given up her career to tend to her home and children. Given the fact that Sunil Dutt's films were made from the heart, without much consideration for box-office prospects, the production house often failed to pull in money. While Nargis was a film actress and didn't have to do much number crunching, she didn't create a fuss over the lack of money. Recalling an incident, Namrata has been quoted in reports as saying that, “There was a time when mom had to break her piggy bank to meet the expenses.”

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 went into a coma on May 2, 1981 and died the next day. At the premiere of her son's debut film, Rocky, on May 7, 1981, one seat was kept vacant for her. Sanjay Dutt was shattered at having lost his mother just before the release of the film. However, he was not the only one to be as heartbroken with her demise. Sunil Dutt, too, suffered from depression for days after her death.

Though they addressed each other as Mr Dutt and Mrs Dutt, the couple had a common endearment — Jeeyo (live) for each other, reveals Namrata.According to a PTI report, Namrata says, "Dad was devastated. He couldn’t sleep in their bedroom any more. We volunteered to sleep in the same room as he did, but he’d wake up in the middle of the night and leave. In a panic, we’d get up and look for him, only to discover he was lying on the sofa in the living room, having fallen asleep again. Sometimes he would go to Mom’s grave at 4 a.m. Finally we realised we had to act maturely and be strong for him. He must have felt completely alone. He must have wondered, ‘What am I going to do with these three children? There’s no one to share my life. No one I can talk to.’ He shared everything with Mom. His work, his life, everything, and now she had gone."

Nargis Dutt was apparently always concerned about Sanjay Dutt. Even before she left for the US to undergo treatment for her ailment, she wrote a letter to Namrata, asking her to take care of Sanjay. She wrote, “Please look after Sanju, see that he does not get mixed up with those silly boys again. He is too stupid in his head, he does not realise what he is doing and know it is going to hurt him.” In the letter, she had also expressed concern for her own health. She wrote, "I am in such a mental condition, I have gone far away from all of you, and I don’t know what is going to happen. But I have faith in God. He is not going to be so cruel as to not send me back to all of you. I know how much all of you love me. Keep praying for me that all will be well with me."