Sanjay Dutt remembers mother Nargis on her birth anniversary

Actor Sanjay Dutt, on Thursday, remembered his mother Nargis Dutt on her 94th birth anniversary and paid a heartfelt tribute. Taking to Instagram, Sanjay shared a monochrome picture of his mother and captioned it, “To my guiding light, happy birthday, Mom. I love you and miss you always.” (Also read: Sanjay Dutt cried for hours after hearing mother Nargis’ final message. Listen to the audio)

Nargis is widely known as one of the finest performers of all time, having acted in a variety of genres ranging from comedy to drama. She began her film career as a leading lady in the early 1940s and continued to perform until 1967. She made her final appearance in the psychological thriller film Raat Aur Din.

She made her screen debut in a minor role at the age of five with Talash-E-Haq (1935), but her acting career actually began with the film Tamanna (1942).

Sanjay’s sister Priya Dutt also took to her Instagram account and shared a picture which she captioned, “Happy birthday, to my angel, I can’t see her but that’s OK, my senses feel her presence every step of the way, I know her physical form left me years ago. Her laughter, her warmth her loving care she has left these beautiful memories even though she isn’t there, but her essence remains with me everywhere.”

In the early ’80s, Nargis was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and she died on May 3, 1981.

Nargis and actor Sunil Dutt fell in love with each other after a fire broke out on the sets of their 1957 film Mother India and he reportedly rescued her. They were said to have come closer while recuperating from the injuries. The couple tied the knot on March 11, 1958.

Her best-known role was that of Radha in the Academy Award-nominated Mother India (1957), a performance that won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

She would appear infrequently in films during the 1960s. Some of her films of this period include the drama Raat Aur Din (1967), for which she received the inaugural National Film Award for Best Actress.

Along with her husband, Nargis formed the Ajanta Arts Culture Troupe which hired several leading actors and singers of the time and held stage shows in border areas.

The award for Best Feature Film on National Integration in the Annual Film Awards ceremony is called the Nargis Dutt Award in her honour.

In the early 1970s, Nargis became the first patron of The Spastic 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.

Nargis Dutt was the second actor, the first being Prithvi Raj Kapoor, to be nominated, and she was in Rajya Sabha for two years, 1980 and 1981. She was also awarded the Padma Shri in 1958.

In Sanjay Dutt’s biopic film Sanju actor Manisha Koirala portrayed the role of Nargis.