Nargis: Going down memory lane

THIS week marks the birth anniversary of Nargis, one of Indian cinema’s greatest and most influential leading ladies.

Born Fatima Rashid on June 1, 1929, Nargis grew up to become the queen of Bollywood in the 1950s and then walked away from the spotlight at the height of her fame to devote time to her family.

Eastern Eye looks back on the life of the legend and selected her top seven films.

Barsaat (1949): Although the romantic drama clocked up huge numbers at the box office, it is re­membered for the embrace Nargis shared with Raj Kapoor on the film’s posters, which would become the logo of the legendary RK Film banner. The beau­tifully crafted movie, which was ahead of its time, had great songs and lit the touch paper for the gold­en era of Bollywood.

Andaz (1949): Nargis starred opposite legend­ary actors Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor in what is regarded as the greatest love tri­angle in Bolly­wood history. The film was a huge success and became the highest grosser of all time when it was released.

Awaara (1951): The Bollywood blockbuster overtook Andaz as the highest grossing film of all time in India when it came out. Nargis starred opposite Raj Ka­poor in the story of a petty criminal on the wrong side of the tracks trying to do the right thing. One of Indian cinema’s great movies, it has legendary songs and helped take Bollywood global.

Shree 420 (1955): The iconic film with the amazing songs saw Nargis star as Raj Kapoor’s love interest and inspiration in the feel-good tale about a small-time guy who comes to the city to make it big. It would inspire Shah Rukh Khan’s break-out movie Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman decades later.

Chori Chori (1956): The sparkling romantic comedy inspired by Hollywood classic It Happened One Night saw Nargis play an heiress who runs away and unex­pectedly finds love. One of the great romantic road movies would later influence many films including Aamir Khan starrer Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin.

Mother India (1957): The first Indian feature to get an Oscar nomination is re­garded in the top five greatest ever Bollywood films. Nargis delivered a career-best performance as a mother struggling against the odds to bring up her children. The powerful drama was massively influen­tial and has never been matched in that genre.

Raat Aur Din (1967): The actress came out of retire­ment for a winning turn that would earn her a Na­tional Award. Nargis plays a woman with a split per­sonality in the psychological thriller, which is getting a remake in Bollywood soon.