Lalita Pawar
| Lalita Pawar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Amba Laxman Rao Sagun April 18, 1916 Nashik, Maharashtra |
| Died | February 24, 1998 (aged 81) Pune, India |
| Years active | 1928-1997 |
Lalita Pawar (April 18, 1916—February 24, 1998) [1] was a prolific Indian actor, who later became famous as character actress, appearing in over 700 films in Hindi and Marathi cinema, where she gave hits like, Netaji Palkar (1938), made by Bhalji Pendharkar, New Hana Pictures’ Sant Damaji, Navyug Chitrapat’s Amrit, written by VS Khandekar, and Chhaya Films’ Gora Kumbhar. Her other memorable roles were in film, Anari (1959), Shri 420 and Mr & Mrs 55, and the role of Manthara, in Ramanand Sagar's television epic serial, Ramayan.
Biography
Born Amba Laxman Rao Sagun, on (April 16, 1916, in a orthodox family in a village, Yevle in Nashik, where her father Laxman Rao Shagun was a rich silk and cotton piecegoods merchant [2], she started her acting career began at age nine, as a child artist in film, ‘Raja Harishchandra’ (1928), and later went on to play lead roles in silent era films and 1940's Hindi cinema, in a career that lasted until the end of her life, spanning seven decades.
Her first marriage was to G.P. Pawar, a stunt film director [3] , who directed most of her later silent, and initial sound films [4]. She co-produced and acted in a silent film, Kailash (1932), and later produced another film, Duniya Kya Hai in 1938, a talkie.
In 1942, she was slapped by film actor Bhagwan Dada, during a film, which resulted in facial paralysis and a burst in a left eye vein, and three years of treatment later, she was left with a defective left eye; thus she had to leave lead roles, and switch to character roles, which got her much of her fame, later in life
She was known particularly for playing maternal figures, especially wicked matriarchs or mothers-in-law. She also notably played the role of the strict but kind, Mrs. L. D'Sa in Anari (1959) with Raj Kapoor, acting under Hrishikesh Mukherjee's direction, she gave performance of a lifetime [6], for which she received Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award; as the tough matriarch who falls in love in Professor (1962), and the devious hunchback Manthara in Ramanand Sagar's television series Ramayan.
Personal life
Her first marriage was to Ganpatrao Pawar, which went sour after his affair with her younger sister. She later married, film producer husband Rajprakash Gupta, of ‘Ambika studios’, Mumbai [7]
She died on February 24, 1998 in Aundh, Pune, where she had been staying, for a while. She was survived by her husband, Rajprakash Gupta, a son and daughter-in-law, who stay in Mumbai.
Filmography
Awards
- 1959: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for her role in Anari (1959) [9]
- 1961: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award - Acting [10]
