Happy Birthday : Zohra Sehgal [ 27 April ]

27 April 2013 :: Zohra Sehgal was born on  27^th of  April 1912. She  is an Indian actress and choreographer, who started her career as dancer with dancer Uday Shankar in 1935 and worked with him for the next eight years. She has appeared in many Bollywood films as well as in English language films and television series.

She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1998, Kalidas Samman in 2001, and in 2004, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, presented her with its highest award, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime achievement. She received the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian Honor, in 2010.

She was born Zohra Mumtaz (Sahibzadi Zohra Begum Mumtaz-ullah Khan) into a traditional Muslim family in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, to Mumtazullah Khan and Natiqua Begum, belonging to Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. She was third of her seven siblings – Zakullah, Hajrah, Ikramullah, Uzra (Uzra Butt), Anna and Sabira – and grew up in Chakrata, now in Uttarakhand (near Dehradun). As a girl she was a tomboy fond of climbing trees and playing games. Zohra lost vision in her left eye as she contracted glaucoma at the age of one year old.