10 July 2014 :: Zohra Sehgal, an Indian actress and choreographer died in a New Delhi hospital on 10 July 2014 at the age of 102, following a cardiac arrest. She started her career as dancer with Uday Shankar in 1935 and worked with him for the next eight years. She has appeared in many Bollywood films as a character actor as well as in English language films and television series.
The famous films she was part of include Neecha Nagar, Afsar(1946),Bhaji on the Beach (1992), The Mystic Masseur (2001), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Dil Se.. (1998), Saawariya and Cheeni Kum (2007); and the TV series, The Jewel in the Crown (1984), Tandoori Nights (1985–87), Amma and Family (1996). At the age of 90, she got the lead character around whom the story revolved in 2002 film Chalo Ishq Ladaaye, where she had stunt sequences and emotional scenes. Considered the doyenne of Indian theatre, she acted with Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) and Prithviraj Kapoor’s Prithvi Theatre for fourteen years.
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 Sahibzadi Zohra Begum Mumtaz-ullah Khan on 27 April 1912 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 seven children – Zakullah, Hajrah, Ikramullah, Uzra (Uzra Butt), Anna and Sabira – and grew up in Chakrata, now in Uttarakhand (near Dehradun). 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. She was referred to a hospital in Birmingham where she was treated at a cost of £300.
She lost her mother while still young. As per their mother’s wishes, she and her sister were sent to Queen Mary College, Lahore. Strict purdah was observed there and the few males invited to speak did so from behind a screen. As a result of seeing her sister’s failed marriage, she decided to pursue a career, rather than get married.
