Nargis was one of many greatest stars of the Fifties Bollywood and the lady Raj Kapoor constructed his complete profession round. She spent 9 years ready for him to go away his spouse. He by no means did. She walked away, signed Mom India, bought trapped in a fireplace on set and married the co-star who carried her out. She gave up stardom, raised three kids and labored her technique to the Rajya Sabha. Then got here pancreatic most cancers in 1980. She held on by means of each therapy as a result of her son Sanjay Dutt was making his debut and she or he had promised to be there. She tragically died 4 days earlier than Rocky launched.
Nargis was born Fatima Rashid in 1929 in Rawalpindi, the daughter of a musician father who gave her the title Nargis — that means narcissus flower. By the point she was six she was already showing in movies. By 20, she was Bollywood’s greatest feminine star, the face of a brand new unbiased India, and the lady Raj Kapoor constructed his complete visible identification round.
They met on the units of Andaz in 1948. She was already a famous person. He was formidable, charming, and married with kids. For 9 years they had been inseparable on display and off it. When she lastly accepted he would by no means depart his spouse, she ended it and signed a movie with out telling him. He heard about it and by no means forgave her for it. The movie was Mom India.
On the units of Mom India in 1957, through the filming of a scene involving burning haystacks, Nargis bought trapped within the hearth. Her co-star Sunil Dutt, who performed her on-screen son, jumped in with out hesitation and carried her out. He was badly burned within the course of. She nursed him by means of his restoration. They fell in love throughout these weeks. She later wrote in her diary, “If it weren’t for him, maybe I might have ended my life. I need you to stay, he mentioned.”
They married secretly in an Arya Samaj ceremony on 11 March 1958 and saved it quiet for a yr as a result of they had been taking part in mom and son on display and the information would have destroyed the movie’s launch. When it lastly got here out, Bollywood was shocked. Raj Kapoor was devastated. In keeping with his spouse Krishna Kapoor and writer Madhu Jain’s biography of the Kapoor household, he got here house drunk evening after evening and collapsed within the bathtub weeping. He reportedly burned cigarette butts into his personal pores and skin.
With Sunil Dutt, Nargis constructed every part she had been denied earlier than. Three kids, a manufacturing firm, a social trigger she poured herself into, a Rajya Sabha nomination in 1980. She grew to become the primary patron of the Spastics Society of India. She gave up movies virtually solely, selecting her household over stardom with out wanting again. Those that knew her mentioned she was lastly at peace. Then in 1980, throughout a Rajya Sabha session, she fell unwell. Assessments confirmed pancreatic most cancers.
Her son Sanjay Dutt was set to make his debut within the movie Rocky, releasing on 7 Might 1981. Nargis had promised she can be there for the screening even when she needed to be rolled in on a stretcher. She meant it. She held on by means of surgical procedures and coverings and a physique that was failing her. She fell right into a coma on 2 Might 1981. She died on 3 Might 1981. Rocky launched 4 days later. On the premiere, Sunil Dutt saved a seat empty beside him. It was hers.
