The Hallmark Of Acting Goes To Nutan

Gold and glitter, beauty and glamour, popularity and fame, these are the talks of Bollywood town. But what happens when a simple girl enters this new town with dreams adorning her beautiful eyes? Will she be able to engrave her name or just flow away with wind and time?

Nutan. Illustrated by Dishani Goswami: Visual Storyteller at ThisDay

Meryl Streep once quoted, “Acting is not about being someone different. It’s finding the similarity in what is different, then finding myself in there.”

Actors and acting often leave a deep impact on our feeble minds. Have you ever experienced that night when you dream of becoming a doctor after watching a medical drama? Have you ever seen a dream wherein you replace the protagonist in a film? But not all actors give you those goosebumps. Such actors are born once in a millennium and so was Nutan.

Born in a family where acting and drama flowed in the veins of the family members, Nutan was perhaps drawn to the glittery world at a very young age. With the beautiful Tanuja as her very own sister, Nutan always suffered from the complexities of having not-so-bright skin and an oh-so-lean-and-thin body. Nutan’s mother, Shobhna was a director with a success rate that touched the sky. But with time, her name and fame fell.

With a traumatic childhood consisting of a divorce of her parents and her mother failing miserably in her career, Nutan could never live a normal and happy childhood. She was then sent to Switzerland for completing her further studies. It was the environment and comfort of the people of Switzerland that relaxed her traumatized self. She realized that life would never give her another chance to live in the laps of the expensive yet beautiful land of Swiss.

Life takes unexpected turns and things that are of no interest to you might turn out to be the biggest hub of opportunities. When her mind said that she was too ugly to become an actress, her heart whispered that she could do it and all that she needed was a pinch of confidence and acting skills. At the age of 14, when she acted in Hamari Beti which was produced by her very own mother, she had never thought that opportunities as vast as the sea were waiting for her.

A record-holder of five Filmfare awards until the record was broken by her very own niece Kajol in 2011, Nutan’s series of award- winning performances were unmatched. Her first big break Seema became the reason for her to win her first black shiny lady.

In 1959 Nutan found her soulmate in Lieutenant-Commander Rajnish Bahl in the Indian Navy. But her decision to quit acting after marriage shook the entire film industry. When directors were getting ready with contracts to sign her for their films, her straightforward no made the directors hold their heads.

From romantic comedy with Dev Anand in the Paying Guest to giving superhit films with Raj Kapoor and Sunil Dutt, she donned every role with perfection at its highest level.

Bimal Roy proved to be the greatest closer of the decade when he convinced Nutan to play the lead role in his film, Bandini. It was the magnum opus of her entire lifetime. Nutan plays the role of Kalyani who was convicted after poisoning the wife of her lover. But what happens when a young prison doctor falls in love with Kalyani? Kalyani’s decision to either return to her past life or accept the newly blossoming love was what the film was about. Known as the finest performances in the history of Indian cinema, Nutan showed that a dark and skinny girl was no more afraid of criticisms and challenges but strived only for perfection and success.

Being an actress is not a cakewalk, especially when you work in a dangerous industry called Bollywood where a single mistake can turn anybody into a scandal queen. A slap that made her the rebellious queen of the film industry, a slap that was not a publicity stunt but her fight to revive her respect, and finally a slap that made everyone realize how strong women could be.

Talking about the incident, she said, "My slapping Sanjeev Kumar became a much-talked-about incident. He made a very careless, irresponsible statement about having an affair and that made me furious. I have never been linked with scandals and when he said what he did, I flew off the handle. I had to put him in his place. After I said what I had to, I cooled down and said, 'let's finish the love scene,' and we did."

It was the unfortunate year of 1991 when Nutan was lying on her death bed counting her final breath. Diagnosed with breast cancer, she fought and fought bravely even till her very last breath. Cancer did not defeat her. It was her courage and willpower to live, that defeated cancer.

A path-breaking legacy in the History of Indian films, a career with a success rate that was beyond 100%, a hallmark of dialogue delivery and emotions, and finally a woman who never always believed in sharing equal footing with a male counterpart, Nutan was someone who was a hub-house of talents which could never be produced again.

When beauty entrances you and love beholds you, this is where her story starts; Source: Famous People Wiki