Nirupa Roy (born Kanta Chauhan; 4 January 1931 – 13 October 2004) was an Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi films, besides working in a few Gujarati films. Starting her career as a leading actress, Roy became known for her portrayals of Parvati in several mythological films, including Har Har Mahadev (1950). Later she earned further recognition playing motherly roles during the 1970s, and was dubbed the "Queen of Misery" in Hindi film circles due to her portrayals of tragedy and sorrow. Roy was active from 1946 to 2002, appeared in over 250 films, and won three Filmfare Awards throughout her career, and was nominated a total of 4 times. In 2004, Roy received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.
Early life Based on her interview to film historian Shishir Krishna Sharma, Nirupa Roy was born to a Gujarati Chauhan household on 4 January 1931 in the city Valsad, Gujarat. Her birth name was Kanta Chauhan although she was addressed as Chhibi by her parents. She was one of the two daughters born to her parents. Her father was employed in the railways. She was only 14 years old in 1945 and was still in school when she was married off to Kamal Balsara following which her name changed to Kokila Balsara and with her husband, they went to Bombay (now Mumbai).
Career As per what Nirupa Roy herself stated, her marriage had been just 3 to 4 months only when her husband came across an advertisement from Sunrise Pictures in the newspapers which required the lookout for a fresh face for their upcoming Gujarati film Ranakdevi (1946) for which Kamal Balsara himself applied. However, Kamal failed the interview but his wife Kokila Balsara, who had accompanied him to the interview was noticed by the crew present there who immediately offered her the female lead role without an interview for her at all. She accepted the role only after Kamal Balsara insisted her too. Later, she was dismissed from that role and was, instead, given a different and brief role to portray. At the same time, the owner of Sunrise Pictures, film producer and director Vishnukumar Maganlal Vyas changed her name from Kokila Balsara to Nirupa Roy and introduced her with this new name in the film. Soon, Kamal Balsara too changed his family name to Roy and became Kamal Roy.
The first Hindi film she signed was Ajit Pictures' Gunsundari (1948), a Hindi-Gujarati bilingual film opposite Manhar Desai (with whom, she co-starred in several films later on). Her first released film, however, turned out to be Lakhon Mein Ek (1947). However, contrary to what she said, she was first seen in the Hindi film Amar Raj (1946).
As per her, even though mythological, historical and social films had a certain group of actors, Roy remained in demand from all genres to star in. She did almost 50 mytholgical films viz. Har Har Mahadev (1950), Shiv Shakti (1952), Naag Panchami (1953), Shiv Kanya (1954), Sati Madalsa (1955), Sati Naag Kanya (1956), Chandi Pooja (1957) often portraying Sita, Savitri, Parvati and Damyanti. Such was her popularity in mythologicals that people often tend to visit her home and seek blessings.
She also worked in 10 historical films viz. Amarsingh Rathaur (1956), Samrat Chandragupta (1958), Kavi Kalidas (1959), Rani Roopmati (1959), Veer Durgadas (1960) and Razia Sultan (1961). At the same time, she got the offers of both lead, second lead or character roles across social films and family dramas like Uddhar (1949), Hamari Manzil (1949), Mann Ka Meet (1950), Bhagyawaan (1953), Do Bigha Zamin (1953), Garam Coat (1955), Bhai-Bhai (1956), Janam Janam Ke Phere (1957), Kangan (1959), Ghar Ki Laj (1960) etc.
In the film Samrat Chandragupt (1958) starring her, she also wrote the song "Mujhe Dekh Chand Sharmaaye..." sung by Lata Mangeshkar with music by Kalyanji Veerji Shah which was also picturised on her.
The image she created through mythological films was so strong that when she dared to change her image by doing a couple of stunt films like Sinbad The Sailor (1952), Baazigar (1959) or Superman (1960), she didn't receive much success and met with heavy criticism from public, forcing her to stop working in stunt films. She essayed the title role of Superman in its Indianized version titled Superman (1960). This was a rare instance in Hindi Cinema when a woman portrayed a masculine character.
While in mythological films, she was often cast opposite Manhar Desai, Mahipal, Shahu Modak and Trilok Kapoor (with whom she did 18 films), she was often paired with Paidi Jairaj and Bharat Bhushan in historicals while in family dramas, her frequent chemistry used to be opposite Ashok Kumar and Balraj Sahni.
While she had often portrayed motherly characters in several films of 1950s, she was seen in the role of an aged mother for the first time in Munimji (1955). She played the old mother of the male lead, which was played by Dev Anand. She was still in her 20s when she played the role of Dev Anand's mother who himself, in reality, was 8 years older to her and who also worked as a parallel role earlier in Uddhar (1949). She also played the stepmother of Pran's character when Pran himself was 11 years older to her. Same way, the female lead Nalini Jaywant was 5 years older to her. As per Roy herself, she was originally given the heroine's role which required to show the heroine's journey from young to old. Despite completing the role, she was not informed about the changes made where her youth portion was cut and she was replaced there by Nalini Jaywant. Despite this, she received Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress though she remained upset from the turn of events during the making of the film.
She transitioned into character roles during the 1960s, winning Filmfare Awards for her performances in Chhaya (1961) and Shehnai (1964). Her other noteworthy performances were in Chand Aur Suraj (1965), Ram Aur Shyam (1967), Aaya Sawan Jhhom Ke (1969), Aan Milo Sajna (1970) and Chhoti Bahu (1971).
Her major success during her second innings arose when she essayed the role of the mother to the characters played by Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor made her name synonymous to the impoverished, suffering mother. Her role in Deewaar (1975), especially the iconic dialogue "Mere paas maa hai," became a cultural touchstone and is still cited today. She was offered the role only after Vyjayanthimala had turned it down. She thereby came to be identified as Amitabh Bachchan's mother and did the same in several films alongside playing the mothers of Shashi Kapoor, Dharmendra etc. as well viz. Maa (1976), Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Ganga Ki Saugand (1978), Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978), Suhaag (1979), Gautam Govinda (1979), Ganga Meri Maa (1983), Ganga Jamuna Saraswati (1988), Ganga Tere Desh Mein (1988) etc.
Her roles in Lal Baadshah (1999) where she played Amitabh Bachchan's foster mother, Jahan Tum Le Chalo (1999) where she played Jimmy Shergill's paternal grandmother and Love You Hamesha (2002) were amongst her last films.
Personal life and death At age 14, she married 23 years old Kamal Balsara (later Kamal Roy; 28 March 1922 - 9 November 2015) in 1945. They had two sons, Yogesh Roy and Kiran Roy. In the years following her death, they engaged into a dispute over Roy's property and belongings, which has received much attention in the news and media. Though she was supported by her husband regarding pursuing a film career, she initially met with heavy criticism for entering the showbiz despite being a married woman by the society, including her father. Though the people in general pacified soon after her first film release, her father remained angry and neither saw her nor spoke to her again till his death. Such was his anger on her that while he was alive, she had to surreptitiously meet her mother.
On 13 October 2004, Roy suffered a cardiac arrest in Mumbai, and died at the age of 73. Her husband Kamal Roy, 9 years older to her, outlived her by 11 years and died at age 93.
Several tributes and articles have been made in Roy's memory. Her dialogues from the film Deewaar became iconic, and her acting in the film along with her other notable films, is considered to be a landmark in Hindi cinema.
Filmography
Hindi