Zohra Sehgal obit

Bollywood's 'Laadli of the century' Zohra Sehgal dies at 102

 

He was not on the list.

Veteran actress Zohra Sehgal died at 4pm on Thursday in a Delhi hospital. She was 102. In her career spanning almost 8 decades, the famous film actress had acted in several Bollywood and Hollywood films.

Born Zohra Begum Mumtazullah Khan, on April 27, 1912, into a traditional family in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, lost vision in her left eye as she contracted glaucoma at the age of one.

Back in 1935, she had started her career as a dancer with Uday Shankar. Popularly known as the ‘grand old lady’ of Indian cinema, she last appeared in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya in 2007. Sehgal had acted in many Hindi films including Veer-Zara, Saaya, Cheeni-Kum and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam besides Hollywood movies such as The Vengeance of She, Tales that Witness Madness, Never Say Die, Little Napoleons and Bend It Like Beckham among others.

“She was unwell for three-four days,” daughter Kiran said. Sehgal would be cremated on Friday at 11am at the Lodhi Road crematorium.

The news was broken in the night by historian Irfan Habib who tweeted, “Just confirmed that Zohra Aapa is no more...” In another tweet, he said, “Extremely sad to know about the passing away of Zohra Sehgal, a woman who lived a full life on her own terms. Great loss to art and culture. RIP.”

As a dancer, she performed across Japan, Egypt, Europe and the US. She married scientist, painter and dancer Kameshwar Sehgal in 1942.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he was saddened by her demise:

Sahibzadi Zohra Begum Mumtaz-ullah Khan, better known as Zohra Sehgal, was born into a Sunni Muslim Rohilla Pathan family of Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, on 27th April, 1912 in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, India. However, unlike most other children of traditional households, Zohra Sehgal was a tomboy, who enjoyed climbing trees and playing games. Always rebellious, she saw in her teens Uday Shankar perform in Dehra Dun, during a vacation there, and that acted as the turning point of her life.

She traveled all the way across India, West Asia and Europe by car with an uncle who was close to her. On her return, she was sent, clad in a burqa, to Queen Mary's Girls College, Lahore, a place of higher learning for daughters of aristocratic families. After she finished her college, she joined Uday Shankar's dance troupe, and traveled to Japan, West Asia, Europe and America. During this time, she met Kameshwar Sehgal, a Hindu and eight years younger to herself, and fell in love with him. After initial opposition from her parents, the couple got married, and in spite of Kameshwar's willingness to convert to Islam to marry Zohra, nobody insisted on it. The two had a civil marriage in August 1942. (As Khushwant Singh noted, Jawaharlal Nehru was to attend the wedding reception, but he was arrested a couple of days earlier for supporting Gandhi's Quit India Movement.

The couple first worked in Uday Shankar's dance institute at Almora.When it shut down, they migrated to Lahore and founded their own Dance Institute. However, the growing communal tension prior to the Partition of India made them feel unwelcome, and they went to Bombay, where Zohra joined Prithviraj Kapur's theater as a stage actress and worked there for 14 years.

They had two children, who had the choice of being Hindu or Muslim. For a while they accepted both, then discarded them. By that time, Zohra became an atheist. Her husband was all along a 'non-religious' man.

Zohra had acted on the stage in different parts of India, including plays performed for jails inmates. According to Khushwant Singh, she once stayed back to witness an execution in the Ferozepore jail after staging a play there.

After her husband's suicide, Zohra first moved to Delhi, and then went to London. When she did not get roles as a dancer or an actress, she took on odd jobs like working in the India Tea Centre. Then she got her first break in the films and was signed by Arthur Rank and Merchant Ivory productions.

In India, she became well-known after the appeared in the TV series Mullah Naseeruddin. She has since appeared in many Bollywood as British (mostly British Indian) movies.

Actress

Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor in Saawariya (2007)

Saawariya

5.2

Lilian Ji aka Lilipop

2007

 

Amitabh Bachchan, Tabu, and Paresh Rawal in Cheeni Kum (2007)

Cheeni Kum

6.8

Mrs. Gupta

2007

 

Dylan McDermott and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in The Mistress of Spices (2005)

The Mistress of Spices

5.5

First Mother (as Zohra Segal)

2005

 

Chicken Tikka Masala (2005)

Chicken Tikka Masala

5.7

Grandmother

2005

 

Anita Hassanandani Reddy in Kkavyanjali (2005)

Kkavyanjali

4.5

TV Series

Bebe

2005

1 episode

 

Preity G Zinta and Shah Rukh Khan in Veer-Zaara (2004)

Veer-Zaara

7.8

Zahida 'Bebe' Hayaat Khan

2004

 

Raqesh Bapat and Richa Pallod in Kaun Hai Jo Sapno Mein Aaya (2004)

Kaun Hai Jo Sapno Mein Aaya

6.0

2004

 

Preity G Zinta, Saif Ali Khan, and Shah Rukh Khan in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)

Kal Ho Naa Ho

7.9

2003

 

Saaya (2003)

Saaya

5.7

Sister Martha

2003

 

Govinda and Rani Mukerji in Chalo Ishq Ladaaye (2002)

Chalo Ishq Ladaaye

4.4

Dadi (as Zohra Segal)

2002

 

Chandeep Uppal and Anna Brewster in Anita & Me (2002)

Anita & Me

6.4

Nanima

2002

 

Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra in Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

Bend It Like Beckham

6.7

Biji (as Zohra Segal)

2002

 

Landmark

9.0

Short

Gran

2001

 

The Mystic Masseur (2001)

The Mystic Masseur

5.8

Auntie (as Zohra Segal)

2001

 

Ashwin Chadha and Zohra Sehgal in Zindagi Kitni Khoobsoorat Hai (2001)

Zindagi Kitni Khoobsoorat Hai

TV Series

Dadi

2001–2002

 

Abhishek Bachchan and Kirti Reddy in Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa (2000)

Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa

3.1

Elderly Lady (in song "Agre Mein Hai Mashoor") (as Zhora Saigal)

2000

 

Khwahish

TV Series

Aapa

1999–2000

 

Urmila Matondkar, Bobby Deol, and Sunny Deol in Dillagi (1999)

Dillagi

5.3

Ranvir's Grandmother

1999

 

Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Straight from the Heart (1999)

Straight from the Heart

7.4

Dadi

1999

 

Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala in Dil Se.. (1998)

Dil Se..

7.5

Grandmother (as Zora Seghal)

1998

 

Pooja Bhatt in Tamanna (1998)

Tamanna

7.1

Mrs. Chopra (as Zohra Saigal)

1998

 

Amma and Family

6.8

TV Series

Amma

1995–1996

 

Michelle Holmes, Madhur Jaffrey, and Billie Whitelaw in Firm Friends (1992)

Firm Friends

8.2

TV Series

Suvira Bhatia

1992–1994

8 episodes

 

Little Napoleons (1994)

Little Napoleons

6.3

TV Mini Series

Jayaben Shah (as Zohra Segal)

1994

3 episodes

 

Bhaji on the Beach (1993)

Bhaji on the Beach

6.4

Pushpa

1993

 

Sakina Jaffrey and Srinivas Krishna in Masala (1991)

Masala

6.5

Grandma

1991

 

Mullah Nasruddin

8.9

TV Series

Old Lady

Story Teller

1990

13 episodes

 

Colin Blumenau, Nula Conwell, Peter Ellis, Trudie Goodwin, Jon Iles, Gary Olsen, Eric Richard, John Salthouse, Tony Scannell, Jeff Stewart, Mark Wingett, and Delia Swan in The Bill (1984)

The Bill

6.7

TV Series

Mrs. Gunn

1989

2 episodes

 

Manika, une vie plus tard (1989)

Manika, une vie plus tard

6.8

Mère de Ranjit

1989

 

Never Say Die

7.6

TV Series

Gajmukhi

1987

4 episodes

 

Arena (1975)

Arena

7.6

TV Series

Performer

1987

1 episode

 

Tandoori Nights (1985)

Tandoori Nights

7.9

TV Series

Gran

1985–1987

12 episodes

 

Paul Nicholas in Bust (1987)

Bust

7.0

TV Series

Patel's Mother (as Zohra Segal)

1987

1 episode

 

Partition (1987)

Partition

7.0

1987

 

Natural World (1983)

Natural World

8.6

TV Series

Grandmother (as Zohra Segal)

1986

1 episode

 

Caravaggio (1986)

Caravaggio

6.5

Jerusaleme's Grandmother

1986

 

Nastassja Kinski in Harem (1985)

Harem

4.7

Affaf (as Zohra Segal)

1985

 

Shadey (1985)

Shadey

4.7

Indian Cleaning Woman

1985

 

The Jewel in the Crown (1984)

The Jewel in the Crown

8.3

TV Mini Series

Lili Chatterjee

1984

2 episodes

 

Dear Manju

TV Movie

Aunt (as Zohra Segal)

1983

 

Beyond the Limit (1983)

Beyond the Limit

5.7

Maria (as Zohra Segal)

1983

 

Storyboard (1983)

Storyboard

7.2

TV Series

Ayah (as Zohra Segal)

1983

1 episode

 

Barry Evans in Mind Your Language (1977)

Mind Your Language

8.7

TV Series

Mrs. Singh (as Zohra Segal)

1978

1 episode

 

It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974)

It Ain't Half Hot Mum

7.2

TV Series

Rangi's Mother-in-Law (as Zohra Segal)

1974

1 episode

 

Tales That Witness Madness (1973)

Tales That Witness Madness

5.6

Malia (segment "Luau") (as Zohra Segal)

1973

 

Shirley Dixon and Denis Lill in The Regiment (1972)

The Regiment

8.4

TV Series

Nanni Ji

1973

1 episode

 

The Doctors (1969)

The Doctors

6.9

TV Series

Mrs. Patel's Mother (as Zohra Segal)

1970

1 episode

 

Kaz Garas, Anthony Quayle, and Anneke Wills in Strange Report (1969)

Strange Report

8.2

TV Series

Grandma (uncredited)

1969

1 episode

 

The Guru (1969)

The Guru

5.4

Mastani (as Zohra Segal)

1969

 

The Expert (1968)

The Expert

8.1

TV Series

Mrs. Singh (as Zohra Segal)

1968

1 episode

 

The Vengeance of She (1968)

The Vengeance of She

4.7

Putri (as Zohra Segal)

1968

 

Theatre 625 (1964)

Theatre 625

7.5

TV Series

Amma (as Zohra Segal)

1967

1 episode

 

Yul Brynner and Trevor Howard in The Long Duel (1967)

The Long Duel

5.9

Devi (as Zohra Segal)

1967

 

Paul McGann, Colin Baker, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, William Hartnell, Sylvester McCoy, Jon Pertwee, and Patrick Troughton in Doctor Who (1963)

Doctor Who

8.4

TV Series

Sheyrah

Attendant on Ping-Cho

Attendant to Ping-Cho

1964–1965

4 episodes

 

The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling (1963)

The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling

7.3

TV Series

Fareda

Ameera's Mother

Ayah ...

1964

5 episodes

 

Gideon C.I.D. (1964)

Gideon C.I.D.

8.0

TV Series

Woman in market (uncredited)

1964

1 episode

 

Prithviraj Kapoor in Paisa (1957)

Paisa

(as Zohra Segal)

1957

 

Heer

4.8

Saida's Mother (as Zohra Saigal)

1956

 

Fareb

(as Zohra Segal)

1953

 

Afsar (1950)

Afsar

8.1

1950

 

Neecha Nagar (1946)

Neecha Nagar

6.6

Bhabi (as Zohra Segal)

1946

 

Dharti Ke Lal (1950)

Dharti Ke Lal

6.6

1950

 

Additional Crew

Nau Do Gyarah (1957)

Nau Do Gyarah

7.3

choreographer (as Zohra Saigal)

1957

 

C.I.D. (1956)

C.I.D.

7.1

dances (as Zohra Saigal)

1956

 

Dev Anand and Geeta Bali in Dev Anand in Goa (Alias Farar) (1955)

Dev Anand in Goa (Alias Farar)

5.8

choreographer (as Zohra Saigal)

1955

 

Gamble (1951)

Gamble

6.9

choreographer

1951

 

Afsar (1950)

Afsar

8.1

choreography (as Zohra Segal)

1950

 

Neecha Nagar (1946)

Neecha Nagar

6.6

choreographer (as Zohra Segal)

1946