Nutan- A reminiscence

By: Poonam Deviah
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
She grew with complexes, she was termed skinny and ugly, yet her eyes told tales from the depth of the heart and she gave us more than three decades of her life...this is Nutan for you!

Daughter of an established actress Shobana Samarth, Nutan was a beautiful image. But sadly it had not always been so. More often than not, relatives put her off as skinny and ugly. As a child she starred in Nal Damayanti and at 14, offers came in. She acted in a few movies but that, did not give her the 'star-class' or win her acclaim. She was considered 'too thin.' But mother Shobana, was to take none of it. Having seen the child Nutan's inclination and talent for movies she did not want to leave any stone unturned for her. She sent 18-year-old Nutan to a finishing school in Switzerland to trim the wild ends.

The Nutan that returned from Switzerland then set the stage on fire. From there emerged a petite beauty who went on to make history in Indian Cinema. From 1950 for more than three decades Nutan gave us wonderful movies, many which took her to great heights thus showing off her acting caliber.

In 1950, Shobana Samarth launched Nutan with Humari Beti. Soon Hum Log and Nagina followed the subsequent year. This gave Nutan the deserved popularity. SEEMA won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. With Paying Guest and Dilli Ka Thug she touched a new pinnacle of success.

In 1959 Nutan married Naval Lieutenant Commander Rajneesh Behl. With Tere Ghar Ke Saamne, a romantic comedy, in 1963 Nutan made a come back. Dev Anand and Nutan made a fine pair in this movie. In the same year, in Bandini she gave the greatest and best performance of a lifetime. She displayed a riot of emotions with passion and sensations unmatched. It was a soulful performance taking her to a new stature of mastery.

In the 1960s, Nutan formed a hit pair with Sunil Dutt and gave a string of successful movies like Khandaan, Meherban and Milan. She gave a poignant performance in Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki. Apart from Sunil Dutt, she also gave great movies opposite Shammi Kapoor and Dilip Kumar.

She could portray the soul of a character she played. Raj Khosla's Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki and others like Saajan Bina Suhagan, Saajan Ki Saheli, Teri Maang Sitaton Se Bahar Doon, Rishta Kagaz Ka won her awards.

Nutan was blessed with a lovely voice and she did her own playback in Chabili in 1960. Lata Mangeshkar had once said that her expressions in song sequences suggested that she was genuinely singing the song herself!

With time, she slowly moulded herself to play motherly roles. Meri Jung and Karma are worth mentioning here. Subash Ghai cast her in a pivotal role in Meri Jung. Like always Nutan gave an amazing performance. During the late 1980s Nutan waged a failing battle against cancer. India lost the great actress Nutan in 1991. The void still remains.

Recent Stories
Sridevi - The child woman
The tragedy queen of the yester-years