Lalita Pawar

Lalita Pawar
Born	Amba Laxman Rao Sagun 18 April 1916(1916-04-18) Nasik, Bombay Presidency, British India
Died	24 February 1998(1998-02-24) (aged 81) Pune, Maharashtra, India
Years active	1928-1997
Awards	1959: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for her role in Anari 1961: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award - Acting

Lalita Pawar (18 April 1916 – 24 February 1998) was a prolific Indian actress, who later became famous as character actress, appearing in over 700 films in Hindi and Marathi cinema, where she gave hits like, Netaji Palkar (1938), made by Bhalji Pendharkar, New Hana Pictures’ Sant Damaji, Navyug Chitrapat’s Amrit, written by VS Khandekar, and Chhaya Films’ Gora Kumbhar. Her other memorable roles were in film, Anari (1959), Shri 420 and Mr & Mrs 55, and the role of Manthara, in Ramanand Sagar's television epic serial, Ramayan.

Biography

Born Amba Laxman Rao Shagun, on 18 April 1916, into an orthodox family in Yevle in Nashik, where her father Laxman Rao Shagun was a rich silk and cotton piecegoods merchant, she started her acting career at age nine in the film, Raja Harishchandra (1928), and later went on to play lead roles in silent era and 1940's films, in a career that lasted until the end of her life, spanning seven decades.

She co-produced and acted in a silent film, Kailash (1932), and later produced another film, Duniya Kya Hai in 1938, a talkie.

Lalita Pawar, playing the lead in film, Himmat-e-Marda (1935).

In 1942, as a part of a scene actor Bhagwan Dada was to slap her hard. Being a new actor, he accidentally slapped her very hard, which resulted in facial paralysis and a burst left eye vein.^{[citation needed]} Three years of treatment later, she was left with a defective left eye; thus she had to abandon lead roles, and switch to character roles, which won her much of her fame later in life ^{[citation needed]}

She was known particularly for playing maternal figures, especially wicked matriarchs or mothers-in-law. She also notably played the role of the strict but kind Mrs. L. D'Sa in Anari (1959) with Raj Kapoor, under Hrishikesh Mukherjee's direction, she gave the performance of a lifetime, for which she received Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award; as the tough matriarch who falls in love in Professor (1962), and the devious hunchback Manthara in Ramanand Sagar's television series Ramayan.

Personal life

Her first marriage was to Ganpatrao Pawar, which went sour after his affair with her younger sister. She later married film producer Rajprakash Gupta, of Ambika studios, Mumbai. Pawar died on 24 February 1998 in Aundh, Pune, where she had been staying, for a while. She was survived by her husband, a son and daughter-in-law, who live in Mumbai.

Filmography

Year	Film	Character
1951	The Immortal Song
1955	Shri 420	Ganga Mai
1955	Mr & Mrs 55	Seeta Devi, Anita's Aunt
1959	Anari	Mrs. L. D'Sa
1959	Sujata	Giribala, Buaji/aunt
1961	Hum Dono	Major's Mother
1962	Professor	Sita Devi Verma
1974	Doosri Sita
1976	Aaj Ka Ye Ghar	Mrs. Shanti Dinanath
1976	Tapasya	Mrs. Varma
1977	Aaina	Janki
1980	Kali Ghata	Ambu, House keeper
1980	Phir Wohi Raat	Hostel Warden

|1980 |Sau Din Saas Ke |}

Awards

• 1959: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for her role in Anari (1959)
• 1961: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award - Acting

External links

• Lalita Pawar at the Internet Movie Database
• Tribute to Laita Pawar at Screen.