By
Sharada Iyer
On 25th February, 2025 actress Kamini Kaushal turned 98 years old! A soft spoken, elegant, and brilliant actress of her time, not only has she been a precious part of the earliest films of Hindi cinema, she is also regarded as one of the finest actresses to have graced the silver screen. And today we are extremely fortunate and truly blessed to still have amidst us this legendary icon who has seen the changing phases of our cinema from her debut film in 1946 (Neecha Nagar) to her latest outing in 2022 (Lal Singh Chaddha).
Down memory lane with Kamini Kaushal:
Kamini Kaushal was born Uma Kashyap in Lahore. Her father Shivram Kashyap was a world-famous botanist who founded the Botany Department at Lahore in 1919, and was the founding member of the Indian Botanical Society in 1920. This pioneering Indian botanist was also the president of Indian Science Congress and is regarded as the Father of Bryology. Her eldest brother was a doctor and the second brother was in the Army. She had two elder sisters as well.
In her interviews Kamini Kaushal recalls her wonderful childhood where she was encouraged to pursue whatever she wanted by her father. She learnt cycling, horse-riding, dancing (Bharatnatyam), tennis, badminton, swimming, embroidery, craft, etc. She started doing radio plays and theatre from a very young age and hence acting and voice modulation came naturally to her. It was this very talent of hers which was spotted by Chetan Anand and which made him approach her to play the heroine in his first directorial venture Neecha Nagar and then there was no looking back.
Chetan Anand was known to her elder brother and his wife Uma was in college with Kamini, which is how Chetan Anand ended up approaching the actress to act in his film alongside a bunch of newcomers. Though reluctant initially she went ahead and signed the film at her brother’s behest. Since Chetan’s wife Uma Anand also had a role in the film, to avoid any confusion, he changed Uma Kashyap’s name and gave her the screen name Kamini Kaushal.
The film, an adaptation of Maxim Gorky’s 1902 play The Lower Depths was written by K A Abbas and produced by Rashid Anwar. The latter’s brother Rafiq Anwar was cast as Kamini Kaushal’s brother in the film. It was also Zohra Sehgal’s first film and Ravi Shankar made his debut as a music director.
The film regarded as the pioneer of the parallel cinema movement dealt with the exploitation and oppression of the poor slum dwellers by a rich industrialist to suit his money-making selfish goals. The film created history as it went on to win the Best Film award at the first Cannes Film Festival in 1946 and till date remains the only Indian film to be awarded the Palme d’Or. Kamini Kaushal won the Montreal Film Festival award for this film. With such a stupendous and unexpected debut, Kamini stepped into the world of films without any struggle and enjoyed the whole experience in a fun and light-hearted way. After the shooting of the film was over, she went back to Lahore and finished her graduation in English Literature from Lahore.
Soon offers started coming and she chose her films wisely not wanting to pack too much into her schedule. She signed films opposite all the newcomers as well as established heroes of her time- Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Kishore Sahu, Sajjan, Shekhar, Abhi Bhattacharya, Sohrab Modi, Ajit, Murad, and Raj Kumar.
Her pairing with Dilip Kumar was especially very popular and their on-screen chemistry was palpable. Both were excellent actors and added to it was his boyish charm and her innocent beauty which made their scenes together seem very natural and truly endearing. They teamed up together in four films Nadiya Ke Paar, Shaheed, Shabnam, and Aarzoo and ended up falling in love in real life as well.
SHAHEED (1948): ‘Badnaam na ho jaaye muhabbat ka fasana…’
However, their love story was not meant to be as destiny had other plans. Kamini Kaushal lost her elder sister tragically in a road accident and decided to marry her brother-in-law B S Sood, and be a mother to her sister’s two daughters who were very young at that time. Her husband supported her whole-heartedly to make a career in films.
She was cast opposite Dev Anand in his first solo hero film Ziddi in 1948, a love triangle Shair in 1949 where Suraiya played the third angle of the triangle, and Namoona, also in 1949. Ziddi was a big hit. The film also had the first Lata Mangeshkar-Kishore Kumar duet recorded for Hindi cinema. Lata Mangeshkar also had a solo song which was picturized on a heroine for the first time in the film, and it was on Kamini Kaushal.
ZIDDI (1948): ‘Chanda re ja re ja re ,piya se sandesa mora kahiyo ja…’
She acted opposite Raj Kapoor in his second film in 1947 titled Jail Yatra and in his first directorial venture Aag, which released in 1948. Apart from her, there were two other heroines in the film- Nargis and Nigar Sultana.
With Ashok Kumar Kamini Kaushal acted in Poonam in 1952 and Night Club in 1958 as his heroine and years later in a supporting role as his sister in Bheegi Raat released in1965. Poonam was a tragic love story and had Sajjan as her other co-star. Having grown up together in the hills leading a simple lifestyle, Sajjan loves Kamini but she ends up falling in love with Ashok Kumar who is a rich man from the city. Though he is enchanted with her voice, she mistakes it for love and starts dreaming of a life with him. She gets a shock when she finds out he is a married man and has a blind daughter and a lot of drama ensues.
POONAM (1952): ‘Aayi aayi raat suhaani sun le khushi ki kahani…’
Night Club was a thriller where her brother who is a policeman works as a spy in a night club whose owner is known for being involved in criminal activities. Unfortunately, he gets killed and Kamini then decides to enter the villain’s lair and take her revenge. Along with Ashok Kumar who is also a policeman and Kamini’s brother’s best friend, they manage to hoodwink the villain. She gets to disguise as a young man smoking cigarette and does it with elan. In Shabnam opposite Dilip Kumar, while escaping with her aged father as a refugee fleeing Burma, she again gets to dress up as a boy for the first half an hour of the film till Dilip Kumar discovers the truth.
In the tragic love-story Nadiya ke Paar, she plays a tribal girl and had to wear body-hugging sarees without a blouse which was quite modern for those times. In Aarzoo, Kamini is torn between her respect for her husband and her true love Dilip Kumar whom she had thought to be dead. When he returns to find her married, he is angry and the drama that unfolds is interesting.
NADIYA KE PAAR (1948): ‘O more raja ho le chal nadiya ke paar…’
She had a light-hearted role in Pugree in 1948, which was later remade in 1972 as Dil Daulat Duniya, with Rajesh Khanna and Sadhana. She plays the quintessential ‘Bhabhi’ in Bade Bhai opposite Ajit who is a poor rickshaw-puller and does everything possible to get his younger brother educated. Her natural acting was indeed laudable.
For her extraordinary performance in the title role of Biraj in Biraj Bahu in 1954, she deservedly won the Filmfare Best Actress award that year. Directed by Bimal Roy, the film was based on the novel by the same name written in 1904 by Saratchandra Chattopadhyay. The film also won the All-India Merit Certificate at the first National Film Awards. The film gives us a poignant scenario of the social milieu of those times and depicts how a husband’s pointless accusations and the wagging tongues of villagers could make life miserable for a woman. Kamini comes up with a touching performance.
Set in rural Bengal, the film narrates the emotional story of a poor childless couple Abhi Bhattacharya and Kamini Kaushal who love each other a lot. He sings bhajans and helps villagers in times of their need but is basically jobless. They stay together with his younger brother and wife, as well as his younger sister played by Baby Nazima (whose name appears as Baby Chand in the titles).
Things turn sour between the brothers when the younger brother refuses to lend a helping hand in their sister’s marriage and they build a wall between their huts and start living separately. Further, the entry of a rich zamindar played by Pran creates trouble in their paradise when Abhi Bhattacharya in a drunken state accuses Kamini of having illicit relationship with Pran. Actress Manorama in a brilliant role plays the woman who is the cause of all the trouble sowing seeds of doubt in Abhi Bhattacharya’s mind.
Another notable act from Kamini Kaushal can be seen in writer-director Sohrab Modi’s film Jailor (1958), where he plays the title role of a strict jail officer. Unfortunately, he brings home the same strictness in his personal life as well and behaves like a jailor at home, imposing too many restrictions and rules on his wife. Kamini Kaushal is excellent as the miserable wife who refuses to bow down to his diktats and has the gall to argue with him. Unable to tolerate her husband’s rules, she takes an extreme step when leaving her daughter and husband she decides to run away with her lover Abhi Bhattacharya. Daisy Irani plays her daughter.
Fate intervenes and their car meets with an accident which results in Abhi Bhattacharya losing his eyesight. He runs away from the hospital and ends up befriending a poor blind girl, played by Geeta Bali. Meanwhile Kamini finds herself back in her house where her husband now tortures her even more to punish her for running away. An interesting first half but the narrative unfortunately turns senselessly tragic and melodramatic in the second half. But what stays with us is the superb performance from the entire cast.
Her last film as a heroine was Godaan in 1963 opposite Raj Kumar. Directed by Trilok Jetley the film was based on the classic story of the same name written by Munshi Premchand. The film like the novel is indeed a masterpiece to watch, with excellent direction and fabulous performances by Raj Kumar and Kamini Kaushal. This was a heart-wrenching tale of a farmer who dreams of owning a cow, considered very auspicious for farmers to have in their homes. He takes a loan but sadly the cow dies which results in him selling everything he has, pushing him and his family to depths of poverty filled with unending debts.
While Raj Kumar is calm and accepts his fate blindly and takes decisions out of sheer helplessness, Kamini Kaushal’s is a strong woman and does not hesitate to give her husband a piece of her mind every time he cowers down to the landlords and his brothers, when they cheat him resulting in worsening their condition. She gets to display a gamut of emotions like anger, helplessness and love and gives a memorable performance. Mehmood plays their son who ditches them when they need him the most and Shubha Khote plays his wife.
GODAAN (1963): ‘Janam liyo lalna ke chand more angna utari aayo …’
After this film, she did not accept any offers till actor-director Manoj Kumar convinced her to play the role of Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s mother in Shaheed in 1965, where he was playing the title role. Though initially hesitant she ended up not only loving her role but also giving a remarkable performance. Watching the film even today will well our eyes with tears in many scenes especially when we feel the pain and agony of the mother coupled with pride for her young, brave, and patriotic son.
After this she was part of many Manoj Kumar films and played his mother in Upkar, Purab Aur Paschim, Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, Shor, Sanyasi, Dus Numbri, and Santosh. She shared a great rapport with all her co-stars. She shared screen space with Rajesh Khanna and Prem Chopra in Do Raaste and Prem Nagar. While she played their sister-in-law in the former, the latter had her play their mother with a grey shade, and she excelled in both roles.
After a successful stint as a ‘mother’, in the last decade, she played grandmother in Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Chennai Express, Kabir Singh, etc. In Lal Singh Chaddha, she was just part of the co-passengers sitting in the compartment with Aamir Khan and had no dialogues.
For those who might have thought she could only play good-hearted, kind roles, Kamini Kaushal sprang a surprise by playing a cold-blooded killer in Anhonee in 1974, where she not only kills her husband but also ruthlessly tries to finish off her step-daughter. In fact, it was her role, and Bindu’s song ‘Maine hothon se lagaayi toh hungama ho gaya…’ which formed the highlights of the film.
Apart from acting in films she also took on roles in television serials like Shanno Ki Shaadi and Waqt Ki Raftar on Doordarshan and the British serial ‘The Jewel in the Crown’ aired on BBC. She created her own puppets and did a puppet show Chand Sitare for Doordarshan . She also wrote stories for a children’s magazine Parag where she created her own characters and the stories became very popular.
She added a quiet dignity and a lot of integrity to whatever role came her way. Not many are aware but she was Filmfare magazine’s ‘first cover girl’ and has also been the recipient of Filmfare’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
For someone, who was not inclined to join the film industry, she has ended up being associated with cinema for more than 70 years with a career studded with excellent performances. Our salutations to this living legend!