Career
Fatima was recruited to the cinema at an early age. She made her first film appearance in the 1935 Talashe Haq when she was six years old, credited as "Baby Nargis". Nargis, her stage name, means "Narcissus", the flower. She was subsequently credited as Nargis in all of her films.
Nargis appeared in numerous movies after her film debut; she won lasting fame for her later, adult, roles, starting with at the age of 14, in Mehboob Khan's Taqdeer in 1943 opposite, Motilal. She starred in many popular Hindi-Urdu movies of the late 1940s and 1950s such as Barsaat (1949), Andaz (1949), Awaara (1951), Deedar (1951), Shree 420 (1955), and Chori Chori (1956). In most of her films she starred alongside Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar.
Her most famous role came in Mehboob Khan's Oscar-nominated rural drama Mother India in 1957. She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for her performance. After her marriage to Sunil Dutt in 1958, Nargis gave up her film career after her last few film releases to settle down with her family. She made her last film appearance in the 1967 film Raat Aur Din for which she won a National Film Award for Best Actress, the first actress to win in this category. She also received a Filmfare Best Actress Award Nomination for this film.
Awards and recognitions
- 1957 - Filmfare Best Actress Award, Mother India
- 1958 - Best Actress at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Mother India
- 1958 - Padma Shri - first film personality to be conferred the award.
- 1968 - National Film Award for Best Actress, Raat Aur Din
- Nargis Dutt was the recipient of the "Urvashy Award", the highest honour that can be conferred on a movie actress in India.
- She was not just the first actress to win the "Karlovy Wary Award", and also nominated to the Rajya Sabha (Upper house of Indian Parliament) (1980-81), but fell ill and died during her tenure.
- She had been conferred with a National Award for cinematography for contribution to Indian Cinema.
- On January 8, 2001, Amitabh Bachchan and Nargis Dutt were honoured with the "Best Artists of the Millennium" award by Hero Honda and file magazine "Stardust".
Filmography
- Talashe Haq (1935)
- Tamanna (1942)
- Taqdeer (1943)
- Humayun (1945)
- Bisvi Sadi (1945)
- Nargis (1946)
- Mehandi (1947)
- Mela (1948)
- Anokha Pyar (1948)
- Anjuman (1948)
- Aag (1948)
- Roomal (1949)
- Lahore (1949)
- Darogaji (1949)
- Barsaat (1949)
- Andaz (1949)
- Pyaar (1950)
- Meena Bazaar (1950)
- Khel (1950)
- Jogan (1950)
- Jan Pahchan (1950)
- Chhoti Bhabbi (1950)
- Babul (1950)
- Aadhi Raat (1950)
- Saagar (1951)
- Pyar Ki Baaten (1951)
- Hulchul (1951)
- Deedar (1951)
- Awaara (1951)
- Sheesha (1952)
- Bewafaa (1952)
- Ashiana (1952)
- Anhonee (1952)
- Amber (1952)
- Shikast (1953)
- Paapi (1953)
- Dhoon (1953)
- Aah (1953)
- Angarey (1954)
- Shree 420 (1955)
- Jagte Raho (1956)
- Chori Chori (1956)
- Pardesi (1957 film)
- Mother India (1957)
- Lajwanti (1958)
- Ghar Sansar (1958)
- Adalat (1958)
- Yaadein (1964)
- Raat Aur Din (1967)
- Tosa oneira stous dromous (1968)
