ZOHRA SEHGAL (1912-2014)
Zohra was an Indian actress, dancer, and choreographer. She appeared in several British films, television shows, and Bollywood productions in a career that spanned over eight decades. Born Sahibzadi Zohra Begum Mumtaz-ullah Khan, she belonged to a respected and wealthy Muslim family in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. Graduating from the British-run elite Queen Mary College, Lahore, later she got admission at a ballet school in Dresden, Germany. In 1935, she joined Uday Shankar’s troupe, it was here that she met her future husband Kameshwar Sehgal, a scientist, painter and dancer from Indore.
The duo later migrated to Lahore, where they set up their own dance academy, the Zohresh Dance Institute. In 1945, Sehgal joined the theatre group, Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), After her husband's death in 1959, Sehgal moved
to Delhi and was appointed as the director of the newly founded Natya Academy. She worked in the same position for about three years. Later in 1962, Sehgal was awarded a drama scholarship, which required her to move to London, United Kingdom. Following that, Sehgal made her television debut with a BBC adaptation of a Kipling story The Rescue of Pluffles, in 1964. Sehgal got her first international break in films in 1982, with Merchant Ivory’s The Courtesans of Bombay. She died on 10 July 2014, aged 102, after suffering cardiac arrest.
Sehgal's most notable films include Neecha Nagar, Afsar (1946), Bhaji on the Beach (1992), The Mystic Masseur (2001), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Dil Se.. (1998), Saaya (2003), Veer-Zaara (2004) Saawariya and Cheeni Kum (2007); and
the TV serials The Jewel in the Crown (1984), Tandoori Nights (1985–87) and Amma and Family (1996).[1] At the age of 90, she played the central character in the 2002 film Chalo Ishq Ladaaye. Considered the doyenne of Indian theatre, she first performed in Lahore for Ajoka Theatre’s Aik thi Nani in 1993, she and her sister Uzra Butt appeared
on stage together after four decades.
Zohra was awarded the Padma Shri in 1998, Kalidas Samman in 2001, and in 2004 the Sangeet Natak Akademi (India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama) presented her with its highest award, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime achievement. She received the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honour, in 2010. Laadli Media Awards in New Delhi, she was named Laadli of the Century.
Kiran Sehgal wrote her mother's biography titled Zohra Sehgal: Fatty, which was released in 2012.
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