Actress Extraordinaire-Zohra Sehgal completes a century of supreme giving

Zohra Sehgal
Born 27 April 1912 (age 100)
Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Other names Zohra Mumtaz-Ullah Khan
Occupation Indian actress, dancer
Years active 1946 – present
Spouse Kameshwar Nath Sehgal
Children Kiran Sehgal, Pawan Sehgal

Zohra Sehgal[1][2] (born 27 April 1912) is an Indian stage and film actress, who started her career as dancer with dancer Uday Shankar in 1935 and worked with him for the next eight years. She has appeared in many Bollywood films as well as English language films and television series. She is most known for her appearances in Bhaji on the Beach (1992), The Mystic Masseur (2001), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Dil Se.. (1998) and Cheeni Kum (2007); and the TV series, The Jewel in the Crown (1984), Tandoori Nights (1985–87), Amma and Family (1996).[3] Considered the doyenne of Indian theatre, she acted with Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) and Prithviraj Kapoor's Prithvi Theatre for fourteen years, during the period traveled over India, with the troupe.[4] She 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 honor, in 2010

Zohra Sehgal was born on 27 April 1912, Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, British India.She is an Indian actress. She has appeared in many Bollywood films as well as English films and television series.
Her full name is Sahibzadi Zohra Begum Mumtaz-ullah Khan. She was one of the seven children of a land-owning family of Rohilla Pathans settled around Rampur. Like other families of the same class she was brought up in Sunni Muslim traditions five prayers a day and fasting during Ramadan. As a girl she was a tomboy fond of climbing trees and playing games.
With her uncle who was closer to her than her father, she traveled all the way across India, West Asia and Europe by car. On her return she was once again put in a burqa and sent to Queen Marys Girls College, Lahore, meant for daughters of aristocratic families. Strict purdah was observed in the institution and the few males invited to speak there were put behind a screen.
As soon as Zohra passed out of Queen Marys, she shed her burqa this time for ever and joined Uday Shankars dance troupe. She traveled with him, his group of dancers to Japan, West Asia, Europe and America. It was then that she met Kameshwar Nath Segal, a Hindu belonging to the Radha Swami sect, and fell in love with him. He was eight years younger than her. There was initial opposition from her parents but they came round. Although Kameshwar was willing to convert to Islam to marry Zohra, neither she nor her parents insisted on it. The two had a civil marriage in August 1942. Jawaharlal Nehru was to attend the wedding reception, but he was arrested a couple of days earlier for supporting Gandhis Quit India Movement.
For a while the couple worked in Uday Shankars dance institute at Almora. When it shut down, they migrated to Lahore and set up their own Zohresh Dance Institute. The growing communal tension preceding the Partition of India made them feel unwelcome. They migrated to Bombay. Zohra joined Prithviraj Kapoor. From a dancer, she turned into a stage actress. The next 14 years the couple stayed in Bombay and got to know many celebrities, including Ebrahim Alkazi, Chetan and Dev Anand, Chetans wife Uma who later married Alkazi, Balraj Sahni and his wife, Damyanti. They had two children. They had the choice of being Hindu or Muslim. For a while they accepted both, then discarded them. Meanwhile, Zohra came to the conclusion that there should be more to religions than dietary prohibitions against pork or beef and opted for atheism. It is not known what her husband felt about religion except that he was a non-religious man.
Zohra had been acting on the stage in different parts of India, including putting up plays for jails inmates. In Ferozepore jail after staging a play she stayed on to watch an execution. After her husband's death, Zohra first moved to Delhi, and then to London where she met Ram Gopal. When she did not get roles as a dancer, or an actress, she took on odd jobs like working in the India Tea Centre, but it was in London she got her first break in films and was signed by Arthur Rank and Merchant Ivory productions. She appeared in The Raj Quartet, The Jewel in the Crown, Tandoori Nights, My Beautiful Laundrette and dozens of others. Back in Delhi, she continued her film career.

Early life and education
She was born Zohra Mumtaz (Sahibzadi Zohra Begum Mumtaz-ullah Khan') on 27 April 1912, in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, one of seven children of a land-owning family of Rohilla Pathans, of Mumtazullah Khan and Natiqua Begum, belonging to Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. She was third of her seven siblings – Zakullah, Hajrah, Ikramullah, Uzra (Uzra Butt), Anna and Sabira – and grew up in Chakrata, now in Uttarakhand (near Dehradun). Like other families of the same class she was brought up in Sunni Muslim traditions – five prayers a day and fasting during Ramadan. As a girl she was a tomboy fond of climbing trees and playing games. Zohra, lost vision in her left eye as she contracted glaucoma at the age of 1. She was referred to a hospital in Birmingham where she was treated at a cost of £300,000.
She lost her mother while still young. As per their mother's wishes, she and her sister were sent to Queen Mary's Girls College, Lahore, attended by the daughters of aristocratic families, and with all English staff. Strict purdah was observed in the institution and the few males invited to speak there had to do so from behind a screen.[6] As a result of seeing her sister's failed marriage, she decided to pursue a career, rather than get married.
Upon graduating, her maternal uncle, Sahebzada Saeeduzzafar Khan, who was based in Edinburgh to study medicine,[9] arranged for her to apprentice under a British actor. So they started from Lahore by car and, en route, crossed Iran, Palestine, before reaching Damascus, Syria, where she met her cousin. Then they traveled into Egypt and caught a boat to Europe in Alexandria.[10] In Europe her aunt Dicta took her to try in the Mary Wigman’s ballet school in Dresden, Germany, but she had not ever danced, having lived in purdah for so long. Nevertheless she got admission and became the first Indian to study at the institution.[11] She stayed in Dresden for the next three years studying modern dance, while living in the house of Countess Liebenstein. Then she happened to watch the Shiv-Parvati ballet by Uday Shankar, who was touring Europe. This was to change her life forever as, impressed by the performance, she went back stage to meet Uday Shankar, who promised her a job on her return to India, at the completion of her course.[12]

Career
Zohra Sehgal (bottom left) part of the Uday Shankar Ballet Troupe, ca (1935–37). While still in Europe, she received a telegram from Uday Shankar: "Leaving for Japan tour. Can you join immediately?"[10] Thus on 8 August 1935, she joined his troupe and danced across Japan, Egypt, Europe and the US, as a leading lady, along with French dancer, Simkie. When Uday Shankar moved back to India in 1940, she became a teacher at the Uday Shankar India Cultural Centre at Almora. It was here that she met Kameshwar Sehgal, an young scientist, painter and dancer from Indore, eight years her junior, belonging to the Radha Swami sect. There was initial opposition from her parents, but they eventually gave their approval to marry. They married on 14 August 1942. Jawaharlal Nehru was to attend the wedding reception, but he was arrested a couple of days earlier for supporting Gandhi's Quit India Movement.[6] Zohra and Kameshwar Sehgal had two children, Kiran (b. 1944) and Pavan. For a while the couple worked in Uday Shankar’s dance institute at Almora. Both became accomplished dancers and choreographers. Kameshwar composed a noted ballet for human puppets and choreographed the ballet Lotus Dance.[13] When it shut down later, they migrated to Lahore and set up their own Zohresh Dance Institute. The growing communal tension preceding the Partition of India made them feel unwelcome. They migrated to Bombay, with one-year-old daughter, Kiran. By now, her sister Uzra Butt was already a leading lady with Prithviraj Kapoor's Prithvi Theatre. Ultimately, she too joined Prithvi Theatre in 1945, as an actress with a monthly salary of Rs 400, and toured every city across India with the group, for the next 14 years.
Also in 1945, soon after her arrival, she joined the leftist theatre group, IPTA, acted in several plays, and made her film debut in IPTA's first film production, directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, Dharti Ke Lal in 1946; she followed it up with another IPTA-supported film, Chetan Anand's Neecha Nagar. In the same year, it became the first Indian film to gain critical international recognition and won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.[14][15] Her involvement remained mostly with the theatre, though she did do a few films in between. During their stay in Bombay, the couple came to know many celebrities, including Ebrahim Alkazi, in whose play, Din Ke Andhere, Zohra played the role of Begum Qudsia; K.A. Abbas, in whose plays she acted for IPTA; Chetan and Uma Anand in whose house the couple stayed when they first moved to Bombay; and Dev Anand his brother. She did choreography of a few Hindi films as well, including Guru Dutt's Baazi (1951) and the dream sequence song in Raj Kapoor's film Awaara.[16] Kameshwar, on the other hand, became art director in Hindi films and later tried his hand at film direction.
Zohra Sehgal had been acting on the stage in different parts of India and putting up plays for jails inmates, including at Ferozepore jail.[10] After staging a play, she stayed on to watch an execution.[citation needed] After her husband's death in 1959, Zohra first moved to Delhi and became director of the newly founded Natya Academy. She then moved London on a drama scholarship in 1962. Here she met Ram Gopal, a India-born Bharatnatyam dancer, and starting 1963, worked as a teacher in 'Uday Shankar style' of dance at his school in Chelsea, during the short period of its existence.[18] Her first role for British television was in a BBC adaptation of a Kipling story, The Rescue of Pluffles, in 1964. She also anchored 26 episodes of BBC TV series, Padosi (Neighbours), made in 1976–77. Her career in the next almost two decades remained sporadic, despite several small appearances in many films.
In London, Zohra got her first break in the films and was signed by Merchant Ivory Productions. She appeared in The Courtesans of Bombay directed by James Ivory in 1982. This paved way for a important role as Lady Chatterjee in the television adaptation The Jewel in the Crown (ITV, 1984). Thus starting the second phase of her career, as she went on to appear in The Raj Quartet, The Jewel in the Crown, Tandoori Nights, My Beautiful Laundrette and others. [edit]Return to India
Zohra came back to India, in the mid-1990s and lived for a few months in Burdwan. At that time she acted in several films, plays and TV series since. She first performed poetry at a memorial to Uday Shankar organised by his brother, Ravi Shankar in 1983, and soon took it in big way; she started getting invited to perform poetry at various occasions. She even traveled to Pakistan to recite verses for "An Evening With Zohra". Over time even her impromptu performances of Punjabi and Urdu verses have become a norm, as after the stage performances she is often requested by the audience to recite Hafeez Jullundhri's famous nazm, Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon.[12][19][20]
In 1993, a critically acclaimed play, Ek Thi Nani, was staged in Lahore for the first time, featuring Zohra and her sister Uzra Butt now staying in Pakistan. The play is based on the lives of Zohra and Uzra, who were separated by the Partition of India in 1947 and re-united only in the late 1980s, after a gap of 40 years. This was performed several times in India and Pakistan.[20][21] A performance reading of its English version, A Granny for All Seasons, was held at UCLA in 2001.[22] In 2008, at the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF)-Laadli Media Awards in New Delhi, she was felicitated as the 'Laadli of the century'; the award was handed over by the Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit.[23] Known for her sense of humour and wit, Zohra's all-time favourite quote remains: "You are seeing me now, when I am old and ugly. You should have seen me then, when I was young and ugly."[10]

Personal life
She was married to Kameshwar Nath Segal. She is based in Delhi, India, where she stays with her daughter, Kiran Segal, an Odissi dancer.[11][24] Her son Pavan, who works for the WHO, married Seema Rai, the granddaughter of Munshi Premchand, and the couple have three children Rohan, Taamra and Anushka. She is an agnostic[25] having been an atheist in her youth.

Filmography [edit]As an actor Year Title 1946 Dharti Ke Lal 1946 Neecha Nagar 1950 Afsar 1956 Heer 1964 The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling 1964–1965 Doctor Who (TV series) 1967 The Long Duel 1967 Theatre 625 (TV series) 1968 The Vengeance of She 1968 The Expert (TV series) 1969 The Guru 1973 The Regiment (TV series) 1973 Tales That Witness Madness 1974 It Ain't Half Hot Mum (TV series) 1978 Mind Your Language (TV series) 1983 The Courtesans of Bombay 1984 The Jewel in the Crown (TV series) 1985 Tandoori Nights (TV series) 1985 Harem 1986 Caravaggio 1987 Partition 1987 Never Say Die 1989 Manika, une vie plus tard 1989 The Bill 1991 Masala 1992 Firm Friends 1993 Bhaji on the Beach 1994 Little Napoleons 1995 Amma and Family (TV series) 1997 Tamanna 1998 Not a Nice Man to Know 1998 Dil Se.. 1999 Khwaish 1999 Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam 1999 Dillagi 2000 Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa 2001 Landmark 2001 Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham 2001 Zindagi Kitni Khoobsoorat Hai 2001 The Mystic Masseur 2002 Bend it Like Beckham 2002 Anita and Me 2002 Chalo Ishq Ladaaye 2003 Saaya 2004 Kaun Hai Jo Sapno Mein Aaya? 2004 Veer-Zaara 2005 Chicken Tikka Masala 2005 Mistress of Spices 2007 Cheeni Kum 2007 Saawariya

Awards 1963 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award[26] 1998: Padma Shri[27] 2001: Kalidas Samman 2002: Padma Bhushan 2004: Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship 2010: Padma Vibhushan