Mumbai: Nargis was one of the most remarkable actresses of Indian cinema. Her beauty, talent, grace all together made her special. It was indeed an act of courage to play the role of a mother in Hindi cinema’s iconic film ‘Mother India’ at the age of just 28. Nargis worked with Raj Kapoor in many films and had a long relationship. The love story of Raj Kapoor and Nargis was much discussed, but did not reach any point. Nargis found true love during the shooting of ‘Mother India’.
It is said that when Raj Kapoor was shooting for the film ‘Chori-Chori’, he became interested in actress Padmini. Due to this, quarrels started between Nargis and Raj Kapoor. It was around this time when Nargis decided to work in Mehboob Khan’s film ‘Mother India’.
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Dilip Kumar was the first choice of ‘Mother India’
Mehboob signed Dilip Kumar as hero in ‘Mother India’. However, Raj Kapoor did not want Nargis to work with Dilip. It was Dileep who suggested that the role of Nargis’ son be rewritten in the film and he be cast in a double role, first as the husband and then as the son. Mehboob also agreed and started working on the script again to bring changes in the story. Dilip saheb went to London to get a wig made, in his absence the writers changed their mind. When Dilip Saheb came to know about this, he decided to leave the film.
Both met on the sets of the film ‘Mother India’ and fell in love. Both decided to get married in the year 1958.
Sunil Dutt put his life on the line
Mehboob found it very difficult to find an alternative to Dilip Saheb, well the creator had written, so junior actor Sunil was cast from Nargis. The shooting of this film was taking place in Gujarat. For a scene, a pile of straw was set on fire so that Sunil Dutt, who was hiding in it, could come out. Writer TS George, referring to this incident in his book, wrote, ‘When Nargis was running between the burning straw, the wind suddenly changed its direction and Nargis got trapped in the flames. As soon as Sunil saw it, he brought Nargis out of the flames without caring for his life, although he himself got burnt in this attempt. Nargis fell in love with the courage of Sunil Dutt.
Nargis taking care of Sunil. (Photo Credits: Bollywooddirect/Twitter)
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Nargis falls in love with Sunil
Later Nargis wrote in her diary, ‘In the hospital we were given injections to reduce the pain, we fell asleep. Whenever someone comes to me, I always ask him, how is Sunil? I knew that Sunil was worried about me. When I went to see him, he was in a very badly burnt condition. I stayed with him the whole day. Then started taking care of her as if she is a part of me. In a few days the situation became such that I did not want to be away from him even for a minute, these were the most beautiful days of my life.
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Tags: Entertainment Special, Nargis, Sanjay dutt, Sunil dutt
FIRST PUBLISHED : March 04, 2023, 03:30 IST
