Kamini Kaushal

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Began her career as radio play artist Kamini Kaushal. was born in a rich family. Her father S R Kashyap, was a professor at Government College, Lahore and the President of the Science Congress. Hence young Kamini was blessed with all the amenities of life. As a student she developed a love for stage and he began working as a radio child artist with her name as Uma in Lahore before the Partition, from 1937-40.

Kamini Kaushal. sacrificed her love for her sister When Kamini Kaushal. had just completed her college and was enjoying the success of her debut film Neecha Nagar suddenly life took a bitter twist. Her elder sister Usha died in a car accident leaving behind her two pretty girls of age 2 and 3 years respectively. It was a hard time but for the sake of the tiny tots, young Kamini decided to sacrifice her emotions and married her brother-in-law and became mother to her two nieces. Kamini Kaushal. married B.S. Sood (chief engineer at the Bombay Port Trust) in 1948 and had a great marriage. The couple went on to have three sons Rahul, Vidur and Shravan.

Spotted by her matinee idol Ashok Kumar for films When Kamini was pursuing B.A. (honours) in English literature from Kinnaird College in Lahore one day she got the news that her matinee idol Ashok Kumar, superstar of Bollywood was attending their college she went hysterical. In her interview she said, “In the early 40’s during second war, India was economically hit. Hence film stars went around collecting relief funds for war hit victims. In my college my heartthrob Ashok Kumar came along with top actress Leela Chitnis.” “Students of the college did a play for the war relief victims. I was very young, I did a dance item. After the dance performance Ashok Kumar met my mother and offered me a lead actress role but when he came to know that I was below age and had groomed myself as a woman by applying heavy make-up and costume, he had a huge laugh. Nevertheless he recommended my mother to try my luck in films,” she quipped. Created a sensation with her debut film Kamini Kaushal. initially did not take Ashok Kumar’s advice seriously as she was not interested in acting in films. Instead like her father she wanted to make a name in academics and become a professor. But destiny had other plans. Eminent filmmaker Chetan Anand heard Kamini in a play show on radio and was overwhelmed by her dialogue delivery. He cajoled her to act in his film Neecha Nagar (1946). Kamini Kaushal. played the role of a rich, obnoxious and glamorous lady of the upper class. She suited the character to a perfect T and won laurels as a debutant actress. Kamini Kaushal recalled, “Since Chetan Anand’s wife name was same as mine Uma, hence I was rechristened as Kamini Kaushal. The film was India’s first film that had the prestige of being selected for the International Cannes Festival. It won the Grand Prix Award.” Legendary showman Raj Kapoor made debut opposite Kamini Kaushal Despite the mega success of Neecha Nagar, Kamini Kaushal was not interested in films. She got married in 1948 but film maker and actor Gajanan Jagirdar compelled her to do just one more film with him. She agreed and worked opposite the debutant actor Raj Kapoor in the film Jail Yatra in 1947. Recalling about Raj Kapoor she said, “It was for Raj Kapoor that I became a star because during the making of the film Jail Yatra, Raj Kapoor coaxed me do his first home production Aag (1949) and after Aag there was no looking back.” After Raj Kapoor, Kamini Kaushal worked with Dev Anand Kamini Kaushal worked with Dev Anand in Ziddi (1948) and Shair (1954) and became an important link between him and Dev Anand’s sweetheart Suraiya. Kamini in an interview said, “I used to pass Suraiya’s love letter to Dev hiding from the hawk eye of Suraiya’s granny, who was dead against the love affair of Suraiya and Dev Anand.” Kamini Kaushal made a superlative pair with Dilip Kumar Long before the famous Dharmendra –Hema Malini chemistry shook the tinsel town; the pair that made a great chemistry on screen was between Dilip Kumar and Kamini Kaushal. The two became a hot pair after the huge success of Shaheed (1947). Later they did many movies like Nadiya Ke Paar, Shabnam (both in 1948) and Arzoo (1950). But soon the film magazines began carrying gossip grapevine about their love affair and since Kamini was already married she took a back seat and declined doing movies with Dilip Kumar. Kamini once confessed that she had fallen in love with Dilip Kumar but since she had committed to her sister that she will bring-up her children hence she sacrificed her life and took a bitter pill and choked her emotions. Lata Mangeshkar debuted as playback singer for Kamini Kaushal. Eminent Singer Lata Mangeshkar made her debut as a playback singer for Kamini Kaushal. in the film Ziddi (1948). Prior to this Lata Mangeshkar was singing only for supporting actresses but in the film Ziddi, she got the honor of singing for a ‘Heroine’. Interestingly on the LP record Lata Mangeshkar did not get credit as in those credits were given to the character of film. Hence the LP recorder had the name as song sung by Asha, which was Kamini Kaushal.’s screen name in the film. Bimal Roy exploited the histrionics of Kamini Kaushal In her career Kamini Kaushal gave many hit films with top stars but the film that exploited her histrionics as a power packed actress film legend Bimal Roy’s film Biraj Bahu (1954) based on Saratchandra Chattopadhyay’s novel by the same name. In this film Kamini Kaushal fetched her first Filmfare award as Best Actress and did an excellent portrayal of a dutiful wife. Recalling the film Kamini said, “Working with Bimalda was a life time experience. He was such a sensitive director that many times I gave my shots without rehearsal and got so emotional that without glycerin I shed tears.” The film many awards, including the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.