Lalita Pawar

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Lalita Pawar started acting as child actor in silent films Lalita Pawar was born in a rich family. Her father Laxman Rao Shagun was a textile tycoon in Yeola (Nashik). Once she went to a film studio with her father and was spotted by film director Y.D.Sarpotdar. He was making a movie Raja Harishchandra (1928) and was hunting for a child actor. When Sarpotdar saw the beautiful Lalita he asked her if she would act in films; Lalita, who was bold from her younger days, agreed. Her father too gave permission. Thus began the journey of Lalita Pawar in films. She started as child actor and soon began doing teenager roles and gradually became heroine in silent films. Her earlier films are Diler Jigar (1931), Himmat-e-Marda or Lord of the Jungle (1935).

Lalita Pawar had married twice Lalita Pawar first married Ganpatrao Pawar (Film director) but she divorced her husband as she caught her husband having illicit affair with her younger sister. Later she married film producer Raj Prakash Gupta, of Ambika studios, Bombay and lived a decent life. They had a son.

Lalita Pawar is the first actress to play triple role After becoming the most popular star of Indian Cinema in the early 30’s Lalita Pawar made history by playing a triple role in the silent film Kailash (1932). In this film she acted the lead role of heroine, vamp, and mother. Lalita Pawar started as leading lady in talkie films After creating waves as a good actress, Lalita Pawar entered Talkie films in 1934. She had to polish her language as she came from Marathi background. Hence she hired an Urdu teacher and mastered the nuances of the language. Since heroines had to sing their own songs in the 30’s , therefore she trained herself in Indian classical music and sung her own songs. In Talkie cinema too she created sensation. In the film Rajkumari (1938) she played a dual role and wrote history of becoming first actress to play double role in talkie cinema. Her other remarkable films are Duniya Kya Hai (1938), Kirti (1942). Simultaneously she was also making waves in Marathi cinema with hit films like Netaji Palkar (1939) and Gora Kumbhar (1942). Her other memorable films are Thaksen Rajputra, Prithviraj Chauhan, Gamini Kawa, Chatur Sundari, Padmavati Parini etc. Readers would be stunned to know in the film Chatur Sundari (1930), Lalita Pawar created another history by portraying 17 different characters in a single film. The movie was a blockbuster. Lalita Pawar switches to character role In the mid 30’s and early 40’s Lalita Pawar’s career was at its peak. Like today’s ShahRukh Khan and Amir Khan, she had started producing films. However her career was abruptly ended. During the film shooting of her film Jung-E-Azadi (1942) her co-actor had to slap her on her face. But alas the slap was accidently hit so hard that she fell unconscious on the ground. She was rushed to hospital where doctors brought her to conscious but could not save her from facial paralysis. In the accident she also lost left eye. She had to quit film industry. After the unfortunate accident Lalita Pawar was on bed for four years. When she acquired strength and was fit for acting she made a comeback. But due to her left eye damaged, her booming heroine’s career came to an end. Though she was just 25 year old she was forced to accept character roles. She played mother to top actors like Dilip Kumar (Daag), Raj Kapoor (Sangam), Dev Anand (Sharabi) etc. She even played Amitabh Bachchan’s mother in Naseeb. Lalita Pawar left a deep impact with her sympathetic role Lalita Pawar would have been sidelined as the cruel mother-in-law but thanks to Raj Kapoor for extracting the sympathetic side of Lalita Pawar in his film Anari (1959). In this film she played Raj Kapoor’s foster mother, who nurtures an unemployed Raj Kapoor as her own son. As Mrs D’sa, Lalita Pawar played her career’s most effective and poignant role. She is portrayed as stern lady with golden heart. It may surprise readers that as the cruel mother-in-law, Lalita Pawar won fame but not any awards but as Mrs D’Sa she fetched her career’s only Filmfare award as Best supporting actress. Later she did many positive roles in Raj Kapoor films’ like Shree 420, Diwana, Sangam, Ek Dil Sau Afsane, Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai etc. In fact In Rajesh Khanna’s Anand, Lalita Pawar repeated her Mrs. D’Sa role as Matron. She will also be remembered for her comic role in the film Professor as Sita Devi Verma, who is a old lady and falls in love with young Shammi Kapoor.