Remembering Zohra Sehgal in the month of her death anniversary

In July 2014, the world of Indian theatre and cinema lost one of its brightest stars who lit up the screen and stage for years with her exquisite personality and talent.

It was the fourth death anniversary of actress Zohra Sehgal on July 10. She kept working in films and plays even when she was in her 90s. A wonderful exception. She left the world a poorer place at the grand age of 102.

Zohra Sehgal who is known in most parts of the world as a veteran theatre artist and a film actress , was even a year older than Indian Cinema which began in 1913. This hill region of Uttarakhand is proud to remember her association with it in her younger years.

Zohra, often called Bollywood's 'laadli', was last seen in films like Veer Zara, Ham Dil De Chuke Sanam , Cheeni Kum and Saawariya. Her smiling eyes and naughty expressions endeared her to audiences of all ages. In her career spanning almost eight decades, she acted in a number of Bollywood and even Hollywood films. In 2008, Zohra Sehgal was named the 'Laadli of the Century' by the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF)-Laadli Media Awards.

She was born Zohra Mumtaz (Sahibzadi Zohra Begum Mumtaz-ullah Khan') on April 27 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.  Although she was born in Saharanpur, she grew up in the beautiful, forested hill town of Chakrata. Chakrata is in Dehradun district and these years spent there by Zohra became the base of a life-long relationship with the Doon valley. During her childhood, Zohra resided  many a time in Dehradun at her uncle’s ancestral home in the Dalanwala area of the city. This famous house “Nasreen” now houses the famous Welham Girls' School. It was her maternal uncle’s house and she spent vacations here with her cousins.

Zohra’s maternal uncle (Mama)Sahebzada Saeeduzzafar Khan (also from Rampur), whose family lived  in Dehradun and who  was studying  medicine in England,   arranged for her to apprentice under a British actor. But she decided to learn dance. She then stayed in Dresden for three years studying modern dance. It was there that she watched the famous ballet “Shiv-Parvati’ by renowned dancer Uday Shankar who was touring Europe. She was extremely impressed and went back stage to meet him and he promised her a job in India after she completed her course.

While still in Europe, she received a telegram from Uday Shankar: "Leaving for Japan tour. Can you join immediately? Thus on August 8 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. Uday Shankar’s dance was inspired by various arts including painting, theatre, sculpture and poetry. Not many people are aware that among the students who were part of the centre which Uday Shankar ran at Dhar ki Tuni  (Patal Devi) near Almora were Uday Shankar’s wife Amala , the famous Guru Dutt and Lakshmi Shankar. Guru Dutt was among Zohra’s  students. Later, she  was the dance director in two of his films-Baazi and CID. Zohra’s younger sister, Uzra, also joined her at Almora and taught there.

It was here that Zohra met  Kameshwar Sehgal a young scientist, painter and dancer from Indore. He also taught at Uday Shankar’s centre. There was initial opposition from her parents, but they eventually gave their approval to marry. They married on August 14 1942. Both became accomplished dancers and choreographers. Kameshwar composed a noted ballet for human puppets and choreographed the ballet Lotus Dance. When the centre shut down , they migrated to Lahore and set up their own Zohresh Dance Institute. The growing communal tension preceding the partition made them migrate to Bombay with one-year-old daughter, Kiran.

By now, Zohra’s  sister, Uzra Butt, was already a leading lady with Prithviraj Kapoor’s  Prithvi Theatre. Later, Zohra also joined Prithvi Theatre as an actress in 1945 with a monthly salary of Rs 400 and toured across India with the group for fourteen years.

In 1993, a critically acclaimed play, Ek Thhi 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 in 1947 and re-united only in the late 1980s, after a gap of 40 years. Uzra Butt died in 2010.

Uttarakhand will always remember this association fondly and Nasreen, the house in Dalanwala, where hundreds of young Welhamites (girls) study and play now, will never forget Zohra and Uzra who spent many fun times on its lovely premises.