#GoldenFrames: Nirupa Roy, the most loved mother of Indian Cinema

Nirupa Roy had worked with some of the greatest names of Hindi cinema, and with more than 275 movies to her name. She was one of the leading actresses of her generation. She played one of those filmy moms who were bound to be helpless or seen praying for their children. Her roles had a more significant impact on the audience. Roy was often portrayed as the 'queen of miseries'. In movies, either husband abandons her, or she gets separated from her family due to natural calamities, etc. Roy is the first actress to win the Filmfare Award for Supporting Actress in three movies—Munimji' (1955), 'Chhaya' (1961) and 'Shehnai’ (1964). She had a long and successful movie career, which included honours like the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.

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Kokila Kishorechandra Balsara was born on January 4, 1931, in Gujarat's Valsad. She was married to Kamal Roy at the age of fifteen and later moved to Mumbai. Apparently, her parents used to call cinema a “corrupting influence”.

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In an interview with Filmfare in 1983, Roy said, "I hadn't seen a film till I got married. My parents believed films were a corrupting influence. So only after coming to Bombay did I get to know what films were."

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Pic Courtesy : BCCL

Together, Roy and her husband Kamal Roy auditioned in response to an advertisement for actors in a Gujarati paper. Kamal Roy didn't get the role but Nirupa was offered to be the heroine of the movie. Kamal Roy agreed on the spot, but it was later offered to another actress, Anjana. Roy ended up with a small role in the movie.

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The actress started her career with the Gujarati movie 'Ranakdevi' (1946). It was Vishnu Kumar Vyas, who advertised for new artists for his Gujarati movie, gave Roy her screen name 'Nirupa.'

(Photo: Still from the movie 'Ranakdevi')

In This Pic : nirupa roy, goldenframes