Leela Chitnis

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Leela Chitnis

Leela Chitnis (born September 9, 1909 in Dharwar , Karnataka , † July 14, 2003 in Danbury , Connecticut ) was an Indian actress.

Life

She began in the early 1930s as a stage actress in the marathic theater company "Natyamanwantar" by Keshav Narayan Kale . She came to film in 1935. She played with the Sagar , Prabhat and Ranjit Movietone companies , before starring in the films Kangan , Azad , Bandhan and Jhoola alongside Ashok Kumar in Bombay Talkies around 1940 . In 1941 she was the first Indian film star to be an advertising model for Lux soap. As early as 1948 in Shaheed , she played the mother of the film hero for the first time. From then on, she often played the role of a widowed or abandoned mother in a white sari, for example for Raj Kapoor , Dilip Kumar or Dev Anand , and thus shaped her image among viewers.

She has occasionally appeared in Marathi films directed by Master Vinayak and Raja Paranjpe . She directed Aaj Ki Baat (1955) herself. Her autobiography Chanderi Duniyet was published in 1981. She had her last film appearance in 1985. In the late 1980s she moved to the United States with her children .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Chitnis, Leela
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Indian actress
DATE OF BIRTH September 9, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Dharwar , Karnataka
DATE OF DEATH July 14, 2003
Place of death Danbury