Lady Nutan

Publié le 3 Juin 2014

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Hello ! As Nutan’s birthday was coming up, I wanted to resume some hold on the blog (sorry readers for my lack of habit, another blog has kept me busy, plus my PhD research) and went through my hoard of Nutan stuff, so I’ll put up some of it as an illustration for this website (Cineplot), that perhaps some of you are used to visiting. I for one discovered it recently, and I really should have known its Nutan page (if it existed, but I’m not certain) before voicing my regrets about the scarcity of Nutan facts here. It contains some fantastic 1992 comments on the actress, the year following her death. I strongly recommend the link “the daughter”, written by Shobana Samarth (thanks Cineplot for letting me quote these extracts):

“1953-54, however was her lean phase. All her films were flopping. That's when I decided to send her to a finishing school in Switzerland. She was a lanky girl and everyone said she was too thin. I thought she could do with a bit of grooming. Before that, in 1952, we had gone to Mussorie and there, just for a lark, she entered a beauty contest. And to everyone's surprise, even her own, she was chosen Miss Mussorie. While she was still in Switzerland, I received an offer for her from S.Mukherjee. I thought it was a good chance because Filmalaya was a big name then. So I called her back from Switzerland. She now looked plump and nice.”

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I tried to find a "plump and nice" photo!

What do you say about this motherly concern?! I wonder if Indian mums now have the same outlook on their girls’ curves… Another part of the testimonial, naturally tuned-down owing to the circumstances of the writing, reveals some of the relationships which were at the origin of their drift during the sixties and seventies – it does seem that, perhaps mother-in-law like, she lays the blame on her daughter’s marriage!

“All this changed once she got married. We grew distant and then came the incident which severed our relationship for twenty long years. Nutan and Tanuja were never really close. Maybe because both were poles apart, temperamentally. One was an introvert and the other an extrovert. Nutan never really approved of anything that Tanu did— "Vedich aahe" (she's crazy) she used to say to Tanu's naughty ways. (…) In 1983, Nutan and I made up. We became close like old times and never once mentioned the feud and the twenty year silence that followed.”

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What Gautam Rajadhyaksha, the well-known photographer of Bollywood stars, writes about his long-standing friendship with Nutan is exceptional, because he makes her talk about herself and her family:

“I got a lot very early in life. I feel I have achieved everything in the right time, but I have managed to maintain it a little while longer than many. With actors or actresses, it's a fade out or a fade over to another category in 15 years time. I was a leading lady for over thirty years and my transition was gradual and smooth. Yes. I do feel a sense of achievement. But the credit doesn't go entirely to me. Luck had a big hand in it. I must admit I've had it easy, though. (…)

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It’s great listening to what she has to say about the relationship to her parents:

“My parents separated and I met my father rarely. A few months before he died, when he was ill, I got to be close to him. I wish I had spent more time with him. It is one regret and guilt, I can never get over. Not only because I couldn't be the daughter I would have liked to be, but the immense loss that I felt on not being able to spend more years of my life with such a warm, caring and brilliant man. He could have enriched my life so much. I wasn't proud, but rather pleased about being recognized as Shobhana Samarth's daughter. Once during a school show, a teacher who was dressing me up, suddenly said, you look like Shobhana Samarth. Are you related to her?' I stammered, ‘S..s ..she's my mother.' Years later, my mother met someone in Europe and asked her if she was related to an Indian actress called Nutan!

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I suppose this is what Mamma called her "lean phase"...

Then she mentions the fact of her being deemed too thin by Indian standards and goes on about her experience in Switzerland, something I’d never heard mentioned in any of her biographies (which makes me wonder whether the cineplot website is all that old):

"I was terribly thin and within the industry there was a joke that if you want to draw Nutan, just draw a straight line. My mother even feared that perhaps I had TB. So at seventeen, despite the fact that I had so many film offers, my mother sent me to a finishing school in Switzerland. The one year that I spent in Switzerland was the happiest in my life. I could play, study, be free and catch-up with what I missed in my teenage years. I did a secretarial course which has paid dividends several times over. I do my typing, accounts, tax matters, every clerical job required to keep my money matters straight. I learnt French, which I can still speak and write. When I returned to India, I was forty pounds heavier and then began a wonderful phase.

Nutan Hindi Movie Actress (7)

Somehow I wonder whether this statement is the real Nutan speaking, and not Nutan the well-brought up young lady who says what her mother wants her to say! But even if down deep she must have known that her weight and figure had nothing to do with her acting skills, she was probably pleased of avoiding the candlestick remarks. Then she speaks about her husband, again for me a territory which until now (as far as I’m concerned) had been completely unchartered on the web:

"Sujata I thought would be my last film, as I was getting married and naturally presumed that house and family would take precedence. But Rajnish said, 'if you were a painter or a writer, I wouldn't have asked you to stop your work and I won't, although you are an actress. Continue, by all means, but do fewer films, choose your roles'. Being a naval officer's wife was a different experience. I hardly socialised or went for film parties. It was just work and home, before marriage. But now, we had naval ship, parties and what have you. Our socializing increased. Almost every night we'd be out.

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She also, most interestingly, gives her point of view on the feud which separated her from her busy mother for all that time:

"My career has been long and extremely satisfying. I shunned gossip all throughout and even managed to succeed to an extent. Except for two incidents which really caused massive scandals and caused me great pain. One, was the rift between my mother and me, when I took her to court for mismanaging my funds. It was a very hard decision for me to take. Yes, I had expected the reaction: `How can a daughter take her mother to the court?' But that didn't make the conflict any easier to bear. Yet, I had to do it to protect the future of everyone concerned. Anyway since 1983, all is well between the two families.

The other scandal was the punishment she inflicted on an excessively arduous co-actor:

"My slapping Sanjeev Kumar became a much-talked about incident. He made a very careless, irresponsible statement about having an affair and that made me furious. I have never been linked with scandals and when he said what he did, I flew off the handle. I had to put him in his place. After I said what I had to, I cooled down and said, 'let's finish the love scene', and we did.

With Dilip Kumar in Karma

She's been in film with all the greats

To finish, she mentions the end of her career, and has a very mature insight about what should/could have been the future of the cinema as she valued it. Her stature as an acute analyser of her own work world is invaluable:

"I loved doing Saraswatichandra and even the South Indian films like Milan, Khandan and years later Main Tulsi Tere Angan Ki. When Saawan Kumar asked me to do Saajan Ki Saheli, after Saajan Bina Suhaagan, I agreed. It was a negative role, but what difference does it make to an actress? I've never understood that. An actor should strive for variety, that's all. Because that will ensure his growth. I remember having a long argument, which continued for several days, with Javed Akhtar, during the making of Meri Jung. I said I would love to do the role of a widow, who once her kids grow up and settle down in life, remarries. He said, the public would never accept it. I fail to see why. That's life, it happens. It's a pity that our makers are not willing to look at life as it is in reality. Films like Aakrosh, Ankur, Ardh Satya will influence the thinking of our filmmakers, our films. At the same time, people who talk about 'our good old days' and decry violence, are wrong. Films have to change. They have to reflect contemporary society. There are many issues, which would provide more material to our writers and directors, if they care to look and expand their horizons. I have been a keen observer of film techniques. I want to direct a film. That's an ardent wish. Because the film is a director's medium after all. I even suggested the idea to Jaya (Bachchan), but her response is not clear. Rajshri films have given me a clear signal, though. Times gone by always seem more rosy. But the old yields place new and there is always something good in every age. For example, I worked with Amitabh Bachchan in Saudagar and I feel he's done the negative role brilliantly. He has so much to give, if only he sheds his image. Then, there are Rishi, Shabana, Rekha, Anil, Jackie—all fine, very hard working artistes. Of course Padmini (Kolhapure) was exceptional. She was a brilliant, intelligent actress. She used to ask so many questions. She reminded me of myself thirty years ago. And now there is Madhuri. Such beauty, talent and not a hint of pride or conceit. She will go a long way."

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Wow ! Doesn’t all this shed a brilliant light on both her roles as an actress and on her person ? So much for the legend of the shallow females in cinema who content themselves with securing a position thanks to inherited advantages. To finish about the website, it contains an excellent review of Nutan the actress by Subhash K. Jha. You’ll read about the way he compares the star to the other heroines of her time, how she stands out as a thinking actress and a pragmatic woman, alongside with Waheeda Rehman (I was very pleased to read this pairing – it’s exactly what I think). Here’s what the critic says about her art:

“As is typical of most celluloid greats, Nutan was at her emotive best when given, the least spoken lines. Who can forget the wordless sequence in Bandini when Kalyani mixes poison in her tormentor's tea? Or the sequence in Sujata where the Harijan girl seeks inadequate shelter during pouring rain under Gandhiji's statue? Or the long singular song sequence when Sunil Dutt sings, `Jalte hain jiske liye' to Nutan over the phone? As tears fall silently over the receiver, you can hear the sound of the breaking heart over the line. The enormous eloquence of Nutan's silences was on par with that of Meryl Streep and Katherine Hepburn. Nutan reified the cultivated charm and the muted grace of a westernised Indian woman whose values have been inculcated to the Indian ethos. »

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Neither lean nor plump

One last recommendation, and for me a very interesting surprise, the two men who lived with Nutan speak about her: her husband, Rajnish Behl, and her son Mohnish. Her husband says nothing about their difficult marriage and manages not to sound too pathetic about his hunting passion, which Nutan generously tried to endorse. Like others, he witnesses to Nutan’s penchant for spirituality in her later years, something which one day I’d like to delve into in more detail. And he tells a few funny episodes. Mohnish’s account is short in comparison with the others. He doesn’t say so, but he seems to regret not having had a brother or sister, and so perhaps he suffered as an only child. In his own unobtrusive way, his account is rather moving.

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Rédigé par yves

Publié dans #Nutan

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Y
The only feeling I am left with on reading this blog is regret, a sort of emptiness because she went away so soon! Nutan Ji was an actor well ahead of her times and her only match in the contemporary world, in my opinion, would be Meryl Streep. She was a bright presence on screen and her gut-wrenching expressions during emotional scenes have led to many choked moments! Au Revoir Nutan Ji!
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Y
Hey, that was a remark which I am pleased you left. You're right, even though today Nutan would be 87, she did leave us too soon. There would have been ample room for a talent like hers to charm us well into her senior years. Thanks for dropping by and expressing your thoughts!
J
Nice to know more about Nutan, the person and her spiritual pursuits from different sources. I am a great fan of her and kind of rediscovered her during this Covid period. Her acting after watching so many of her movies reveals her beliefs about the sanctity of marriage and caring for others. Very inspirational. Rarely do we see a combination of beauty with brains and still glued firmly in reality.
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Y
You're right, Jayant, I cannot agree with you more!<br /> Thanks for the visit.
S
Here's an article I found which sheds some light on Nutan's personal side. I don't know if you've seen this already - https://bollyy.com/nutan-she-could-be-the-face-of-any-woman-of-any-class-at-any-time/<br /> <br /> BTW, I read in another blog (one of the comments) that after "Tere ghar ke saamne", Nutan was told not to do anymore films with Dev Anand ( by her husband). I don't know the authenticity of this claim but I wondered so many times as to why they did'nt do any movies after 1962. I found it very logical that they would do more because that movie was a massive success across India. (Nutan and Dev Anand really looked very good together)
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Y
Thanks Srikanth for the article reference. I'll go & check it out soon. As for the Dev Anand interruption, I'd say it does sound rather possible. If I had been Nutan's husband, I think I would also have frowned upon that sort of screen chemistry being continued after my marriage, wouldn't you?
S
Beautiful writeup. This shows at least some of Nutan's personal side. She was indeed quite generous in praise and pretty humble too. She was also no-nonsense. I have an imagination that all her co-stars and the crew were pretty scared of her !! She carried such an aura with her.
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Y
Yes, you're right, witnesses tell of her professionalism which had everybody in awe. She would arrive early, be ready and waiting, and criticized whoever wasn't like her. It seems that few people were like her!
C
Hello I'm biggest fan of nutan pl keep update aboute her
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Y
Hi, thanks for the comment but what exactly do you mean?... Keep updating?
M
You only have to watch Nutan's birthday celebration in the film Anari when Motilal winces, it's a dead on look of Tanuja. But then the camera pans left and closes in on Nutan who's eyes are brimming with tears. Since Nutan looks a lot like her mother, it explains this situation. Tanuja is the daughter of Shobhna Samarth and Motilal. No wonder Tanuja could fit in right between Nutan and Motilal in that shot in Anari. Atleast, at the time when Tanuja's younger siblings were born, Shobhna Samarth was already separated from her husband and Nutan was even living with her. How is it possible that the younger children were Kumarsen Samarth's? The three siblings share a great resemblance and Tanuja is the only one who looks like Nutan but she also resembles Chatura and Jaideep.
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Y
Thanks for your comment. You're probably right in terms of resemblance.
D
There is a rumour going around that Shobhna had Nutan with her lover, Motilal. Of course, that is not true but it may actually mean that Tanuja was the product of their affair. Tanuja bears a strong resemblance to Motilal and possessed the confidence of Motilal unlike her awkward sisters.
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Y
Hi, well you know (if you read my posts on Nutan) that I'm not very interested in gossip. What you say might be true...Everyone knows of this affair between Shobhana and Motilal. On the other hand, are you referring to Nutan as "awkward", and if so, what do you base yourself on to say so?
A
<br /> it must have been because she wanted to do things in common with her husband, because she didn't want to let herself drift away too far from his interests.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Grin> You just don't want to admit that Nutan, on her own, may have been interested in hunting, do you? You want to believe that she was a pacifist animal lover who wouldn't have<br /> hunted any animal if it hadn't been for her husband. <br /> <br /> <br /> Nutan was quite a strong woman - she wouldn't have done anything she didn't want to do, even if her husband was interested in it. If that was the case, then she wouldn't have decided to<br /> submerge herself in satsang against his displeasure.<br /> <br /> <br /> Nutan is a wonderful actress; as a human, she is as flawed (or not) as any other human being. She is no goddess. Let's not conflate the two.<br />
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Y
<br /> <br /> Well. We'd have to ask her about what she would have chosen or not, wouldn't we? And even if she were still alive, my hunch is that she wouldn't necessarily have told us!<br /> <br /> <br /> A goddess - no, I know she wasn't that of course, and it's true that she might well have been flawed as you say. Still, my appreciation of her, I think, makes me "see" things about her which are<br /> within her character's coherence. I hope I don't sound too presumptuous!<br /> <br /> <br /> Besides, I think you can't really be a very good actor and a very bad person: the two are intertwined, and all in all, she was one human being.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
A
<br /> Yes, as far as the rumour mills go, their marriage was apparently strained in the later stages, especially as she began delving deeper into Satsangs and spirituality. Mohnish makes a veiled<br /> reference to his and his father's feelings in his interview. But they never separated, never divorced, and never talked about their marriage in public.<br /> <br /> <br /> As far as being an animal lover goes, yes, she was one. But at that time, it didn't mean what it does now. Being an animal lover, and loving to hunt for the thrill of the sport were not mutually<br /> exclusive. Many of the people I know who loved to hunt (at that time) were also people who had dogs, cats, horses, and various other animals around them, and loved them to bits. Nutan was<br /> considered a very good rifle shooter; I remember when I was a child, there was a Filmfare or Illustrated Weekly (sorry, I'm not sure which magazine) interview, where she had<br /> posed with a panther that she had shot and (later) skinned.<br />
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Y
<br /> <br /> Hmm, well perhaps it was indeed possible in those days to make a difference between wild animals and pets, you're right. And also India presumably had so much game available that it might not<br /> necessarily have been seen as killing endangered beasts.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
A
<br /> I don't know where my earlier response went. <br />
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A
<br /> Well, loving animals didn't preclude anyone from enjoying the thrill of the hunt. :) They were mutually exclusive at one point of time. And Nutan was a very good rifle shooter.<br /> <br /> <br /> Yes, their marriage was strained in the later stages,  or so rumours go, but neither Nutan nor Cmdr Behl ever spoke about it. She remained an extremely private person right up to the end.<br /> And I'm glad that Cmdr. Behl never said anything about it either - his eulogy was neither the time nor the place (if ever there is one) to air their dirty linen. Fact remained that they never<br /> divorced and were both involved in the raising of their son. :)<br />
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Y
<br /> <br /> Well, as indeed we don't know much about this relationship, and as they both wanted it to remain a private affair, the best really is to leave it at that and not to speculate.<br /> <br /> <br /> About Nutan being a good shooter, I still can't see her having developpped that skill on her own; it must have been because she wanted to do things in common with her husband, because she didn't<br /> want to let herself drift away too far from his interests.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
A
<br /> Hiya Yves, good to see you back. Nice collation of Nutan articles. :) But why do you say: "...manages not to sound<br /> too pathetic about his hunting passion, which Nutan generously tried to endorse."<br /> <br /> <br /> For one, at the time Cmdr Behl was talking about, there was nothing pathetic about hunting; it was considered a man's<br /> sport. Secondly, I know you would like to see Nutan as the perfect woman, but why do think she only 'tried to endorse' her husband's passion? She hunted as well, and was quite proud of the fact<br /> that she was a dashed good shot. <br /> <br /> <br /> Don't judge them, especially Cmdr Behl, by today's mores where hunting is frowned upon. :)<br />
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Y
<br /> <br /> Thanks Anu for this correction: you're right, I probably judged, but then I was basing my judgement on the fact that Nutan was a lover of animals and that the information coming her interest in<br /> hunting came from her husband, not herself. I somehow thought that she might have said things differently and that he is presenting her shikari self as a way to bridge the gap between the two of<br /> them. I say this because I think I read somewhere they weren't on good terms as some stage in life. But perhaps I'm wrongly informed.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
F
<br /> Hi Yves - Many thanks for this wonderful article and reference to the website which has so much about Nutan. Your post is a real tribute indeed.<br />
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Y
<br /> <br /> Thanks Filmbuff for your appreciation and support!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br />