The cultural icon, Nargis Dutt with her charismatic style, poise and cheerful screen presence is known for enacting a variety of roles ranging from shy coquette to westernized woman. In all her stellar roles, she reinvented herself as a woman who could be desired and deified. The moment she lifted her ghoonghat, she blazed the silver screen with her portrayal of strong women protagonists. ‘ Mother India’ (1958) is proof of Nargis’s unmatched ability to summon up inner reserves of inspiration and propel herself to new levels of excellence. She brought naturalness, authenticity and a degree of self-assurance to every role that she embodied on the silver screen. The brilliance of Nargis's screen image lay in that it oscillated between the simple and the chic with equal ease. Not a ‘Tragedy Queen’ like Meena Kumari nor as beautiful as Madhubala, she had no dancing prowess like Vyjayantimala or the delicacy of Nimmi but still she was exquisite and incomparable. She was the nimble an
Spotlight on Indian Cinema