This page is dedicated to the actress Nargis, as a lot of visitors to this site will want to see her not silly pictures of starters, and those who want to see pictures of starters can have a look anyway.

Some info about Nargis' film career, from some Bollywood sites.

Nargis (1929-81).

Born Fatima A. Rashid in Allahabad in 1929, the career of Hindi-Urdu megastar Nargis began at the age of 5. Known as Baby Rani she appeared in Sangeet Films' Talah-e-Haq, introduced to film by her mother, the actress, singer and film-maker Jaddanbai. Her first lead role was in Taqdeer, directed by Mehboob, but she was best known as Raj Kapoor's romantic lead in some of India's most successful melodramas. She imbued stereotypical female characters with layers of meaning and introduced a new style of authenticity through her performances. The role that made her a cinema legend was the lead in the powerful epic Mother India, and she married Sunil Dutt, the actor who played her son in the film. She flourished behind the camera too, producing films directed by Akhtar Hussain with Nargis Art, before retiring from the cinema. She remained in the public eye, becoming an MP in the early 80's. She died of cancer shortly after her son, Sanjay Dutt, made his film debut.

Nargis was born at Allahabad (state : Uttar Pradesh) with the name Fatima. Her screen name was an inspired choice for the fragrant white flower she was named after could well be said to sum up her career.

As an actress and star, she had few rivals. Her film career began with Talash-e-Haq as Baby Rani at the tender age of 5 years. The performances in R.K. Films' Awaara, Barsaat and Shree 420, to name just three, are unforgettable - a still from Barsaat became the emblem of R.K. Films! 

The innocent young girl metamorphosed into the young woman of Jogan opposite Dilip Kumar : one of her best films. Her greatest was of course the 1957 Mehboob Khan film, Mother India, considered the finest Indian film ever. Her role and performance - bride, wife, abandoned wife-and-mother, the principles of this individual who would sooner shoot her son than turn a blind eye to a heinous deed - have never been surpassed. The psychologically disturbed character of Raat Aur Din (1967) had the song Awaara, ai mere dil conveying the dark freedom of an unstable mind. 

Her on-screen characters were the kind that seemed doomed by their own beauty, and are seen by many critics as stereotypes from Islamic literature. Clearly, her films, her directors and co-stars were such that her talent had an appropriate launchpad. She worked with the best.

Her characterization was always natural and convincing - and she imbued her screen personas with a dignity that is sorely missed in the 80s and 90s. The cinema of these decades can boast of stars and superstars but there are no legends. 

She married Sunil Dutt, the actor who played her son in Mother India. 

Her life took a different path in the 80s when she entered politics as a Member of Parliament, and openly expressed her dissatisfaction with film makers who projected a negative image of India.

Some new information....

It seems I was wrong all the time about the nargis flower - ooops!  Shaista Ahmad from India  has kindly pointed out my error and so I can therefore tell you all that the Nargis flower is really the daffodil!  See here for more info... just type "nargis" into the search box which I'm sure you have plenty of practice at anyway having found this sad site.

A proper nargis flower!  Thanx to Shaista Ahmad...
 

Commonly known in India as Nargis, daffodils are lilylike perennials with numerous narrow, straplike leaves, and a single flowering stalk, all arising from a subterranean bulb. Leaves grow upward, then droop out and down, and range from 6-30 inch in length. Flower stalks range from 4 in tall in the miniature varieties, up to 24 in tall in standard varieties. There can be from one to a dozen or more flowers per stalk. Flower colors are mostly white and yellow, but some kinds have orange, pink or red coronas. There are about 50 species of daffodils, and many thousands of named cultivars and hybrids of garden origin. Daffodils originated in Portugal, Spain, the southern coast of France and the northern coast of Morocco. Medieval Arabs used juice of the wild daffodil, N. pseudonarcissus as a cure for baldness.
The name Narcissus has it origin in the famous Greek myth about Narcissus, the handsome youth who was granted his great good looks by the Gods. However, his beauty was permanent and he was immortal, "If he never knows himself". Many nymphs fell in love with him, but he did not respond. A nubile wood nymph named Echo fell desperately in love, but Narcissus spurned her. She was so devastated by his rejection that she wept and wailed, and was ultimately consumed by her love. But the Gods were not pleased. The goddess, Nemesis, heard about poor Echo, and lured Narcissus to a shimmering lake. There in his vain state, he was unable to resist gazing at his own reflection, and fell in love with himself! As he gazed, the divine penalty took effect, and he simply faded away. In his place sprang up the golden flower that bears his name today. Now you know how Daffodils came to be, and also why psychologists warn vain patients about the "Narcissus complex."

So now you know.