Zohra Sehgal facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Zohra Sehgal
Zohra Sehgal in 2010
Born	Sahibzadi Zohra Mumtazullah Khan Begum (1912-04-27)27 April 1912 Saharanpur, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India
Died	10 July 2014(2014-07-10) (aged 102) Delhi, India
Occupation	Actress, dancer, choreographer
Years active	1935–2007
Spouse(s)	Kameshwar Nath Segal ​ ​ (m. 1942; died 1959)​
Children	2, including Kiran Segal
Relatives	See Mumtazullah Khan family

Zohra Mumtaz Sehgal (born Sahibzadi Zohra Mumtazullah Khan Begum; 27 April 1912 – 10 July 2014) was a famous Indian actress, dancer, and choreographer. She started her career as a dancer in a modern dance group. Later, she became an actress in the 1940s. Zohra Sehgal worked in many British films, TV shows, and Bollywood movies. Her career lasted for more than sixty years!

Some of her well-known films include Neecha Nagar, Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Dil Se.. (1998), Veer-Zaara (2004), and Cheeni Kum (2007). She also appeared in TV shows like The Jewel in the Crown (1984). When she was 90 years old, she played the main character in the 2002 film Chalo Ishq Ladaaye. She was a very important person in Indian theatre. She performed with the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) and Prithviraj Kapoor's Prithvi Theatre for 14 years.

Zohra Sehgal received many awards for her work. These include the Padma Shri in 1998 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2010. The Padma Vibhushan is India's second-highest award for civilians. She passed away in a hospital in New Delhi on 10 July 2014. She was 102 years old.

Zohra Sehgal's Early Life

Zohra Begum Mumtazullah Khan was born on 27 April 1912. Her birthplace was Saharanpur, which was in British India at that time. Her parents were Mumtazullah Khan and Natiqua Begum. She grew up in a traditional family in Chakrata, Uttarakhand. She was the third of seven children. Zohra Sehgal described herself as a "tomboy." She loved climbing trees and playing outside.

When she was very young, she lost sight in her left eye due to an eye condition called glaucoma. She had treatment for it in Birmingham, England. After her mother passed away early, Zohra and her sisters went to the Queen Mary College in Lahore. This school was very strict. Men who came to give talks had to speak from behind a screen. Zohra decided she did not want to get married after seeing her sister's difficult marriage.

Studying Dance in Europe

After finishing college, Zohra's uncle helped her to learn from a British actor. They traveled by car from Lahore, crossing Iran and Palestine, to reach Damascus, Syria. Then they went to Egypt and took a boat to Europe. In Europe, Zohra's aunt encouraged her to join Mary Wigman's ballet school in Dresden, Germany. Zohra passed the entrance test even though she did not have much dance experience. She became the first Indian person to study at this school.

She stayed in Dresden for three years, learning modern dance. A big moment in her life was when she met Uday Shankar. He was a famous dancer and choreographer. He saw her perform and promised her a job when she returned to India.

Zohra Sehgal's Career Journey

Uday Shankar contacted Zohra Sehgal by telegram. He asked her to join his dance group right away for a tour to Japan. Zohra joined his group in August 1935. The group traveled to Japan, Egypt, and many parts of Europe and the United States. Zohra quickly became a lead dancer in the group.

When they returned to India in 1940, Zohra became a teacher at Uday Shankar's India Cultural Centre in Almora. Here, she met Kameshwar Sehgal. He was a young scientist, painter, and dancer. He was eight years younger than her.

Working in Theatre and Films

Zohra and Kameshwar continued to work at the Cultural Centre. They became well-known choreographers. They later moved to Lahore and started their own dance school. Because of the tension before the Partition of India, they moved to Bombay with their baby daughter, Kiran.

In 1945, Zohra joined the Prithvi Theatre as an actress. Her sister, Uzra Butt, also worked there. Zohra traveled all over India with the theatre group. In the same year, she also joined the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). She acted in many plays. She made her first film appearance in IPTA's movie, Dharti Ke Lal, in 1946. She then acted in Neecha Nagar. This film was one of the first movies of the "parallel cinema" movement in India. Neecha Nagar was very successful and won an award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Zohra Sehgal and Uzra Butt with the Uday Shankar Ballet Troupe, around 1935–37.

While in Bombay, Zohra Sehgal became friends with many theatre and film stars. She also worked as a choreographer for Hindi films. These included Guru Dutt's Baazi and Raj Kapoor's Awaara (both from 1951).

Moving to London

After her husband passed away in 1959, Zohra Sehgal moved to Delhi. She became the director of the new Natya Academy for about three years. In 1962, she received a scholarship to study drama in London, United Kingdom. She worked briefly as a dance teacher.

Zohra Sehgal made her TV debut in 1964 in a BBC show. She also appeared in one episode of the science fiction series Doctor Who in 1965. She hosted 26 episodes of the BBC TV series Padosi (Neighbours) from 1976 to 1977. She got an important role in the TV show The Jewel in the Crown (1984). She continued to appear in British films and TV shows for several years.

Return to India and Later Work

Zohra Sehgal came back to India in the mid-1990s. She acted in many films, plays, and TV series. She started performing poetry and became very popular. She even traveled to Pakistan to recite poems. People often asked her to recite a famous poem called Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon.

In 1993, a play called Ek Thi Nani was performed in Lahore. Zohra and her sister Uzra Butt acted in it together. Zohra became very active in Hindi films from 1996. She often played grandmother roles in big movies like Dil Se, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Veer Zara, and Cheeni Kum. She was 90 years old when she acted in the film Chalo Ishq Ladaye in 2002. In this movie, she was the main character, and the actor Govinda played her grandson. She even rode a bike and fought villains in the film!

Zohra Sehgal acted with many famous actors from different generations. These include Prithviraj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Govinda, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, and Ranbir Kapoor. In 2012, she became the first actor from Doctor Who to celebrate their 100th birthday.

Zohra Sehgal's Personal Life

Zohra Sehgal married Kameshwar Sehgal, who was a Hindu. Her father was not sure about the marriage at first. They got married on 14 August 1942. Jawaharlal Nehru was supposed to attend their wedding party. However, he was arrested a few days before for supporting Gandhi's Quit India Movement.

Zohra Sehgal had two children. Her daughter, Kiran Segal, is a famous Odissi dancer. Her son, Pavan Sehgal, works for the WHO. Kiran Segal wrote a book about her mother called Zohra Sehgal: Fatty, which came out in 2012.

Zohra Sehgal's Passing

On 9 July 2014, Zohra Sehgal was admitted to a hospital in South Delhi. She had pneumonia. She passed away on 10 July 2014, at the age of 102, after her heart stopped. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, paid tribute to her on Twitter. He said she was "prolific & full of life" and that her acting was "admired across generations." Amitabh Bachchan also tweeted that Zohra Sehgal was "immensely lovable."

Zohra Sehgal was cremated on 11 July in Delhi. She had said that she wanted to be cremated without any fuss. She even told her family to flush her ashes down the toilet if the crematorium refused to keep them.

Film and TV Roles

Awards and Recognition

Zohra Sehgal received many important awards for her long career:

• 1963 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
• 1998: Padma Shri
• 2001: Kalidas Samman
• 2002: Padma Bhushan
• 2004: Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (the highest award from India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama)
• 2010: Padma Vibhushan (India's second-highest civilian honor)

On 29 September 2020, Google honored Zohra Sehgal with a Doodle. This was to mark the anniversary of her 1946 film, Neecha Nagar, being shown at the Cannes Film Festival. Google said that Neecha Nagar is seen as Indian cinema's first international success. It won the festival's top award, the Palme d’Or prize.

Images for kids

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  Zohra Sehgal in 2010

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  Zohra Sehgal and Uzra Butt with the Uday Shankar Ballet Troupe, around 1935–37.