Remembering Veteran Actress Bina Rai 1931-2009

Born: 13 July1931, Lahore, Pakistan
Died: 6 December 2009, Mumbai
Spouse: Prem Nath (m. 1952–1992)
Education: Isabella Thoburn College
Children: Prem Krishen, Monty Nath

In the 1950s, she married actor Prem Nath, whose sister Krishna was married to the actor-director Raj Kapoor, was part of the Kapoor family. The first movie in which he was paired with Bina Rai was Aurat (1953). The film was not a hit, but Bina Rai and Prem Nath fell in love with each other. They married and soon set up their own production unit, known as P.N. Films.

Talking about Bina, Asha says, “We worked together in one of her best films Ghunghat in 1960 for which she won a Filmfare award. She played Bharat Bhushan's wife and she was fabulous."While working in Ghunghat, Asha was a timid and young supporting actress while Bina Rai was a big star. Talking about her experience of working with the late actress in Ghunghat, Asha says, "Binaji was an introvert. I was the youngest person in the unit. She was my senior and very intimidating. On the sets, she wouldn't mix around and kept completely to herself. I remember once a co-star was getting a shot repeatedly wrong. The giggler that I am, I kept bursting into giggles. Binaji just stared at me, and then suddenly smiled softly. That was a rare moment of connecting with her."        

Bina Rai born as Krishna Sarin hailed from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. In 1947, her family was uprooted from Lahore, Pakistan during the communal frenzy and was resettled in U.P. She went to school in Lahore and then college in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Bina Rai was a first year student of Arts in the Isabella Thoburn College of Lucknow in 1950, when she came across an advertisement for a talent contest, she applied and received a call from the sponsors. Although she had been active in college dramatics, a film career was never within her field of vision. Nevertheless, she went to Bombay, to participate in the contest where she won along with the prize a leading role in Kishore Sahu's Kali Ghata (1951), which became her film debut, and also featured Kishore Sahu in the lead role. In the 1950s, she married actor Prem Nath, whose sister Krishna was married to the actor-director Raj Kapoor, was part of the Kapoor family.

The first movie in which he was paired with Bina Rai was Aurat (1953). The film was not a hit, but Bina Rai and Prem Nath fell in love with each other. They married and soon set up their own production unit, known as P.N. Films. Their first film from P.N. Films was Shagufa (1954) and they had pinned high hopes on it, but audiences rejected it. Neither Bina Rai’s charm nor Prem Nath's sensitive portrayal of the role of a doctor could save "Shagufa" from being a flop. And the films that followed "Shagufa" – Prisoner of Golconda, Samunder and Watan disappeared almost as soon as they hit the theatre screens. Thus the Prem Nath-Bina Rai pairing never clicked on the screen.

However, her films with leading man Pradeep Kumar remain her best-remembered performances, where she played the title role in Anarkali (1953), Taj Mahal and Ghunghat for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

Anarkali

Taj Mahal

Ghunghat

Bina Rai stopped acting in films many years ago, claiming that women of a certain age don't get good roles. She also talks fondly of her husband Prem Nath who had died on 3 November 1992. In 2002, their son, Kailash (Monty) Nath released a tribute album, to his father on the occasion of his 10th death anniversary and 76th birth anniversary, titled Amar Premnath, released by Saregama. His grandson, Siddharth Malhotra directed the successful TV series on doctors, Sanjivani (2004).

She received Filmfare Best Actress Award: Ghunghat, 1961
Bina Rai died on 6 December 2009, following a cardiac arrest.

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