Remembering bollywoods legendary mother Nirupa Roy 1931-2004

Nirupa Roy (born Kokila Kishorechandra Bulsara- 4 January 1931 – 13 October 2004) was an Indian actress who appeared in Hindi films. Roy was mostly known for portraying character roles of the Indian mother. She played leading roles in her early films and started playing mother roles during the 1970s and 1980s. Her acting career spanned more than 50 years, and she acted in more than 275 films. She was referred to as the "queen of misery" in Hindi film circles.

In 1946, Roy and her husband responded to an advertisement in a Gujarati paper looking for actors. She was selected and started her acting career with the Gujarati film Ranakdevi. The same year she acted in her first Hindi film, Amar Raj. One of her popular films was Do Bigha Zameen (1953). She largely played mythological characters in the films of the 1940s and 50's. Her image of a goddess was very strong and people would visit her home and seek her blessings. Among her co-stars were Trilok Kapoor (with whom she played in eighteen movies, Bharat Bhushan, Balraj Sahni (Garam Coat, 1955) and Ashok Kumar.

In the 1970s, her roles as mother to the characters played by Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor made her name synonymous to the impoverished suffering mother. Her role in Deewar (1975) and its dialogues with reference to a mother and son are used as clichés.

The legendary mother of Bollywood was the most “Abala Naari” you could ever witness.  The “queen of misery” would either lose her husband or all her wealth or lose her vision or the worst, loses her children.

The legendary mother of Bollywood was the most “Abala Naari” you could ever witness.  The “queen of misery” would either lose her husband or all her wealth or lose her vision or the worst, loses her children.

The actress actually perfected the art of losing her children. Here, are 5 mainstream Bollywood movies where Nirupa Roy lost her children and thus cemented her place as the most irresponsible mother in whole Bollywood.


1) Suhaag

The Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor starrer had a plot similar to the 1975 blockbuster Deewaar. The story unfolds with a married couple of Durga (Nirupa Roy) and Vikram (Amjad Ali Khan) and their two sons Amit (Amitabh) and Kishan (Shashi Kapoor). Due to Vikram’s animosity with a rival gangster Jaggi, the couple loses Amit when Jaggi steals him and sells him. Durga’s miseries are further heightened when her husband abandons her.

The usual plot follows where Durga raises Kishan to be a police officer against all odds while Amit becomes a petty criminal and alcoholic. But, the movie takes an interesting turn when Vikram hires Amit to kill Kishan without realizing that both of them are his own blood.

2) Amar Akbar Anthony

Wikipedia introduces this movie by saying that it’s based on “Lost and Found” theme. The film turned out to be the biggest blockbuster of 1977 and was a trendsetter. It glorified the Christian character “Anthony Gonsalves” which later found mention in multiple movies. The plot is about three brothers who are raised in three different faiths but later unite to fight a common enemy.

As you must have guessed, Nirupa Roy happened to be the mother of these 3 unfortunate kids. Her family lives in extreme poverty and she has tuberculosis. The kids are starving. Fed up with her pathetic existence, she decides to commit suicide only to be stuck by a tree branch and lose her eyesight. Could there be any more misery than this?

3) Geraftar

In this movie too, Durga (Nirupa Roy) has two sons. Her husband is an honest police officer and we know that all bad happens to honest people. Thus, while on-duty he is thrown to ground by a drug mafia. His son, in an attempt to save his father, pulls a wrong lever which kills him. Durga, in rage, beats her son and says “Door hoza meri nazron saamne se”.

Deeply hurt by her mother’s reaction, Kishen commits suicide (though he doesn’t actually die). Thus, again Durga loses her husband and her son within a day.

4) Mard

“Mard ko dard nhi hota”, the legendary dialogue comes from this historic movie set in the period when India was under the control of British empire. King Azad singh (Dara Singh) and his wife Queen Durga (Nirupa Roy) have a child Raju. King Azad, just for fun, carves the words “Mard” on the newborn’s chest but the baby apparently smiled throughout this process.

Tragedy happens when British officers General Dyer conspires with King’s doctor and sedates him. The King is captured but the queen escapes along with her son. She later realized that she’s been shot. Thus, Raju is kept in local orphanage till the queen recuperates. But, guess what, when the queen comes back, the child is gone. The poor queen, shocked and dismayed, loses her ability to speak.

5) Daana Paani

This 1989 movie starred the hit pair of Mithun Chakraborty (Gautam) and Padmini Kolhapure (Chanda). The movie runs into flashback when Gautam reminisces about the time when he came to Mumbai along with his mother Shanti (Nirupa Roy) and sister gauri. Gautam gets separated from his family into the Mumbai crowd.

He’s charged with murder of two people and is facing death sentence. Standing in the courtroom trial, he remembers the chain of events that led to the current situation.

source:http://mythicalindia.com/features-page/nirupa-roy-the-queen-of-misery-and-the-worst-mother-of-all-time/