Remembering Leela Mishra 1908-88

Mausi’s dialogue with Jay (Amitabh Bachchan) in ‘Sholay’
Mausi : Arre beta, bas itna samaz lo ke ghar me jawaan beti seene par
pathhar ke sil ki tarah hoti hai. Basanti ka byaah ho jaaye to chain
ki saans loo.
Jay : haa sach kaha mausi aapne. bada bojh hai aap par.
Mausi : Lekin beta, is bojh ko koi kunwe me to phaik nahi deta.Bura
nahi maananaa , itanaa to poochhanaa hi padataa hai ke ladke kaa
khaandaan kyaa hai uske lachhchhan kaise hai, kamaataa kitnaa hai?
Jay : Kamaane ka to ye hai mausi,..,ke ek baar biwi bachhon ki
jimmedaari sar pe aa gayi to .. kamaane bhi lagegaa.
Mausi : To kya abhi kuchh bhi nahi kamaataa?
Jay : Nahi nahi ye maine kba kahaa mausi, kamaataa hai lekin,... ab
roj roj to aadmi jeet nahi sakataa na. .. kabhi haar bhi jaataa hai
bechaaraa?
Mausi : haar jaata hai?
Jay : haan mausi ab ye kambakht juwaa cheej hi aisi hai ab mai kyaa
kahoon ?
Mausi : heynnnn. to kya juwaari hai?
Jay : chhi chhi chhi chhi mausi, woh aur juwaari na na. woh to bahot
hi achchha aur nek ladka hai.Lekin mausi, ek baar sharaab pi li na
phir, achchhe bure ka kahaa hosh rahataa hai. Haath pakad ke bitha
liyaa kisi ne juwaa khelane. ab isme bechare Veeru ka kya dosh?
Mausi: Thik kahate ho beta. juwaari woh sharaabi woh lekin, uska koi
dosh nahi.
Jay : Mausi aap to mere dost ko galat samaz rahi hai. woh to itanaa
seedha aur bhola hai. aare basanti se uski shaadi karke to dekhiye, ye
juwe aur sharaab ki aadat to do din me chhoot jaayegi.
Mausi : Arre beta, mujh budhiyaa ko samaza rahe ho. ye sharaab aur
juwe ki aadat kisi ki chhooti hai aaj tak.
Jay : Mausi aap Veeru ko nahi jaanati , wishwaas kijiye wo is tarah
kaa insaan nahi hai. Ek baar shaadi ho gayi to woh us gaane-waali ke
ghar jaanaa band kar degaa. bas, sharaab apne aap chhoot jaayegi.
Mausi: Hi hi, bas yehi ek kami raha gayi thi. to kya kisi gaane-waali
ke ghar bhi aanaa jaanaa hai?
Jay : To isme kaunsi buri baat hai mausi. arre , gaana soonane to
raajaa- mahaaraajaa unche unche khaandaan ke log jaate hai, haan.
Mausi : Achchha ! to beta ye bhi bataate jaao ki tumhare yeh gunwaan
dost kis khaandaan ke hai?
Jay : Bas mausi, khaandaan ka pataa chalate hi ham aap ko khabar de
denge.
Mausi : Ek baat ki daad doongi beta. bhale sau buraaEyaa hai tumhare
dost me ,phir bhi tumhare munh se us ke liye taareefe hi nikalti hai.
Jay : ab Kya karoo mausi.. mera to dil hi kuchh aisa hai.(pause)...
To.. mai ye rishtaa pakkaa samazoo?
Mausi : Pakkaa? . bhale saari jindagi ladaki kuwaari baithi rahe.
lekin mai aise aadami se Basanti ko nahi byaahanewaali. Sagi mausi
hoon. koi sautelee maa nahi.
Jay : Ajeeb baat hai. mere itane samazaane par bhi aap ne inkaar kar
diyaa.. Bechaaraa Veeru... naa jaane kya karega?

Leela Mishra (1908 – 17 January 1988) worked as a character actor in over 200 Hindi films for five decades, is best remembered for playing stock characters like aunts (Chachi or Mausi). She is most known for her role of mausi in blockbuster Sholay (1975), Dil Se Mile Dil (1978), Baton Baton Mein (1979), Rajesh Khanna films like Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein, Aanchal, Mehbooba, Amar Prem and Rajshri Productions hits like Geet Gaata Chal (1975), Nadiya Ke Paar (1982) and Abodh (1984).
Her career's best performance was in Naani Maa in 1981 for which she received Best Actress award at the age of 73.
Leela Mishra was discovered by a man called Mama Shinde who was working for Dadasaheb Phalke’s Nasik Cinetone. He persuaded her husband to make her work in films. During those days there was a severe scarcity of women actors in films; this was evident in the paychecks that the Mishras received when they went to Nasik for the shooting. While Ram Prasad Mishra was hired on a salary of Rs. 150 per month, Leela Mishra was offered Rs. 500 per month. However, as they fared poorly in front of the camera, their contracts were cancelled.
The next opportunity that came their way was an offer to work in the movie Bhikarin which was being produced by a company owned by the Maharaja of Kolhapur. However, Leela Mishra lost out on this opportunity too as the role required her to put her arms round the actor (who was not her husband) while delivering a dialogue, which she point-blank refused to do.
She faced a similar problem while working in another film titled Honhaar. She was cast opposite Shahu Modak as a heroine and was supposed to hug and embrace him, which she again refused steadfastly. Since the company was legally in a weak position, they couldn’t turn her out of the film, which proved to be a blessing in disguise for her. She was offered Modak’s mother’s role in the film and it clicked instantly. This opened the doors for her to play mother roles at the young age of 18.
Early on in her career she acted in notable films like musical hit Anmol Ghadi (1948), Raj Kapoor's Awaara (1951) and Nargis-Balraj Sahni starrer Lajwanti (1958) which nominated for the Palme d'Or for Best Film at 1959 Cannes Film Festival.

She acted in the first Bhojpuri film, Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo (1962), which also starred Kumkum, Helen and Nasir Hussain.
Her roles varied from mothers, benign or evil aunts, to comic roles.
She died of a heart attack in Bombay on 17 January 1988 at the age of 80.