>Msclrfl22 at 05:08, 30 June 2021

2021-06-30T05:08:04Z

New page

{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Leela Chitnis
| image = LeelaChitnis.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name = Leela Nagarkar
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1909|9|9}}
| birth_place = [[Dharwad]], [[Bombay Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]] (present-day [[Karnataka]], [[India]])
| occupation = Film actor, theatre actor
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2003|7|14|1909|9|9}}<ref name="death">{{cite web | url=https://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/2003/07/16/stories/2003071603711300.htm | title=Leela Chitnis dead | date=16 July 2003 | access-date=20 March 2019 | archive-date=23 February 2004 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040223172357/http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/2003/07/16/stories/2003071603711300.htm | work=[[The Hindu]] | url-status=dead }}</ref>
| death_place = [[Danbury, Connecticut|Danbury]], [[Connecticut]], [[U.S.]]<ref name="death" />
| othername =
| years_active = 1930s-1980s<ref name=NYT />
| spouse = [[Gajanan Yashwant Chitnis]]
| homepage =
| filmfareawards=
}}
'''Leela Chitnis''' (''née'' '''Nagarkar'''; 9 September 1909 – 14 July 2003) was an actress in the [[Cinema of India|Indian film industry]], active from 1930s to 1980s. In her early years she starred as a romantic lead, but she is best remembered for her later roles playing a virtuous and upright mother to leading stars.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|last1=Martin|first1=Douglas|title=Leela Chitnis, 91, an Actress In Scores of Bombay Movies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/17/movies/leela-chitnis-91-an-actress-in-scores-of-bombay-movies.html|access-date=20 September 2015|work=[[New York Times]]|date=17 July 2003}}</ref>

==Early life==
She was born in a [[Marathi language|Marathi]]-speaking [[Brahmin]] family,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ey8rDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA366|title=Gender, Culture, and Performance: Marathi Theatre and Cinema before Independence|author=Meera Kosambi|date=5 July 2017|publisher=Routledge|access-date=5 July 2017|page=366|isbn=9781351565905}}</ref> in [[Dharwad]], [[Karnataka]]. Her father was an English literature professor. She was one of the first educated film actresses. After graduation she joined Natyamanwantar, a progressive theater group that produced plays in her native Marathi language. The group's works were greatly influenced by [[Henrik Ibsen|Ibsen]], [[George Bernard Shaw|Shaw]] and [[Konstantin Stanislavsky|Stanislavsky]]. With the theatre group, Leela played the lead role in a series of comedies and tragedies and even founded her own [[Repertory theatre|repertory]].<ref name="Leela Chitnis">{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/leela-chitnis-36890.html|title=Leela Chitnis|website=The Independent|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-04-06|archive-date=21 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821074236/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/leela-chitnis-36890.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Career==
Chitnis' early stage work included comedy ''Usna Navra'' (1934) and with her own film group ''Udyacha Sansar''. She started acting to support her four children. She started as an extra and went on to stunt films.

In ''Gentleman Daku'' ("Gentleman Thief") in 1937, Chitnis played a polished crook dressed in male apparel and was publicised in the [[Times of India]] as the first graduate society-lady from [[Maharashtra]]. By then she had already made her first major mark as an actress on the silver screen. Chitnis worked at [[Prabhat Pictures]], [[Pune]] and [[Ranjit Movietone]] before going on to be the leading lady in [[Bombay Talkies]].

Specialising in controversial films that challenged accepted societal norms, especially those regarding marriage and the invidious caste system, [[Bombay Talkies]] was having limited luck at the box office. But it bounced back with ''Kangan'' ("Bangles", 1939), which introduced Chitnis playing the lead role as the adopted daughter of a Hindu priest in love with the son of a local landlord who opposes the relationship and threatens the holy man. Her love, however, stands up to his father's prejudices, an unusual theme for the time, but one that appealed to the public imagination enough to ensure it success at the box office.

With ''Kangan's'' success, Leela replaced Bombay Talkies' ravishing leading lady [[Devika Rani]]. Leela made a particularly good partner with [[Devika Rani]]'s leading man [[Ashok Kumar]] for a series of box-office hits such as ''[[Azad (1940 film)|Azad]]'' (''Free'', 1940), ''[[Bandhan (1940 film)|Bandhan]]'' (''Ties'', 1940) and ''[[Jhoola (1941 film)|Jhoola]]'' ("Swing", 1941) that broadly deal with societal issues.. Ashok Kumar was so impressed by her acting abilities that he admitted to having learnt how to speak with his eyes from her. In 1941 Chitnis, at the height of her popularity and glamour, created history of sorts by becoming the first Indian film star to endorse the popular [[Lux (soap)|Lux soap]] brand, a concession then only granted to top Hollywood heroines.

By the mid-1940s her career went downhill as the new leading ladies came in. Leela accepted the reality and in 1948 entered the next, and perhaps most renowned, phase of her career in ''[[Shaheed (1948 film)|Shaheed]]'' ("Martyr"). Cast as the hero's suffering, ailing mother, she played this role to perfection. For 22 years, Chitnis played the mother of the later leading men including [[Dilip Kumar]], often playing an ailing mother or a mother going through hardships and struggling to bring up her offspring. In fact she created the archetype of the Hindi Film mother, which was continued by later actresses. Leela's maternal histrionics were portrayed in a range of films such as ''[[Awaara (1951 film)|Awaara]]'' (''The Vagabond'', 1951), ''[[Gunga Jumna|Ganga Jumna]]'' (''The Confluence'', 1961) and, in 1965, the runaway success ''[[Guide (film)|Guide]]'', based on the award-winning novel of the same name by [[R. K. Narayan|R.K. Narayan]]. She was busy through the 1970s, but cut down her appearances thereafter before taking the final curtain call in ''[[Dil Tujhko Diya]]'' ("I Give My Heart to You") in 1985. She then emigrated to the United States in the late 1980s to join her children. She died in [[Danbury, Connecticut|Danbury]], Connecticut at a nursing home, at age 94.

Leela also briefly dabbled in movie-making, producing ''[[Kisise Na Kehna]]'' ("Don't Tell Anybody", 1942) and directing ''[[Aaj Ki Baat|Aaj ki Baat]]'' ("The Talk of Today", 1955). She also wrote and directed a stage adaptation of [[W. Somerset Maugham|Somerset Maugham]]'s ''[[The Sacred Flame (play)|Sacred Flame]]'' and published her autobiography, ''Chanderi Duniyet'', in 1981.<ref name="NYT" /><ref name="Leela Chitnis"/>

==Personal life==

Chitnis belonged to the [[Brahmin]] caste.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/17/movies/leela-chitnis-93-an-actress-in-scores-of-bombay-movies.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=19 February 2017 |archive-date=2 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602052831/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/17/movies/leela-chitnis-93-an-actress-in-scores-of-bombay-movies.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
However, her father adhered to [[Brahmo Samaj]], a religious movement that rejected caste.

She married a much older man named Dr. Gajanan Yeshwant Chitnis at the age of 15 or 16, and quickly had four children. The couple supported India's struggle for independence from Britain and once risked arrest by harbouring [[Manabendra Nath Roy]], a Marxist freedom fighter. After she divorced her husband, she worked as a school teacher and began acting on stage in melodramas typical of the time. She appeared in several movies, and went through a Bombay university to be hired by a major studio, Bombay Talkies; it hired only college graduates.

She had four sons Manavendra (Meena), Vijaykumar, Ajitkumar and Raj. She lived with her eldest son in [[Connecticut]] in United States, until her death. She had three grandchildren then.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/former-hindi-film-heroines-try-role-of-ordinary-people/1/293321.html|title=The star next door|date=15 May 1994|access-date=29 July 2015|publisher=India Today|archive-date=17 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717122417/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/former-hindi-film-heroines-try-role-of-ordinary-people/1/293321.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Filmography==
Actress:
{{Div col}}
* ''Shri Satyanarayan'' (1935)
* ''Dhuwandhar'' (1935)
* ''Chhaya'' (1936) - Chhaya
* ''Wahan'' (1937) - Princess Jayanti
* ''Insaaf'' (1937)
* ''Gentleman Daku'' (1937)
* ''Master Man'' (1938)
* ''Raja Gopichand'' (1938)
* ''[[Jailor (1938 film)|Jailor]]'' (1938) as Kanwal
* ''Chhote Sarkar'' (1938)
* ''Sant Tulsidas'' (1939) - Ratnavali
* ''Kangan'' (1939) - Radha
* ''Chhotisi Duniya'' (1939)
* ''[[Ghar Ki Rani]]'' (1940) - Arundhati
* ''[[Bandhan (1940 film)|Bandhan]]'' (1940) - Beena
* ''[[Azad (1940 film)|Azad]]'' (1940)
* ''Ardhangi'' (1940) - Arundhati
* ''Kanchan'' (1941)
* ''[[Jhoola (1941 film)|Jhoola]]'' (1941) - Gata
* ''[[Kisise Na Kehna]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Rekha (film)|Rekha]]'' (1943)
* ''Manorama'' (1944)
* ''Kiran'' (1944)
* ''[[Char Aankhen]]'' (1944)
* ''Shatranj'' (1946) - Shobharani
* ''Dev Kanya'' (1946)
* ''Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani'' (1947)
* ''Andhon Ki Duniya'' (1947) - Sushila
* ''[[Shaheed (1948 film)|Shaheed]]'' (1948)
* ''Namoona'' (1949)
* ''Saudamini'' (1950)
* ''[[Awaara (1951 film)|Awaara]]'' (1951) - Leela Raghunath
* ''[[Saiyan (film)|Saiyan]]'' (1951) - Rani Sahiba
* ''[[Sangdil]]'' (1952) - Dhaayi Maa
* ''[[Maa (1952 film)|Maa]]'' (1952) - Bhanu's & Raju's mother
* ''Naya Ghar'' (1953)
* ''Hari Darshan'' (1953)
* ''[[Baadbaan]]'' (1954)
* ''[[Aaj Ki Baat]]'' (1955)
* ''Funtoosh'' (1956)
* ''Basant Bahar'' (1956) - Gopal's mother
* ''Aawaz'' (1956) - Mrs. Bhatnagar
* ''[[Naya Daur (1957 film)|Naya Daur]]'' (1957) - Shankar's Mother
* ''[[Sadhna (1958 film)|Sadhna]]'' (1958) - Mohan's Mother
* ''Post Box 999'' (1958) - Mrs. Gangadevi (as Lila Chitnis)
* ''[[Phil Subha Hogi]]'' (1958) - Sohni's Mother (uncredited)
* ''[[Dhool Ka Phool]]'' (1959) - Gangu Dai
* ''[[Ujala]]'' (1959) - Ramu's Mother (as Leela Chitnes)
* ''[[Main Nashe Mein Hoon]]'' (1959) - Mrs. Rajni Khanna
* ''[[Kal Hamara Hai (film)|Kal Hamara Hai]]'' (1959) - Hiralal's wife
* ''[[Barkha (film)|Barkha]]'' (1959) - Mrs. Haridas
* ''Maa Baap'' (1960) - Raju's Mother
* ''[[Kanoon]]'' (1960) - Kalidash's Wife
* ''[[Bewaqoof]]'' (1960) - Mrs. Leela Rai Bahadur
* ''[[Parakh (1960 film)|Parakh]]'' (1960) - Mrs. Nivaran
* ''[[Kohinoor (1960 film)|Kohinoor]]'' (1960)
* ''[[Kala Bazar]]'' (1960) - Raghuvir's Mother
* ''[[Hum Hindustani]]'' (1960) - Savitri Nath
* ''[[Ghunghat (1960 film)|Ghunghat]]'' (1960) - Laxmi's Mother
* ''[[Dharmputra]]'' (1961) - Meena's mother
* ''[[Aas Ka Panchhi]]'' (1961) - Mrs. Nihalchand Khanna
* ''Ram Lila'' (1961)
* ''Kanch Ki Gudiya'' (1961) - Raju's Mother
* ''[[Hum Dono (1961 film)|Hum Dono]]'' (1961) - Anand's Mother
* ''[[Gunga Jumna]]'' (1961) - Govindi
* ''Char Diwari'' (1961) - Sunil's mother
* ''Batwara'' (1961) - Suhagan / Suhagi
* ''Naag Devata'' (1962)
* ''[[Man-Mauji]]'' (1962) - Bhagwanti
* ''Dr. Vidya'' (1962)
* ''[[Asli-Naqli]]'' (1962) - Renu's mother
* ''[[Aashiq (1962 film)|Aashiq]]'' (1962) - Mrs. Amar Singh
* ''[[Dil Hi To Hai (1963 film)|Dil Hi To Hai]]'' (1963) - Nanny / Yusuf's foster mother
* ''Suhagan'' (1964) - Uma & Vijay Kumar's mother
* ''[[Dosti]]'' (1964) - Mrs. Gupta
* ''[[Zindagi (1964 film)|Zindagi]]'' (1964) - Beena's mother
* ''[[Shehnai (1964 film)|Shehnai]]'' (1964) - Grandmother
* ''Punar Milan'' (1964) - Sonal's mother
* ''[[Pooja Ke Phool]]'' (1964) - Mrs. Singh (Balam's Mother)
* ''[[Aap Ki Parchhaiyan]]'' (1964) - Mrs. Dinanath Chopra
* ''[[Guide (film)|Guide]]'' (1965) - Raju's Mother
* ''[[Johar-Mehmood in Goa]]'' (1965) - Pandit's Wife
* ''[[Waqt (1965 film)|Waqt]]'' (1965) - Mrs. Mittal
* ''[[Nai Umar Ki Nai Fasal]]'' (1965)
* ''Mohabbat Isko Kahete Hain'' (1965) - Leela
* ''[[Faraar]]'' (1965) - Mrs. Choudhry
* ''[[Phool Aur Patthar]]'' (1966) - Blind Beggar
* ''[[Aurat (1967 film)|Aurat]]'' (1967) - Parvati's Mom
* ''[[Majhli Didi]]'' (1967) - Kishan's Mother
* ''[[Gunahon Ka Devta (1967 film)|Gunahon Ka Devta]]'' (1967)
* ''[[Dulhan Ek Raat Ki]]'' (1967) - Nirmala's mother
* ''The Killers'' (1969)
* ''Rambhakta Hunuman'' (1969)
* ''[[Prince (1969 film)|Prince]]'' (1969) - Mrs. Shanti Singh
* ''[[Intaquam]]'' (1969) - Mrs. Mehra
* ''[[Badi Didi]]'' (1969) - Mother
* ''[[Man Ki Aankhen]]'' (1970) - Mrs. Dinanath
* ''[[Jeevan Mrityu]]'' (1970) - Ashok's Mother
* ''[[Bhai-Bhai]]'' (1970) - Radha
* ''[[Mehmaan (film)|Mehmaan]]'' (1973) - Rajesh's mother
* ''[[Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein]]'' (1977)
* ''[[Satyam Shivam Sundaram: Love Sublime]]'' (1978) - Bade Babu's Wife
* ''[[Janta Hawaldar]]'' (1979) - Naani
* ''Aangan Ki Kali'' (1979)
* ''[[Bin Maa Ke Bachche]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Dil Tujhko Diya]]'' (1987) - Mrs. Sahni (final film role)
{{div col end}}

Director:
* ''[[Aaj Ki Baat|Aaj ki Baat]]'' (1955)

Producer:
* ''[[Aaj Ki Baat|Aaj ki Baat]]'' (1955)

==References==
<references />

== External links ==
*{{IMDb name|0158332}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chitnis, Leela}}
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:Actresses in Hindi cinema]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Karnataka]]
[[Category:People from Dharwad district]]
[[Category:Indian stage actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses in Kannada theatre]]
[[Category:Indian women film directors]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian film directors]]
[[Category:Kannada film directors]]
[[Category:Indian women film producers]]
[[Category:Kannada film producers]]
[[Category:Film directors from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Film producers from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Indian film actresses]]
[[Category:Businesswomen from Karnataka]]

Leela Chitnis - Revision history

>Msclrfl22 at 05:08, 30 June 2021