New Delhi | Jagran Entertainment Desk: What would’ve happened if Lord Rama hadn’t left for the exile and stayed in Ayodhya instead? The events as happened in the Hindu epic Ramayana wouldn’t probably have led to the death of Ravana. And if it wasn’t for Manthara’s consistent efforts, the handmaiden of Queen Kaikeyi, Ramayana as we know today might never have happened. And on April 18, we will mark the 104th birth anniversary of the actress who immortalised the character of Manthara forever within the hearts and minds of tens of millions of Indians. English Jagran has brought to you seven interesting facts about Nashik-born actress on her 104th birth anniversary:
1. Born in 1916 in Bombay presidency’s Nashik, Amba Laxman Rao Sagun, screen-named as Lalita Pawar appeared in over 700 films in Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati cinema. Lalita started her acting career as a child actor at the age of nine with Y.D. Sarpotdar’s silent-film Raja Harishchandra (1928), and later played lead roles in the silent era and 1940s films, in a career which lasted until 1988, with the portrayal of Manthara in Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana her last appearance. Lalita breathed last in 1997, in Pune.
2. In 1942, Lalita was shooting a scene of the film ‘Jung-e-Aazadi’ in which actor Bhagwan Dada was supposed to slap the actress. Dada ended up slapping Pawar so hard that it started to bleed from her ear and led to the burst of her right-eye vein, the mistreatment for this left the right-side of Pawar’s body paralyzed for the years to come.
3. The facial features of Pawar got disfigured after this and her right eye shrunk bad. For the next few years, Lalita couldn’t find any work in the industry. However, Lalita made a striking comeback, although with her one eye disfigured in SM Yusuf’s ‘Grihasthi’ in 1948.
4. Lalita started to get the roles of villainous mother-in-law now. She played Mrs Deisa in ‘Anari’ (1959) for which she bagged the Filmfare award for best-supporting actress. Her other notable acts of that era include the portrayal of Kele wali Baayi in Raj Kapoor’s cult-classic ‘Shree 420’ and Mrs Rai in ‘Mam Didi’ (1961).
5. Lalita’s career made a striking comeback decades after she received recognition with a Filmfare in the industry. Her portrayal of Manthara in Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana immortalized the negativity of the character within the psyche of Indians all across the aisle. Everyone hated Manthara when she was teaching Princess Sita the way saffron clothes for the exile must be worn like.
6. On the personal front, Lalita married twice, first in an adulterated relationship with the man who ended up falling in love with her sister. She then married producer Rajprakash Gupta.
7. The actress died a lonely-silent death in her bungalow in Pune in 1997. Her husband was hospitalized and her son had shifted his base to Mumbai. When there was no response to the phone calls made to Pawar, the Police had to break-in the ‘Aarohi’, her bungalow in Pune. There, the ‘Anari’ actress was found dead three days after she had made a heartbreaking sign-off from this world.
Posted By: Aalok Sensharma
