Mumbai:
"Meri lipstick theek hai," sheasked shutterbugs who clamoured to take a picture of her.
"Meri awaaz aa rahi hai? Vo mike lagao," she said to the eageraudience who wanted to hear her.
Celebrating her 100th birthday with the launch of herdaughter Kiran's book, the grand old lady of Indian CinemaZohra Segal showed that she continues to defy her age with herindomitable spirit and feisty enthusiasm.
"Thank you all for coming here today. The relationshipbetween an artist and the audience is the most beautiful. Ifyou people hadn't turned up, who would we have spoken to?"said Zohra, who arrived on a wheelchair helped by her greatgranddaughter Madhyama.
"All my life I have been active in my profession sinceOctober 8, 1935. Even when my children were born, or myhusband committed suicide, I managed to carry on. After the75th year of my career, I decided to stop," she said in anaudio visual recorded to commemorate her 100th birthday.
What does she wish for in life now that she has turned100? "I want long blonde hair, a hourglass figure and 5 foot 6inches height," Zohra said in her usual witty manner.
"Once an interviewer asked me, what keeps me alive? Isaid, sex. The power of the female gender keeps me alive."
In the recorded interview, she also said she had askedfor euthanasia to her daughter Kiran many a times. "I wouldlike to take an injection and go to sleep."
Zohra, called the laadli of entertainment and thedoyenne of Indian theatre, was part of many a film and stageproduction over the past seven decades. Having starred infilms like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Dil Se and CheeniKum, Zohra was last seen in Sawariyaa (2007).
"It's a proud day for us that Zohraji has completed 100years of her life. Her infectious energy is inspiring," saidPrime Minister's wife Gursharan Kaur, who calls Zohra 'Ammi',after launching her biography "Zohra Segal: Fatty".
Kiran said, "When I was approached to write the book, Iwasn't interested. She is my mother, I don't feel anythingspecial about her. After much insistence I started jottingdown points from my childhood, and that's how the book hascome to be."
"Meri awaaz aa rahi hai? Vo mike lagao," she said to the eageraudience who wanted to hear her.
Celebrating her 100th birthday with the launch of herdaughter Kiran's book, the grand old lady of Indian CinemaZohra Segal showed that she continues to defy her age with herindomitable spirit and feisty enthusiasm.
"Thank you all for coming here today. The relationshipbetween an artist and the audience is the most beautiful. Ifyou people hadn't turned up, who would we have spoken to?"said Zohra, who arrived on a wheelchair helped by her greatgranddaughter Madhyama.
"All my life I have been active in my profession sinceOctober 8, 1935. Even when my children were born, or myhusband committed suicide, I managed to carry on. After the75th year of my career, I decided to stop," she said in anaudio visual recorded to commemorate her 100th birthday.
What does she wish for in life now that she has turned100? "I want long blonde hair, a hourglass figure and 5 foot 6inches height," Zohra said in her usual witty manner.
"Once an interviewer asked me, what keeps me alive? Isaid, sex. The power of the female gender keeps me alive."
In the recorded interview, she also said she had askedfor euthanasia to her daughter Kiran many a times. "I wouldlike to take an injection and go to sleep."
Zohra, called the laadli of entertainment and thedoyenne of Indian theatre, was part of many a film and stageproduction over the past seven decades. Having starred infilms like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Dil Se and CheeniKum, Zohra was last seen in Sawariyaa (2007).
"It's a proud day for us that Zohraji has completed 100years of her life. Her infectious energy is inspiring," saidPrime Minister's wife Gursharan Kaur, who calls Zohra 'Ammi',after launching her biography "Zohra Segal: Fatty".
Kiran said, "When I was approached to write the book, Iwasn't interested. She is my mother, I don't feel anythingspecial about her. After much insistence I started jottingdown points from my childhood, and that's how the book hascome to be."
