A screenshot of Google Doodle commemorating actress Nargis
Today's Google Doodle is a dedication to legendary actress and social activist Nargis, who graced the silver screen in iconic films like 'Awaara', 'Mother India', 'Raat aur Din', 'Shree 420' among others.
Considered to be one of India's greatest on-screen performers, Nargis debuted in 1942 with the film 'Tamanna'. She subsequently appeared in several commercially and critically-acclaimed films throughout the 1940s and 1950s, notably with actor-filmmaker Raj Kapoor.
Nargis has many firsts to her name.
In 1957, she played the lead in Mehboob Khan's 'Mother India' which became the first Indian movie to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Nargis won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance. In 1958, she became the first film actress to be conferred with the Padma Shri and 10 years later, she would become the inaugural winner of the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in 'Raat aur Din'. She was also the first patron of the Spastics Society of India.
She married her 'Mother India' co-star Sunil Dutt in 1958 and together, they had three children: actor Sanjay Dutt, Namrata Dutt and former Congress lawmaker Priya Dutt. She was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1980.
She succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 1981 at the age of 51.