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India.com
a day ago
- Entertainment
- India.com
This actress acted in 700 films, her own sister destroyed her married life by..., name is..
Long before she turned into one of Indian cinema's most feared on-screen mothers-in-law, Lalita Pawar was a nine-year-old girl on a silent film set. Her real name was Amba Laxman Rao Shagun. Legend has it she was born outside a temple — her mother in labour couldn't reach a hospital in time, so she arrived at the temple steps and was named Amba. She made her debut in Raja Harishchandra (1928), the same title as India's first silent film and back then, she wasn't just acting. Like most heroines of that era, she sang her songs too. Lalita wasn't typecast not yet typecast. She was doing romantic leads, singing, and holding her own. But destiny had other plans. How did a slap change the course of her life? It was during the shoot of Jung-e-Azadi that fate took a cruel turn. A co-actor, Bhagwan Dada, had to slap her for a scene — only, the slap wasn't fake. It landed hard, real, and damaging. Blood oozed from her ear. It wasn't just any injury. That one slap damaged a facial nerve, left her with partial paralysis, and robbed her of the one thing every actress depends on — her face. For two years, she was bedridden. Her flourishing lead career came to a brutal end. Offers dried up. The industry turned its back. Why did she return and what roles came her way? She did return but no longer as the heroine. Lalita Pawar was now cast in strong, often negative, supporting roles. She became the terrifying saas, the scheming mother-in-law, the hard-nosed matriarch. But even in these roles, her screen presence overpowered many a lead heroine. She turned into the gold standard for vamps, but off-screen, life wasn't far from a melodrama either. What betrayal hurt more than the slap? Her personal life carried its own twisted plot. Her husband, producer Ganpatrao Pawar, had an affair, with her own sister. It wasn't just an affair. He left Lalita and married the sister. Her home broke, and the betrayal wasn't cinematic, it was intimate and brutal. Lalita didn't spiral. She remarried filmmaker Raj Kumar Gupta and had a son named Jai. But even in this chapter, life wasn't kinder. What made Lalita Pawar's legacy unforgettable? Lalita went on to work in over 700 films across languages, a feat that landed her in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest acting career in Indian cinema, spanning nearly seven decades. No matter how small the screen time, she made every role her own. Whether it was Ramayan's Manthara or the saas who struck fear with a single glare, her presence was unforgettable. What was her final battle? After all the screen drama, her real-life ending was quietly tragic. She was diagnosed with oral cancer. On February 24, 1998, she passed away. There were no grand tributes, no flashbulbs. But the silence spoke volumes. Why does her story still matter? Because Lalita Pawar wasn't just a 'vamp' or 'character actress'. She was a woman who survived the worst, disfigurement, betrayal, public rejection, and still walked back onto sets, scene after scene, film after film. She turned bitterness into brilliance. Her pain never got in the way of her professionalism.
Indian Express
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
From Rocky Aur Rani to Aap Jaisa Koi: Bollywood, please stop stereotyping Bengali women
Hindi films have always thrived on regional stereotypes in portraying Punjabi, Tamil, Gujarati or Bengali characters, shoving their distinct culture into a cubbyhole of stereotypes. Filmmakers set the camera lens for the audience rather than let the audience find their own lens to read the character or even trust the character to win hearts. The latest victim of this cinematic trope is the liberal Bengali woman. The pendulum has been swinging between the old-world grace of a goddess-like Paro in Devdas or Lalita in Parineeta to the schizophrenic and mysterious Manjulika of Bhool Bhulaiyaa. That's why when Piku Banerjee burst on the screen with her cotton kurtas, her everyday elegance, her straightforwardness and her fierce choice to be her father's caregiver, she seemed so anchoring. Piku is a woman first, a Bengali second. However, the same cannot be said of her descendants, Rani Chatterjee in Rocky and Rani Kii Prem Kahaani and now Madhu Bose of Aap Jaisa Koi, both from producer-director Karan Johar's stable. Each one is a sassy, self-assured, outgoing and fiery woman, daring to choose lesser men, even drawing them out of their shell of patriarchy. They reclaim agency and sexuality with the same elan, though one should not be a metaphor for the other. They end up being clones of each other with gossamer saris hugging their contours, heavily-kohled eyes, junk jewellery, bindi and flowing hair. What is problematic is the sexiness of their attire and image being a metaphor for their intellectualism and free spirit. In our society, the right to be seen and heard is still out of reach for most women, hoping to grasp any opportunity, golden or not. Even more problematic is the fact that they are all upper caste Bengali women, coming from a privileged, elite background and an enabling environment that automatically lends them a voice. They haven't had to earn their place as such. This rarefied context puts them leagues above the majority of women who still haven't found a voice in the mainstream. It is in that sense that both Rani and Madhu become a shell, a filmmaker's pretence of gender parity, rather than holding up a mirror to society. Contrast this with Bengal filmmakers Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who humanised their women protagonists, Bengali or not, with working-class sensibilities and an everydayness, with meet-cutes at the bus stop and romances in a rained-out city, all of them working in offices, taking the bus and train, munching peanuts. In fact, Bengali women were among the first in India to actively pursue education and enter the workforce, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The women's renaissance in Bengal was not only led by the empowered women of the privileged elite, like the Tagores of Jorasanko, but by ordinary women. Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was not formally educated in English but became a leading writer and activist. Sarala Ray founded the Gokhale Memorial School and championed women's access to higher education. Binodini Dasi, born into a poor family, became a courtesan, but awestruck by the stage, she became an actor when she was only 12. Forced to quit the stage at age 23, she documented the social prejudice faced by women like her in her autobiography. Bengal's revolutionaries comprised women from both the lower strata and middle classes, most of whom did not have access to formal education. Matangini Hazra, a peasant woman, and 15-year-old widow Nanibala Devi, who was a runaway and learnt English at a Christian mission, took to armed struggle against colonial rule. The Tebhaga movement had women peasants demanding their rights as sharecroppers. Pritilata Waddedar and Kalpana Datta, both from ordinary families, not only became armed revolutionaries but managed underground networks and courier runs for the resistance movement. This mass women's participation challenged traditional gender roles. In fact, middle-class Bengali women began to be part of the urban workforce late 1940s onwards despite bigger challenges of acceptability. This evolution of the modern Bengali woman is important in understanding why she should not be trivialised or forgotten. Challenging patriarchal ideologies and constructs, the early pioneers did not wage a war but just stood up to be counted. In his novel, Ghare Baire (The Home and the World), Rabindranath Tagore had himself articulated this when he wrote. 'For we women are not only the deities of the household fire, but the flame of the soul itself.' And that flame doesn't need a bralette, a wispy saree or high heels. Sensuousness is about the fullness of a lived experience, not just the right to show a cleavage. If anything, the mainstream film industry has ended up propping cardboard cutouts instead of celebrating flesh-and-blood women.
Bangkok Post
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Towns and businesses must adapt: academics
Kasetsart University academics say geopolitics and Thailand-Cambodia border tensions have reminded Thais of the need to "prepare for a rainy day". During the "War of Powers: From Poipet Ridge to the Middle East Desert" seminar, organised by KU Radio Thailand recently, academics from Kasetsart University pondered how the Middle East conflicts, the rising oil prices and border trade, and the Thailand-Cambodia border tensions, will shape a new political and economic reality of all Thais. Speaking on the heated stand-off at the border between Thai and Cambodian troops in recent months, Asst Prof Lalita Hanwong said the fire had been fanned on social media by "urbanites" happy to "leave locals at the border to bear the true costs of danger and suffering". Assist Prof Lalita, from the Department of History, Faculty of Social Sciences, Kasetsart University, and an adviser to the House of Representatives' Committee on National Security, Border Affairs, National Strategy and Country Reform, referred to nationalism as "a tool driving pride to the edge". She mentioned the 2003 arson attacks on the Thai Embassy and Thai shops and businesses in Phnom Penh when Cambodians had reacted angrily to reports that Thai actress Suwanan Kongying had claimed the ancient Preah Vihear temple belonged to Thailand. The veracity of her statement was never established, but the news still spurred anger among Cambodians. In 2013, the International Court of Justice ruled that Cambodia has sovereignty over the whole territory. People living near the Cambodian border face financial hardship due to the closures of many border checkpoints, according to the Department of Management, Faculty of Business Administration faculty member, Acting Second Lieutenant Jul Thanasrivanitchai. "Local sellers are having a hard time, and Thai gamblers have not travelled to Cambodia as much. Around 5,000-20,000 Thai gamblers used to go to Cambodia a day," he said. During the border closure period, Acting Second Lieutenant Jul suggested the group look for new revenue streams to make up the shortfall. He added that local businesses and residents must devise plans to ensure a prompt response to any unforeseen events. The Middle East conflicts mean national security is a focus for Thailand, even though the country is not a member of the United Nations Security Council, said Jatuchatra Chommai, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations. Dr Krit Won-in, Vice President of the university's Innovation and Social Missions, said that while the Middle East conflicts have led to high oil prices and rising living costs, "In 2025, the Israel-Iran war represents a new dimension of power under the economic surface of the demand and supply of oil."
Time of India
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Narayani Shastri gets candid about switching gears between her dual roles in ‘Noyontara'; says 'It's not your usual good-versus-evil'
Known for enlivening positive characters on screen, seasoned television star Narayani Shastri is surprising viewers and inciting chills with her gripping double role in new supernatural thriller, 'Noyontara'. In this unpredictable tale of a ghost-whisperer, Noyontara trying to protect her husband, she essays the roles of two clashing mother-in-law figures, Lata and Lalita, locking horns in a twisted psychological game. Their conflicting presence leaves Noyontara (played by Shruti Bhist), caught in a chilling puzzle of who is protecting her and who's leading her into a trap. Set within the ancestral mansion Pari Mahal, the show's story spirals into a world of secrets, spirits, and deception. Relishing the challenge of embodying two contrasting characters, Narayani describes the show as a 'constant dance of doubt, where you're never sure who's the saviour… and who's the villain.' It's this very sense of uncertainty — a mother-in-law who could be either friend or foe — that is keeping the audience's guessing and glued to their screens. Speaking on the double role, Narayani shares, 'What instantly drew me to Noyontara was the duality—playing two women who are both powerful, but in completely different ways. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Lata is calculated, cold, and always ten steps ahead, while Lalita is instinctive, raw, and fiercely protective. But what makes this so thrilling is that the audience doesn't know which one can be trusted. It's not your usual good-versus-evil. It's a dance of doubt, where you're never sure who's the saviour…and who's the villain. This is a reflection of how human beings wear masks, and the show plays with that constantly.' Talking about the current storyline, she added, 'Now, with Lata quietly laying the groundwork to remove every trace of Lalita and fully cement her control over Pari Mahal by welcoming Noyontara as her daughter-in-law, the danger has become more psychological than ever. She'll do whatever it takes to get what she wants, even if it means rewriting the past. As an actor, it's such a joy to dive into a script that doesn't hand the answers to the viewer on a platter but lets the mystery unfold slowly, keeping both the character and the audience in a space of emotional tension. After years in television, I was craving something unpredictable, and this felt like stepping into uncharted waters. That's what makes Noyontara special for me.' In the current track of the show, Noyontara returns to Pari Mahal, only to find herself caught between two familiar faces and one unsettling question: Surjo's mother may be dead. But if that's true… who's the woman living in Pari Mahal? Narayani Shastri is happy to work in the television industry
Time of India
01-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
Ten-feet-long python found in school kitchen, rescued
Mhow: A large python was found in the kitchen of a govt school in Baag town of Dhar district on Tuesday morning. It was later rescued. Teacher Akhilesh Bhardwaj of the middle section of the Baag Higher Secondary School told TOI that Lalita Bai and Sona Bai were preparing mid-day meals in the kitchen. At around 10 am, when Lalita went to a corner to fetch something, she saw the python and screamed loudly. She told Sona that there was a big snake, and both of them ran out of the kitchen. At that time, students of the middle school were studying, and when they heard Lalita's scream, they, as well as other staff members, rushed towards the kitchen. Somebody among them called voluntary snake rescuer Vinod Pawar, who resides in the nearby locality. Pawar reached there and rescued the python safely. He later released it in a deep forest. Pawar told TOI that the python was about ten-feet-long and weighed around 11kg. He said that he inspected the whole building and the kitchen, and advised the school staff to close the gap below the kitchen door. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Doctor's Day 2025 , messages and quotes!
