[tps_footer]Zohra Sehgal, she personified life, she personified talent and she personified dignity. This veteran actor Zohra Sehgal passed away at 04:00 pm in Delhi today, July 10, 2014. She was hundred and two years old. Zohra Sehgal would be cremated tomorrow at 11:oo am at the Lodhi Road crematorium.
In her last days, Zohra Sehgal was residing in Delhi with her daughter, Kiran Sehgal, and as her friends said, the sprightly actor’s zest for life was still intact.
“She died of a cardiac arrest this afternoon. She was unwell for last three-four days,” Kiran Sehgal told reporters.
Zohra Sehgal was last seen sharing screen space with Amitabh Bachchan in the 2007 hit Cheeni Kum.
Zohra Sehgal, born on April 27, 1912, started her career in 1935 as a leading dancer with the Uday Shankar Ballet Company and travelled the world over. In 1945, she joined Prithviraj Kapoor’s Prithvi Theatre Group as an actor on a monthly salary of Rs 400.
During this period, she married a fellow dancer, Kameshwar Sehgal. After having acted in several plays, she made her film debut in the year 1946 with Dharti Ke Lal.
Zohra Sehgal then travelled to England to pursue her acting career and was part of films like The Raj Quartet, The Jewel in the Crown, Tandoori Nights, My Beautiful Laundrette, just to name a few.
Once she came back she was part of Bollywood projects like Veer Zara, Dillagi, Cheeni Kum and many more, but films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Bend It Like Beckham, Saawariya, Bhaji On The Beach, The Mystic Masseur and Dil Se made her a household name.
Zohra Sehgal, the quintessential Bollywood diva, has a zeal and enthusiasm for life that would put a twenty year old to shame. Zohra Sehgal was awarded the Padma Shri in 1998. She was subsequently honoured with the Padma Bhushan (2002) and Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award in 2010.
In 2008, she was named the Laadli Of The Century by the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF)-Laadli Media Awards.
Offering his condolences, Amitabh Bachchan tweeted,”Zohra Sehgal passes away at 102 year. What a journey and what an immensely loveable co star! Prayers for her blessed soul!!”
We shall miss you.[/tps_footer]
