Shashikala Saigal

Biography

Shashikala Saigal (née Jawalkar; 4 August 1932 – 4 April 2021), better known by her first name, was an Indian film and television actress, who played supporting roles in hundreds of Bollywood films beginning in the 1940s.

Shashikala Jawalkar was one of six children born in Solapur, Maharashtra to a Hindu Bhavsar Shimpi caste Marathi-speaking family. By age 5, she had already been dancing, singing, and acting on stage in many towns in the Solapur district. When Shashikala was in her pre-teens, through ill luck, her father became bankrupt, and he brought his family to Bombay (now Mumbai), where they thought that Shashikala, the best-looking and most-talented among his children, could find work in movies. For some time, the family lived with friends and barely survived, while Shashikala wandered from one studio to another looking for work. She earned in bits and pieces till she met Noor Jehan, the reigning screen queen.

Noor Jehan's husband Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, was making the movie Zeenat then, and included Shashikala in a Qawwali scene. She worked with Shammi Kapoor in the film Daku (1955).[6] She struggled on and got small roles in movies made by P. N. Arora, Amiya Chakravarti, and a few other producers. She first rose to fame with her role in the Hindi film Pugdi (1948) produced by Prem Narayan Arora. She got roles in V. Shantaram's Teen Batti Char Raasta (1953)  and a few other movies. While in her early twenties, Shashikala met and married Om Prakash Saigal, who belonged to the Kundan Lal Saigal family, and has two daughters.

In 1959, she appeared in Bimal Roy's Sujata. In Tarachand Barjatya's Aarti (1962), starring Meena Kumari, Ashok Kumar, and Pradeep Kumar, Shashikala portrayed a negative role, eventually winning a Filmfare Award. Soon after, offers began to pour into her for supporting roles. She appeared in Anupama, Phool Aur Patthar, Ayi Milan Ki Bela, Gumrah, Waqt, and Khubsoorat. She played a negative character in Chhote Sarkar (1974)[citation needed] starring Shammi Kapoor and Sadhana. While her female lead co-stars usually played roles of good-natured, modest, or pious women, Shashikala usually played either flighty and feisty bubbly women or vamps who plotted the downfall of others. Later in her acting career, she would typically play the role of a sister or mother-in-law. In the 80s her acclaimed performances came in films like Phir Wahi Raat, Souten, and Sargam. She performed in supporting roles in more than 100 films.