Mother of superhit daughters, heroine made to remove poverty, became a star by playing the role of Sita

New Delhi: When women did not even have the freedom to leave the house as per their wish, at that time the veteran actress was winning the hearts of fans with her beauty and acting. She shared the screen with the biggest heroes of that time and was known for her outspoken style. Monday 17th November is his 109th birth anniversary. We are talking about Shobhana Samarth.

Shobhana Samarth, Indian actress, director and producer, was born on 17 November 1916 in Bombay (British India). His mother Ratanbai Shilotri was already active in Marathi cinema and also sang, while his father Prabhakar Shilotri worked in a bank. Shobhana Samarth’s real name was Saroj Shilotri. The early life of the actress was very difficult because after the death of her father, she came with her mother to her maternal uncle’s house in Bombay and studied in a convent school there, but to improve the financial condition of the house, she entered films.

The family members protested
Shobhana’s maternal uncle opposed her working in films because girls working in films were looked at in a bad light. At that time, only men used to pretend to be women to play women’s roles in theater or films. Apart from this, there was neither much salary nor respect in this profession. Facing all these challenges, Shobhana Samarth entered films.

Got recognition from the film ‘Ram Rajya’
Shobhana Samarth started her career with the 1935 film ‘Nigah-e-Nafrat’. The film was released in Urdu and Marathi, but later the film also came in Hindi. The film was unsuccessful on screen, but Shobhana came into limelight from the very first film. She appeared in many films including ‘Kokila’ in 1937, ‘Do Deewane’ in 1936, ‘Nirala Hindustan’ in 1938, and ‘Pati Patni’ in 1939, but she got recognition from the famous film ‘Ram Rajya’ in 1943, in which she played the role of mother Sita.

Shobhana Samarth is the mother of Nutan and Tanuja.
The actress married film director Kumarsen Samarth. The couple became parents of four children. They raised daughters Nutan, Tanuja, Chatura and a son Jaideep. Both Nutan and Tanuja were top actresses of the 1950-1980s. Not only this, taking this legacy forward, Tanuja’s daughter actress Kajol is a famous actress and till date her influence on the screen continues.