Kamini Kaushal was one of the few actresses in the film industry whose acting skills were superbly backed by a good academic record. Born on 16 January 1927, Kamini was a Lahore bred Punjabi girl. She is an honours graduate in English Literature from Kinnaird College in Lahore, British India now Pakistan. She used to work as a radio artist in the initial stages of her career and was married to Sood who was an officer in the Bombay Port Trust.
Kamini Kaushal`s Film Career
Kamini debuted in renowned filmmaker Chetan Anand`s movie Neecha Nagar. The director in fact he was so mesmerized by the beauty and talent of Kamini Kaushal that he offered her the lead role in her very first film. The huge success of her very first film brought in many film offers. Some of the movies in which she meted out brilliant performances are `Poonam`, `Aansoo`, `Paras`, `Shor`, `Jhanjar`, `Do Bhai`, `Yatra`, `Shabnam`, `Nadiya Ke Paar`, `Ziddi`, `Biraj Bahi`, `Anhonee`, `Namoona` and `Aah`. With such remarkable achievements in her career in such a short span she was the most sought after artiste by directors and producers. She has been paired with almost all the hit and extremely popular heroes of her time including the likes of Raj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar and so on. The versatile actress has starred in box office hits like Aag (1948), with Raj Kapoor, Ziddi (1948) opposite Dev Anand, Shabnam (1949) with Dilip Kumar, Brij Bahu (1954) alongside Abhi Bhattacharya, Goodan (1963) with Raaj Kumar. Kamini underwent playing character roles with the film named `Shaheed` portraying the role of mother of Manoj Kumar and depicted her motherly character in a series of movies like Purab Aur Paschim, Shor, Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, Sanyasi and Dus Numbri.
Awards and Honours of Kamini Kaushal
In 1956 Kamini was awarded the Filmfare Best Actress Award for the movie Brij Bahu. For the movie Neecha Nagar she won the 1946 Palme d`Or (Golden Palm) at Cannes Film Festival.
Being a literature graduate Kamini Kaushal shared a great passion for writing and wrote many stories for small children. She was also known in the film industry for the `Mithas` (sweetness) in her voice. Such was her popularity that the renowned filmmaker Trilok Jetley had put her film on hold while the actress was pregnant because he wanted to capitalise her melodious voice for his project. The enthusiastic actress is also seen meting out brilliant character portrayals in some of the hit dailies or weeklies, which forms an integral part of her life.
Today she is however known as the oldest major actress who is still working and at the helm among her contemporaries just because of her powerhouse performances. The contribution of such an actress in the growth and development of Indian Cinema is truly remarkable.
