‘A legendary artist’: Amitabh Bachchan mourns Kamini Kaushal’s demise

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan penned a note on his social media as he remembered late actor Kamini Kaushal, calling her a “legendary artist” and an “icon” who contributed immensely to Hindi cinema.

Kaushal died at her Mumbai residence on Thursday night. She was 98. The actor made her debut with “Neecha Nagar” in 1946 and was amongst the industry’s highest-paid actresses in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Her last screen appearance was in Aamir Khan’s 2022 film “Laal Singh Chaddha” at the age of 95, making for a remarkable 76 years in the movies.

The “Sholay” actor wrote a lengthy note on his X handle on Saturday as he remembered the late actor.

“And another loss... a dear family friend of the days of yore... when there was no partition... Kamini Kaushal ji... legendary artist, an icon who contributed immensely to our Industry and who remained, with us till the very last... her family and Maa ji’s families were very dear friends in erstwhile pre-partition Punjab.

“Kamini ji’s elder sister was a very close friend of Maaji... they were classmates, and a most joyous bunch of likeminded friends… the elder sister passed away regretfully in an accident, and as per the tradition of the times, in such an unfortunate situation, the sister of the deceased was married to the bereaved husband, her brother-in law,” he wrote.

“A most pleasant warm affectionate and talented artist, has left us ... at the age of 98 ... an era of great remembrance gone... not just for the film fraternity, but as a member of the friends’ fraternity ... One by one they all are leaving us... a most sad moment, filled only now with condolence and prayer,” he added.

After the success of “Neecha Nagar”, Kaushal worked extensively with the triumvirate of Hindi cinema — Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor — in films such as “Jail Yatra”, “Do Bhai”, “Aag”, “Shaheed”, “Nadiya Ke Par”, “Ziddi”, “Shabnam” and “Arzoo”.

She played the lead role in filmmaker Bimal Roy’s acclaimed 1954 movie “Biraj Bahu”, which won a National Film Award and earned her a Filmfare award for best actress.

Kaushal also essayed the lead role in the movie adaptation of Premchand’s famous novel “Godaan”.

Kaushal went on to star in Kumar’s other hit films such as “Purab Aur Paschim”, “Sanyasi”, “Shor”, “Roti Kapda Aur Makaan”, “Dus Numbari” and “Santosh”.