Nargis was born in Allahabad to singer Jaddanbai and Mohanbabut. She was used to the sound stage from the age of five. She had faced the camera for the first time in Talash-E-Haq  and at the age of fourteen (1943), her mother had given consent to Mehboob Khan to introduce her in Taqdeer .

But it was not until Mehboob Khan's Andaz  (1949) that she became a star. Her fine portrayal of the modern miss in the film, where she was caught between Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, followed by Barsaat  (1949), captured her to fame.

Nargis came in to Bollywood in an era, when acting in Hindi films was still on the loud side. She brought naturalness, authenticity and a degree of self-assurance to every role that she performed on the silver screen.

When the great showman Raj Kapoor first signed her to star in his, Aag , she was already high in her stardom stakes. Beside Mehboob Khan's Taqdeer , she has done couple of more films. Whereas Raj Kapoor was still primarily known as Prithviraj Kappoor's son and a mere stage actor from Prithvi Theatres, besides being Kidar Sharma's assistant.

After the release of Aag , the combination of Raj Kapoor-Nargis became a huge hit and they are among the best pair seen on the silver screen. They did as much as 17 films together, Aag , Andaaz , Sunhere Din , Barsaat , Pyar , Jaan Pehchan, Awaara, Amber, Bewafa, Anhonee, Ashiana, Aah, Dhoon, Papi, Shree 420, Chori Chori  And Jagte Raho .

Chori Chori  was their last film together. But she did agree to do a cameo in Raj Kapoor's Jagte Raho  (1956), where she appears in the last scene as the lady who finally quenches Raj Kapoor's thirst. She made history with Mehboob Khan's Mother India  (1957), one of the best ever tailored role for a heroine. This epic saga about the travails of an Indian peasant woman was a remake of Mehboob Khan's earlier black and white classic Aurat  (1940).

Nargis's highly charged performance as Mother India, who ruthlessly gun down her own son in the end won her the Best Actress Award in Karlovy Vaty Festival. It was during the shooting of Mother India  that Nargis and Sunil Dutt's romance took off.

After marriage she quit the film industry but she made comeback of sorts in playing a woman with split personality in Raat Aur Din  (1967) for which she won the National Award. Nargis is the first artistes to be awarded the Padmashree and she spent the later part of her life immersed in charity work for spastics.

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