Nirupa Roy
Indian film actress
title: "Nirupa Roy" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1931-births", "2004-deaths", "actresses-from-gujarat", "indian-film-actresses", "actresses-in-gujarati-cinema", "21st-century-indian-actresses", "people-from-valsad-district", "actresses-in-hindi-cinema", "filmfare-awards-winners", "filmfare-lifetime-achievement-award-winners", "20th-century-indian-actresses"] description: "Indian film actress" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirupa_Roy" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Indian film actress ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Nirupa Roy |
| birth_name | Kokila Kishorechandra Bulsara |
| image | Nirupa Roy in Taksaal.jpg |
| caption | Roy in 1956 film Taksaal |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Bulsar, Bombay Presidency, British India |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| occupation | Actress |
| years_active | 1946–1999 |
| nationality | Indian |
| other_names | Queen of Misery |
| spouse | |
| children | 2 |
| awards | Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Munimji (1956) |
| Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Chhaya (1962) | |
| Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Shehnai (1965) | |
| Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award (2004) | |
| :: |
| name = Nirupa Roy | birth_name = Kokila Kishorechandra Bulsara | image = Nirupa Roy in Taksaal.jpg | caption = Roy in 1956 film Taksaal | birth_date = | birth_place = Bulsar, Bombay Presidency, British India | death_date = | death_place = Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1946–1999 | nationality = Indian | other_names = Queen of Misery | spouse = | children = 2 | awards = Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Munimji (1956) Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Chhaya (1962) Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Shehnai (1965) Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award (2004)
Nirupa Roy (born Kokila Kishorechandra Bulsara; 4 January 1931 – 13 October 2004) was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films. She mainly played motherly roles and was dubbed the "Queen of Misery" in Hindi film circles due to her portrayals of tragedy and sorrow. Roy was active from 1946 to 1999, appeared in over 250 films, and won three Filmfare Awards throughout her career, and was nominated a total of 4 times. In 2004, Roy received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.
Early life
Not much is known about Roy's early life and childhood, because she rarely mentioned it. Roy was born as Kokila Kishorechandra Bulsara in the village of Kalwada, Bulsar District (now Valsad, Gujarat). As a child, her family would call her 'Chibi.' She married Kamal Roy at the age of 15 and moved to Mumbai. Soon after, she entered the film industry using her married name, Nirupa Roy.
Career
In 1946, Roy and her husband responded to an advertisement in a Gujarati paper looking for actors. She was selected and started her acting career with the Gujarati film Ranakdevi (1946). She then acted in her first Hindi film, Amar Raj (1946), in the same year.
Her most popular films include Do Bigha Zamin (1953), Deewar (1975), Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978), and Amar Akbar Anthony (1979). She initially rose to fame by playing characters in historical and mythological films of the 1940s and 50s. Her film Har Har Mahadev in 1950 became a blockbuster hit, where she played the role of Parvati Devi opposite Trilok Kapoor who played the role of Shiva. Her image of a goddess was so strong that people would visit her home and seek her blessings.
She frequently co-starred with actors such as Trilok Kapoor (with whom she played in eighteen movies), Bharat Bhushan, Balraj Sahni, and Ashok Kumar.
In the 1970s, her role as mother to the characters played by Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor made her name synonymous to the impoverished, suffering mother. Her role in Deewaar (1975), especially the iconic dialogue "Mere paas maa hai," became a cultural touchstone and is still cited today.
Personal life
She had two children with her husband, Kamal, named Yogesh and Kiran Roy. In the years following her death, they engaged into a dispute over Roy's property and belongings, which has received much attention in the news and media.
Death
On 13 October 2004, Roy suffered a cardiac arrest in Mumbai, and died at the age of 73.
Several tributes and articles have been made in Roy's memory. Her dialogues from the film Deewaar became iconic, and her acting in the film along with her other notable films, is considered to be a landmark in Hindi cinema.
Filmography
::data[format=table]
Awards and nominations
::data[format=table]
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Filmfare Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Munimji | |
| 1962 | Chhaya | |||
| 1965 | Shehnai | |||
| 1976 | Deewaar | |||
| 2004 | Lifetime Achievement Award | |||
| :: |
References
References
- (2025-01-05). "Nirupa Roy: The iconic on-screen mother who faced tragedy in real life". The Times of India.
- (2016-10-13). "Remembering Nirupa Roy, the Iconic 'Mother' of Bollywood".
- "Mothers Day Special: Bollywood's Most Iconic Screen Mothers".
- ((Desk)), ((Sentinel Digital)). (2018-06-01). "Nirupa Roy: A FLASHBACK (ICONIC ACTRESS)".
- (2004-10-15). "Nirupa Roy".
- (2019-01-05). "Zee Bollywood pays an ode to veteran actress Nirupa Roy on Classic Legends Season 5 on 5th Jan".
- Rishi, Tilak. (2012). "Bless You Bollywood!: A Tribute to Hindi Cinema on Completing 100 Years". Trafford.
- (2004-11-02). "Nirupa Roy".
- Sayed, Nazia. (January 10, 2018). "Battle between Nirupa Roy's sons gets uglier".
- "Deewar's Maa Nirupa Roy's Sons Fight Over Her Property".
- (January 4, 2019). "Javed Akhtar on Nirupa Roy 87th birth anniversary: She looked like Goddess in mother roles".
- (5 January 2019). "Tribute to legendary actress Nirupa Roy".
- "Mother's Day 2019: Entertain your Maa with 13 famous Bollywood 'Mom Dialogues'".
- Arora, Sakshi. (2019-01-04). "Remembering Nirupa Roy, Indian cinema's 'Goddess' who became its most popular mother".
- "Nirupa Roy".
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