Veteran actor Kamini Kaushal dies at 98

Kamini Kaushal, one of Hindi cinema’s earliest female stars whose career spanned more than seven decades, died at her Mumbai home. She was 98. An official statement from her family is awaited.

Born as Uma Kashyap in 1927, Kaushal made her debut with Chetan Anand’s Neecha Nagar (1946), the first Indian film to win the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Through the late 1940s and ’50s, she became one of the industry’s highest-paid leading ladies, starring opposite Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor. Some of her notable films from the period include

Do Bhai (1947), Shaheed (1948), Nadiya Ke Paar (1948), Ziddi (1948), Shabnam (1949), Biraj Bahu (1954), for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress, Jailor (1958) and Godaan (1963).

Kaushal seamlessly transitioned to character roles in the mid-1960s, appearing in Shaheed (1965), Upkar (1967), Purab Aur Paschim (1970), Do Raaste (1969), Prem Nagar (1974), Shor (1972) and Roti Kapda Aur Makaan

(1974). She continued acting well into her later years, featuring in Chennai Express (2013), Kabir Singh (2019), and made her final screen appearance in Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha (2022).

A graduate in English literature from Lahore, Kaushal entered films after being cast by Chetan Anand. Her early life was marked by personal responsibility: following her elder sister’s death in a car accident, she married her brother-in-law in 1948 to care for her nieces. She was also widely regarded for her theatre and radio work before joining films, and later wrote children’s stories and hosted a puppet show on Doordarshan.

Often referred to as one of the finest actresses of Hindi cinema, Kaushal remained active in film and television for over 70 years. She is survived by her three sons — Shravan, Vidur and Rahul.

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