Nirupa Roy

In the history of Hindi films, few archetype characters have had as exalted status as that of a mother. On screen, the word ‘mother’ was synonymous with actress Nirupa Roy for at least a couple of decades, if not more.

Most famous for co-starring with superstar Amitabh Bachchan over several films, Nirupa Roy, aided by a powerful voice and a meticulous dialogue delivery, essayed the role of a mother in Bollywood films in a way that became her own — an image of a suffering motherhood that not only played an essential part in the narrative, but also pushed it forward.

Such was her image that even when filmmakers and actors and stories changed, Roy remained the primary choice for the protagonist’s mother in Bollywood films.

Her scenes with Amitabh Bachchan, Ashok Kumar and Balraj Sahni are part of film folklore and one has to concede that she made her screen presence felt even in the most absurd scenes just as she excelled in ‘Do Bigha Zamin’, ‘Grahasti’, ‘Gopi’ and ‘Deewaar’.