Shashikala

Early years

Shashikala was one of six children born in Solapur, Maharashtra to a well-to-do Marathi-speaking family. By age 5, she had already been dancing, singing, and acting on stage in many towns in Solapur district. When Shashikala was in her pre-teens, through ill luck, her father became bankrupt, and he brought his family to Bombay (now Mumbai) where they thought that Shashikala, the best-looking and most-talented among his children, could find work in movies. For some time, the family lived with friends and barely survived, while Shashikala wandered from one studio to another looking for work. She earned in bits and pieces till she met Noor Jehan, the reigning screen queen.

Noor Jehan's husband, Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, was making a movie Zeenat then, and included Shashikala in a qawwali scene. She received 25 rupees for her role. She struggled on and got small roles in movies made by P. N. Arora, Amiya Chakravarti, and a few other producers. She got roles in V. Shantaram's Teen Batti Char Raasta (1953) and a few other movies. While in her early twenties, Shashikala met and married Om Prakash Saigal, who belonged to the Kundan Lal Saigal family, and had two daughters.

Acclaimed supporting roles

In 1959, she appeared in Bimal Roy's Sujata. In Tarachand Barjatya's Aarti (1962), starring Meena Kumari, Ashok Kumar, and Pradeep Kumar, Shashikala portrayed a negative role, eventually winning a Filmfare Award. Soon after, offers began to pour in to her for supporting roles. She appeared in Junglee, Anupama, Phool Aur Patthar, Ayi Milan Ki Bela, Gumrah, Waqt, and Khubsoorat. While her female lead costars usually played roles of good-natured, modest, or pious women, Shashikala usually played either flighty and feisty bubbly women or vamps who plotted the downfall of others. Later in her acting career, she would typically play the role of a sister or mother-in-law. She performed in supporting roles in more than 100 films.

Recent acting roles

from 2010-2020, she performed in a few television serials as well, including Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai for Sony, Apnaapan for Zee TV, Dil Deke Dekho for Star Plus and Son Pari for Star Plus. She had roles in Mother ‘98, Pardesi Babu, Baadshah, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and Chori Chori.

Awards

Shashikala received eight nominations for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and won the award twice: