Shammi, bollywood actress known for comedic roles, dies at 89

pulse

March 9, 2018 4:48 AM

Shammi, an actress who appeared in some 200 Bollywood films and was beloved for her comedic roles as doting sisters, mothers and grandmothers, died Tuesday at her home in Mumbai. She was 89.

Pandhari Nath Chavhan, an employee at the crematory where she was taken, confirmed her death, which he said came after a long illness.

Shammi, whose real name was Nargis Rabadi, began her career in 1949, when a family friend working in the movie industry arranged a meeting between her and the actor and producer Sheikh Mukhtar to discuss a role in a film he was working on called “Ustad Pedro.”

Mukhtar was worried at first about casting a young woman who had never acted before, and he pressed her about whether her Hindi was good enough to pull off the role. “He asked me, ‘What about your Hindi? You are Parsi,'" Rabadi recalled in an interview. “I immediately replied, ‘But I am talking to you just now in Hindi, so you can find out whether I am talking properly or not.'”

A friend told Rabadi that she had been “stupid” for talking back to Mukhtar. But shortly after the meeting, she was offered the role. “Sheikh Mukhtar liked my spirit,” she said.

Nargis Rabadi was born in Mumbai, then called Bombay, to a family of Parsis, followers of Zoroaster. Her father, who died when she was 3, was a priest in a temple. After his death, Rabadi’s mother cooked at religious functions for extra cash.

Rabadi and her elder sister, Mani, helped out by working in a toy factory run by the Indian multinational company Tata. The girls’ tuition was covered in exchange for a few hours of work after classes.

Following Rabadi’s acting break in 1949, she appeared mostly in supporting roles in a career that stretched over 60 years, including as the lovable grandmother Choti Nani on the popular sitcom “Dekh Bhai Dekh.” Known for her comedic timing, she attributed her long career to her eagerness for work of any kind.

“I did whatever role came to me and did not just wait for big roles,” she once said.

Rabadi said her one big mistake in life was getting married. Her marriage to director Sultan Ahmed lasted seven years and proved a trying time for Rabadi, who suffered two miscarriages. Her way of ending the marriage was simply to walk away.

“One day, I just walked out of the house,” she said. “I was too independent and would not take any nonsense from anyone.”

She is survived by a son, Iqbal Rizvi.

As Rabadi aged, acting sustained her. Looking back on her career in 2012, she said it was “unimaginable” for her not to be working.

“Recently someone Googled me and found out I had done nearly 200 films,” she said. “I was amazed. When did I do all these films?”

At her funeral in Mumbai, Bollywood stars paid their respects.

“For everybody in the industry, she is Shammi Aunty,” said Farah Khan, a producer and an old friend. “She was so full of life. I don’t know of a single person who met her and didn’t love her.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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