Shobhana Samarth
| Shobhana Shilotri Samarth | |
|---|---|
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|
| Born |
Saroj Shilotri 17 November 1916 Mumbai, British India |
| Died | 9 February 2000 (aged 83) Pune, Maharashtra, India |
| Occupation | Actress, director, producer |
| Spouse(s) | Kumarsen Samarth |
| Children | 5; inc. Nutan and Tanuja |
| Parent(s) | Prabhakar and Rattan Bai |
| Relatives | See Samarth family |
Shobhana Samarth (Marathi: शोभना समर्थ) (17 November 1916 – 9 February 2000) was an Indian film actress, director and producer of Marathi ethnicity, who began her career in the early days of talkie movies in the Hindi film industry, and continued in lead roles into the 1950s. She started in Marathi cinema. Her first Hindi film, Nigahen Nafrat, was released in 1935. She is best remembered for her portrayal of Sita in Ram Rajya (1943). In 1997, she was honoured with the Filmfare Special Award for her contribution to arts.
Samarth later produced and directed a pair of movies that launched the careers of her daughters, Nutan and Tanuja.
Samarth was born on 17 November 1916 in Bombay, British India, as Saroj Shilotri. An only child, her father P. S. Shilotri was a "pioneer banker" having started the Shilotri Bank in Bombay. Her mother was Rattan Bai, who in 1936, acted in one film called Frontiers Of Freedom in Marathi (Swarajyachya Seemewar). Shobhna studied initially in Cathedral School, Bombay, for one year. In 1928, Her father suffered financial losses and the business went into liquidation. The family then shifted to Bangalore in 1931, where Shobhana attended Baldwin Girls High School. To earn a living, her father gave private tuitions while her mother taught in a Marathi school. In December 1931, her father died of a heart attack and the mother and daughter returned to Bombay to stay with her maternal uncle. She studied in a convent school but was unable to complete her matriculation as she had joined films by then. Her uncle was opposed to her joining films, and she and her mother moved out of his home (ironically his daughter and Shobhna's cousin Nalini Jaywant herself became an actress). Shobhana taught privately to make money. She met her future husband Kumar Sen Samarth, son of Hon. Mr. N. M. Samarth, who had just returned from Germany and was keen on directing films. They got engaged and she started work on her first film.
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