Born Kokila Kishore-
chandra Balsara, Nirupa Roy is probably the most famous screen mother in Indian cinema.

But she began as a lead actress. Although her debut was made in a Gujarati feature called Ranakdevi, she broke through with Gunsundari. The early part of her career was dominated by mythological sagas where she often played a goddess.

Roy first played the
mother in Dev Anand's Munimji
and developed a new dimension
to her image playing Amitabh Bachchan's mother in Amar Akbar Anthony and Deewar - where the famous tag line 'mere paas maa hain' was triggered by her character.

Nirupa Roy received the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress award three times, all for movies much before the angry young man social dramas.

Nirupa Roy
(b. 1931)


Major Films

Ranakdevi (1946)
Meerabai (1947)
Gunsundari (1948)
Satyavan Savitri (1948)
Mangalfera (1949)
Har Har Mahadev (1950)
Gadano Bel (1950)
Do Bigha Zameen (1953)
Munimji (1955)
Gumraah (1963)
Deewar (1975)
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)