Nirupa Roy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Nirupa Roy**
Born:	January 4, 1931
Died:	October 13, 2004
Occupation:	Actor

Nirupa Roy was an actress in Hindi films known for portraying the role of the Indian mother stereotype. She played the heroine in her early films, and the hero's mother in her films of the 1970s and 80s. Her acting career spanned more than 50 years and she acted in more than 250 films.

Anaamika A young girl from Bangalore stereotypes Nirupa Roy as follows:

1. She is always Poor 2. She is always a Widow or estranged from her husband 3. There is always a temple in the story and always a bell 4. Her son is always the protagonist. She never has an only child who is a daughter. 5. Her Son always falls in love with a rich girl. 6. She always has high morals and will not let her son do anything wrong.

Nirupa Roy was born Kokila Kishorechandra Balsara in Valsad, Gujarat. She married when she was 15, and came to Bombay (now Mumbai). In 1946, She and her husband responded to an advertisement in a Gujarati paper looking for actors. She was selected and started her acting career with the Gujarati film Ranakdevi. The same year she acted in her first Hindi film Amar Raj. Among her popular films was Do Bigha Zameen (1953). She largely played mythological characters in the films of the 1940s and 50s. Her image of a goddess was very strong and people would visit her home and seek her blessings.

Among her co-stars were Trilok Kapoor, Bharat Bhushan, Balraj Sahni and Ashok Kumar.

In the 1970s, her roles as mother to the characters played by Amitabh Bachchan made her name eponymous to the impoverished suffering mother. Her role in Deewar (1975) and its dialogues with reference to a mother and son are used as clichés.

She died, after having a cardiac arrest, in Mumbai in 2004.