Kuldip Kaur

Kuldip Kaur (1927–3 February 1960) was an Indian film actress who worked in Hindi and Punjabi films.[1][2] Known for her roles as negative characters, she was cited as Indian cinema's "most polished vamps" and actor Pran's "opposite number".[3] She started her acting career with the first Punjabi film produced in India following Partition; Chaman, also called The Garden in 1948.[4]

Kuldip Kaur
Kuldip Kaur in Baiju Bawra (1952)
Born	1927 Lahore, Punjab, British India
Died	3 February 1960 (aged 32–33) Bombay, Maharashtra, India
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1948–1960
Spouse(s)	Mohinder Singh Siddhu

Acclaimed as a "vamp" of "exceptional talent" and the "first female villain" in Indian cinema, she has been compared to artists like Shashikala and Bindu.[5] Active from 1948 to 1960, she acted in over 100 films, most of them in Hindi and some in Punjabi. She died in 1960 from tetanus.[1]

Personal life

Kuldip Kaur was born into a prosperous Jat family in 1927 in Lahore, Punjab, British India. Her family were landowners in Attari, Amritsar District, in Punjab.[3] She was married to Mohinder Singh Sidhu, a grandson of the military Commander of Ranjit Singh's army, General Sham Singh Attariwala.[6] Married at the age of fourteen, she became a mother at the age of sixteen.[3]

She defied convention to join films while still in Lahore. She left Lahore in 1947 while communal violence was raging. She was described as a brave lady by Saadat Hasan Manto in his chapter on Kuldip Kaur, titled "Kuldip Kaur: The Punjabi firecracker" in his book initially titled: Stars from Another Sky: The Bombay Film World of the 1940s. Kaur returned to Lahore in spite of the violence, to pick up Pran's car. His car had been left behind when Pran and she left for Bombay to escape the communal rioting in Lahore following partition of India. She drove the car back alone from Lahore to Bombay, via Delhi.[7]

Career

The German cinematographer, Josef Wirsching of Bombay Talkies, took her screen test at the request of Savak Vacha, one of Bombay Talkies' then-proprietors, along with Ashok Kumar and S. Mukherji. On his recommendation she was cast in supporting roles.[1]

One of Kuldip Kaur's first films was the Punjabi language Chaman (1948), which turned out to be a big success at the box office, co-starring Karan Dewan with Meena Shorey.[4] Kuldip Kaur also acted in two Hindi films that year; Ziddi directed by Shaheed Latif and starring Dev Anand, Kamini Kaushal and Pran, and Grahasti both of which were "box office hits". In Grahasti she performed the role of a "modern, sophisticated woman intolerant of her husband".[3]

In 1949, Kuldip Kaur acted in Ek Thi Ladki, a musical success, with music by Vinod. Her next film was Kaneez (1949), an average film commercially. In 1950, she was in two successful Hindi films; Samadhi and Aadhi Raat and two Punjabi films; Madari and Chhai. In Samadhi, the popular song "Gore Gore Banke Chhore" was picturised on her and Nalini Jaywant.[1] In 1951, she acted in several films such as Rajput, Nai Zindagi, Ek Nazar, Afsana and Mukhda, where she played the lead role. Afsana was directed by B. R. Chopra and starred Ashok Kumar and Veena. Kaur was stated to have played her role of a vamp "to perfection".[8]

She then appeared in films such as Baiju Bawra (1952) in which her acting was critically acclaimed as the dacoit queen, Roopmati. Some of the other films she acted in 1952 to 54 were Anjaam (1952), Baaz (1953), Anarkali (1953) where her acting was praised, Aabshar (1953), Gul Bahar and Dak Babu in (1954). 1955 was a busy year for her, acting in films such as Teer Andaz (1955) and Miss Coca Cola (1955). With few releases in 1956, she returned with Ek Saal (1957), acting opposite Madhubala and Ashok Kumar. In 1958, Kuldip Kaur had roles in two films; Sahara and Panchayat. In 1959, she worked in three films Pyaar Ka Rishta, Mohar and Jagir. Mohar had music composed by Madan Mohan and became another musical success for her.[9] Maa Baap, Bade Ghar Ki Bahu, Sunheri Raatein and the Punjabi film Yamla Jatt in 1960 were the last films she acted in. Her last film was Honeymoon (1960), also one in which she played the vamp.[10]

Some of the important films Kuldip Kaur acted in were Ek Thi Ladki, Samadhi (1950), Aadhi Raat (1950), Chhoti Bhabhi (1950), Anarkali (1953), Afsana (1951) and Baiju Bawra.

Death

She died on 3 February 1960 in Bombay, Maharashtra, of tetanus, following thorn pricks from a Ber tree (jujube) on a visit to Shirdi, Ahmednagar District, which she did not consider serious enough to require treatment.[1]

Filmography

Kuldip Kaur was active between 1948-1960.[11]

Year	Film	Director
1948	Chaman	Roop K. Shorey
1948	Ziddi	Shaheed Latif
1949	Kaneez	Krishna Kumar
1949	Ek Thi Ladki	Roop K. Shorey
1950	Aadhi Raat	S. K. Ojha
1950	Lajawab	Jagatrai Pesumal Advani
1950	Meena Bazar	Ravindra Dave
1950	Samadhi	Ramesh Saigal
1951	Afsana	B. R. Chopra
1951	Do Sitare	D. D. Kashyap
1951	Ek Nazar	O. P. Dutta
1951	For Ladies Only	Bedi
1951	Gumasta	S. M. Yusuf
1951	Lachak	M. I. Daramsey
1951	Mukhada	Roop K. Shorey
1951	Nai Zindagi	Mohan Sinha
1951	Rajput	Lekhraj Bhakri
1951	Stage	Vijay Mhatre
1952	Anjaam	Shanti Kumar
1952	Baiju Bawra	Vijay Bhatt
1952	Ghungru	Hiren Bose
1952	Hamari Duniya	Sushil Sahu
1952	Jaggu	Jagdish Sethi
1952	Naubahar	Anand Kumar
1952	Neelam Pari	Dhirubhai Desai
1952	Sheesham	Kishore Sharma
1953	Aabshar	Hasrat Lucknavi
1953	Anarkali	Nandlal Jaswantlal
1953	Baaz	Guru Dutt
1953	Gharbaar	Dinkar Patil
1953	Farmaish	B. K. Sagar
1953	Mashuqa	Shanti Kumar
1954	Dak Babu	Lekhraj Bhakri
1954	Gul Bahar	[[Nanubhai
1954	Pilpili Saheb	H.S. Kavatra
1954	Hukumat	Raja Yagnik
1954	Lalpari	Kedar Kapoor
1954	Mastana	H. S. Rawail
1955	Daku	Aspi
1955	Duniya Gol Hai	Om Prakash
1955	Jashan	S. Shamsuddin
1955	Mast Qalandar	Kedar Kapoor
1955	Miss Coca-Cola	Kedar Kapoor
1956	Indra Leela	Rajendra Sharma
1956	Inquilab	Kedar Kapoor
1956	Sultan-E-Alam	Mohan Sinha
1957	Ek Saal	Devendra Goel
1957	Jai Ambe	Shanti Kumar
1957	Maharani	A. Karim
1957	Paisa	Prithviraj Kapoor
1958	Panchayat	Lekhraj Bhakri
1958	Sahara	Lekhraj Bhakri
1958	Son Of Sindbad	Nanabhai Bhatt
1959	Chand	Lekhraj Bhakri
1959	Jagir	Jag Mohan Mattu
1959	Mohar	P. Jairaj
1959	Pyar Ki Rahen	Lekhraj Bhakri
1960	Bade Ghar Ki Bahu	Kundan Kumar
1960	Bhakta Raj	Vishnu Vyas
1960	Maa Baap	Vishnu Vyas
1960	Rickshawala	Shankar Mehta
1960	Sunheri Raatein	Lekhraj Bhakri

References

1. Bali, Karan (20 March 2015). "Kuldip Kaur". upperstall.com. The Rest. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
2. "Kuldip Kaur Actress". omnilexica.com. Omnilexica. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
3. Patel, Sushila Rani Baburao (1952). Stars of the Indian Screen. India: Parker and Sons. p. 23.
4. K. Moti Gokulsing; Wimal Dissanayake (17 April 2013). Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-77284-9. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
5. Tilak Rishi (2012). Bless You Bollywood!: A Tribute to Hindi Cinema on Completing 100 Years. Trafford Publishing. pp. 47–. ISBN 978-1-4669-3963-9. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
6. "Kuldip Kaur". sikhchic.com. Young Bites Daily. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
7. Saʻādat Ḥasan Manṭo (1 January 2000). "Kuldip Kaur: the Punjabi firecracker". A Manto Panorama: A Representative Collection of Saadat Hasan Manto's Fiction and Non-fiction. Sang-e-Meel Publications. p. 234. ISBN 978-969-35-1089-8. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
8. "Sikhs in Bollywood". sikhiwiki.org. Sikhi Wiki. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
9. Augla, Harjap Singh. "Kuldip Kaur". apnaorg.com. APNA. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
10. Kahlon, Sukhpreet. "Too hot to handle: Remembering Kuldip Kaur". cinestaan.com. Cinestaan. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
11. "Kuldip Kaur". citwf.com. Adam Goble. Archived from the original on 25 April 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.

External links

• Kuldip Kaur at IMDb