Tanuja Samarth
Encyclopedia
Tanuja Mukherjee popularly known as Tanuja (23 September 1943) is an Indian film actress. She is the mother of Kajol
and Tanisha, and is most remembered for her roles in Hindi films like Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi
(1966), Jewel Thief
, Haathi Mere Saathi
(1971), Anubhav
1971). Simultaneously she also appeared in Marathi, Bengali and Gujarati films like, Zaakol (Marathi), Antony Phiringee (Bengali), Deya Neya, Teen Bhuvaner Parey (1969), Prothom Kadam Phool, Rajkumari.
family of four children as Tanuja Samarth to poet Kumarsen Samarth
and his wife Shobhna Samarth
. Her mother was a famous 1930s and 1940s actress and her father was a poet and film director. When she was very young her parents separated. Tanuja entered films as a child actress and continued working until 1973. Tanuja's eldest sister was the famous Bollywood actress, Nutan
. Tanuja has one more sister, Chatura, who did not enter Bollywood.
Kumarsen Samarth was born and brought up in Vile Parle
(East) area of Mumbai.
Tanuja was married to Shomu Mukherjee
(b.1943-d.2008) from 1973 to 2008. He died on April 10, 2008 from a heart attack aged 64.
The spouses were separated at the time of his death, but had not divorced. They have two daughters: Kajol
(b.1974) and Tanisha (b.1978).
in the film Hamari Beti (1950) as Baby Tanuja. As an adult, she debuted in the film Chhabili (1960) which was directed by her mother and had her elder sister, Nutan, in the lead. Though the film that truly marked her transition into adult heroine came with Hamari Yaad Aayegi (1961), directed by Kidar Sharma, who had earlier discovered Raj Kapoor
, Madhubala
and Geeta Bali
, and in the time Tanuja step into the headstrong girl niche created so ably by Geeta Bali in the 1950s.
One of her early films, noticeable for her acting was Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi
(1966), directed by Shaheed Latif
. Incidentally it was Guru Dutt team
's last offering, especially visible in the song, "Woh Hanske Mile Humse" (believed to have been picturized while Guru Dutt
was still alive) who worked hard to help her "tone down" her performance. The result was that the natural spontaneous performer gave a highly restrained performance which became the highlight of the film — as well of her career — as she move to lead roles soon after. Her next big film was with Jeetendra
, Jeene Ki Raah
(1969), an immediate and surprise hit. In the same year, Tanuja won the Best Supporting Actress Filmfare Award for Paisa Ya Pyar. After the success of Haathi Mere Saathi
(1971), she acted in Door Ka Raahi, Mere jeevan Saathi
, Do Chor
and Ek Baar Muskara Do (1972), Kaam Chor, Yaarana, Khuddar, Masoom, . Some of the other films she has acted in are Pavitra Paapi, Bhoot Bangla, Anubhav, etc.
During the mid 1960s Tanuja started a parallel career in Bengali movies
in Kolkata starting with the film Deya Neya (1963) where she was paired opposite the stalwart of Bengali cinema, Uttam Kumar
. She followed it up with memorable hit films like Anthony-Firingee (1967) and Rajkumari (1970). Tanuja had fantastic on-screen chemistry with the then-superstar Soumitra Chatterjee
with whom she made some huge box office hits like Teen Bhuvaner Parey (1969) and Prothom Kadam Phool . Tanuja spoke her own lines in these Bengali films.
Afterward, Tanuja retired from films for a number of years but came back when her marriage ended. She was now offered supporting roles often starring former heroes. Her Pyar Ki Kahani
's hero Amitabh Bachchan
had to call her "bhabhi" (sister-in-law) in Khuddar
(1982). She also played a supporting role in Raj Kapoor
's Prem Rog
(1982).
She has recently appeared in such films as Saathiya (2002), Rules (2003), and Khakee
(2003) as a supporting actress.
In 2008, Tanuja starred as a judge along with Kajol and Ajay Devgan on Zee TV's family dance series Rock and Roll Family.
As Guest Appearance:
As Special Appearance:
Kajol
Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....
and Tanisha, and is most remembered for her roles in Hindi films like Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi
Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi
Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi is a 1966 Hindi-language film. Produced by Guru Dutt and directed by Shaheed Latif. It stars Mala Sinha, Dharmendra, Tanuja, and Rehman. The film is still remembered for its music is by O.P...
(1966), Jewel Thief
Jewel Thief
Jewel Thief is a 1967 Indian Hindi film. Produced by Navketan films , the film is directed by Dev's brother Vijay Anand. Music is by S.D. Burman and the lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The film is a crime thriller, and stars Dev Anand, Vyjayantimala, Ashok Kumar, Tanuja, Faryal, Anju Mahendru,...
, Haathi Mere Saathi
Haathi Mere Saathi
Haathi Mere Saathi is an Indian film and a favourite with children in the early 1970s. The movie has a Disneyesque appeal with an Indian twist...
(1971), Anubhav
Anubhav
Anubhav is a 1971 Hindi film by noted director Basu Bhattacharya, which stars Sanjeev Kumar, Tanuja Samarth and Dinesh Thakur as leads. The film was the first part of Basu Battacharya's introspective trilogy on marital discord in an urban setting, which included Avishkaar and Griha Pravesh ; and...
1971). Simultaneously she also appeared in Marathi, Bengali and Gujarati films like, Zaakol (Marathi), Antony Phiringee (Bengali), Deya Neya, Teen Bhuvaner Parey (1969), Prothom Kadam Phool, Rajkumari.
Personal life
Tanuja was born in Mumbai into a MarathiMarathi people
The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...
family of four children as Tanuja Samarth to poet Kumarsen Samarth
Kumarsen Samarth
Kumarsen Samarth belonged to a Marathi modernist family. His inclination towards the Marathi language led him to direct some great Marathi/Hindi movies such as Nal Damyanti and Rupaye ki kahani . His biggest success was a Marathi film titled Saibaba. He studied cinematography in Germany and came...
and his wife Shobhna Samarth
Shobhna Samarth
Shobhna Samarth was a Marathi actress who began her career in the early days of talkie movies in the Indian 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...
. Her mother was a famous 1930s and 1940s actress and her father was a poet and film director. When she was very young her parents separated. Tanuja entered films as a child actress and continued working until 1973. Tanuja's eldest sister was the famous Bollywood actress, Nutan
Nutan
Nutan Behl , better known as Nutan , was an Indian actress. She appeared in more than 70 Hindi films in a career spanning over four decades...
. Tanuja has one more sister, Chatura, who did not enter Bollywood.
Kumarsen Samarth was born and brought up in Vile Parle
Vile Parle
Vile Parle , also known as "Parla", is a suburb of Mumbai. Vile Parle is also the name of the railway station in this suburb, on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Western Railway railway line. Vile Parle has a significantly strong base of Marathi and Gujarati population. The name "Vile Parle" has...
(East) area of Mumbai.
Tanuja was married to Shomu Mukherjee
Shomu Mukherjee
Shomu Mukherjee was a Bengali Indian director, writer and producer.Born in 1943, he was the fourth son of Sashadhar Mukherjee, the owner of Filmalaya studios, and Sati Rani Devi. His mother was the only sister of the Ganguly brothers....
(b.1943-d.2008) from 1973 to 2008. He died on April 10, 2008 from a heart attack aged 64.
The spouses were separated at the time of his death, but had not divorced. They have two daughters: Kajol
Kajol
Kajol Devgn , better known as Kajol, is an Indian film actress appearing in Hindi films. She is regarded as one of India's most successful and talented female actors....
(b.1974) and Tanisha (b.1978).
Career
She started her film career with her older sister NutanNutan
Nutan Behl , better known as Nutan , was an Indian actress. She appeared in more than 70 Hindi films in a career spanning over four decades...
in the film Hamari Beti (1950) as Baby Tanuja. As an adult, she debuted in the film Chhabili (1960) which was directed by her mother and had her elder sister, Nutan, in the lead. Though the film that truly marked her transition into adult heroine came with Hamari Yaad Aayegi (1961), directed by Kidar Sharma, who had earlier discovered Raj Kapoor
Raj Kapoor
Known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor Rāj Kapūr, 14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988), also known as The Show-Man, was an Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi cinema. He was the winner of nine Filmfare Awards, while his films Awaara and Boot Polish were nominated for the Palme d'Or at the...
, Madhubala
Madhubala
Mumtaz Jahan Begum Dehlavi, known by her stage name Madhubala was a Hindi movie actress. She starred in several successful movies in the 1950s and early 1960s, many of which have attained a classic status...
and Geeta Bali
Geeta Bali
Geeta Bali was a popular film actress from Bollywood.-Early life:Bali was born in a Mohyal family in pre-partition Punjab as Harkirtan Kaur, a Sikh. Her family moved to Bombay and were living in near poverty when she started to get breaks in films.-Career:Bali became a star in the 1950s...
, and in the time Tanuja step into the headstrong girl niche created so ably by Geeta Bali in the 1950s.
One of her early films, noticeable for her acting was Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi
Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi
Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi is a 1966 Hindi-language film. Produced by Guru Dutt and directed by Shaheed Latif. It stars Mala Sinha, Dharmendra, Tanuja, and Rehman. The film is still remembered for its music is by O.P...
(1966), directed by Shaheed Latif
Shaheed Latif
Shaheed Latif or more appropriately Shahid Lateef was Hindi film director, writer, and producer. He was the maker of films like Ziddi with launched Dev Anand's career and Arzoo starring Dilip Kumar and Kamini Kaushal...
. Incidentally it was Guru Dutt team
Guru Dutt team
The Guru Dutt team is a group of people Guru Dutt created for some of his finest works. The death of Guru Dutt cut short more works. What the team created is considered to forever have left its mark on Indian cinema as well as world cinema.-About:...
's last offering, especially visible in the song, "Woh Hanske Mile Humse" (believed to have been picturized while Guru Dutt
Guru Dutt
Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone , popularly known as Guru Dutt, was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He is often credited with ushering in the golden era of Hindi cinema...
was still alive) who worked hard to help her "tone down" her performance. The result was that the natural spontaneous performer gave a highly restrained performance which became the highlight of the film — as well of her career — as she move to lead roles soon after. Her next big film was with Jeetendra
Jeetendra
Jeetendra born Ravi Kapoor is an Indian actor and television producer...
, Jeene Ki Raah
Jeene Ki Raah
Jeene Ki Raah is a 1969 Hindi movie produced directed and written by L. V. Prasad. The film stars Jeetendra, Tanuja, Jagdeep and Sanjeev Kumar. The films music is by Laxmikant Pyarelal with lyrics by Anand Bakshi...
(1969), an immediate and surprise hit. In the same year, Tanuja won the Best Supporting Actress Filmfare Award for Paisa Ya Pyar. After the success of Haathi Mere Saathi
Haathi Mere Saathi
Haathi Mere Saathi is an Indian film and a favourite with children in the early 1970s. The movie has a Disneyesque appeal with an Indian twist...
(1971), she acted in Door Ka Raahi, Mere jeevan Saathi
Mere Jeevan Saathi (1972 film)
Mere Jeevan Saathi is a 1972 Hindi movie produced by Harish and Vinod Shah. It is directed by Ravikant Nagaich, and it stars Rajesh Khanna, Tanuja, Sujit Kumar, Bindu, Helen, Utpal Dutt and Rajindranath....
, Do Chor
Do Chor
Do Chor is a 1972 Hindi/Urdu film produced by Raj Khosla and directed by Padmanabh. It stars Dharmendra, Tanuja, Shobhana Samarth, K.N. Singh and Jalal Agha. The music is by R.D. Burman and the lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri...
and Ek Baar Muskara Do (1972), Kaam Chor, Yaarana, Khuddar, Masoom, . Some of the other films she has acted in are Pavitra Paapi, Bhoot Bangla, Anubhav, etc.
During the mid 1960s Tanuja started a parallel career in Bengali movies
Bengali cinema
Bengali cinema refers to the Bengali language filmmaking industries in the Bengal region of South Asia. There are two major film-making hubs in the region: one in Kolkata, West Bengal, India and the other in Dhaka, Bangladesh .The history of cinema in Bengal dates back to the 1890s, when the first...
in Kolkata starting with the film Deya Neya (1963) where she was paired opposite the stalwart of Bengali cinema, Uttam Kumar
Uttam Kumar
Uttam Kumar is one of the most famous names of Indian Bengali Cinema.Born Arun Kumar Chatterjee in 1926 at Ahiritola, North Calcutta he is widely known as Uttam Kumar and Mahanayak . He remains as much of a cultural icon as he had been in his lifetime...
. She followed it up with memorable hit films like Anthony-Firingee (1967) and Rajkumari (1970). Tanuja had fantastic on-screen chemistry with the then-superstar Soumitra Chatterjee
Soumitra Chatterjee
Soumitra Chatterjee or Soumitra Chattopadhyay is an iconic Bengali actor from India, known among other things for his frequent collaborations with the great Bengali film director Satyajit Ray and his constant comparison with the Bengali screen idol Uttam Kumar.-Background:Soumitra graduated from...
with whom she made some huge box office hits like Teen Bhuvaner Parey (1969) and Prothom Kadam Phool . Tanuja spoke her own lines in these Bengali films.
Afterward, Tanuja retired from films for a number of years but came back when her marriage ended. She was now offered supporting roles often starring former heroes. Her Pyar Ki Kahani
Pyar Ki Kahani
Pyar Ki Kahani is a 1971 Bollywood drama film directed by Ravikant Nagaich. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Tanuja and Mala Sinha . According to an interview given by Amitabh bachchan at Koffee with Karan, this role was initially given to Jitender, but because of the film industry's imposed limit...
's hero Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
had to call her "bhabhi" (sister-in-law) in Khuddar
Khuddar
Khuddar is 1994 Hindi movie directed by Iqbal Durrani and starring Govinda, Karishma Kapoor, Kader Khan. Other cast include Shakti Kapoor, Shreeram Lagoo, Anjana Mumtaz, Raju Shrestha, Mahesh Anand, Vikas Anand, Anil Dhawan...
(1982). She also played a supporting role in Raj Kapoor
Raj Kapoor
Known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor Rāj Kapūr, 14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988), also known as The Show-Man, was an Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi cinema. He was the winner of nine Filmfare Awards, while his films Awaara and Boot Polish were nominated for the Palme d'Or at the...
's Prem Rog
Prem Rog
Prem Rog is 1982 romantic Bollywood film directed by Raj Kapoor. Prem Rog literally means "love sick". The film tells the story of a man's love towards a woman who is a widow and of a higher status.-Plot summary:...
(1982).
She has recently appeared in such films as Saathiya (2002), Rules (2003), and Khakee
Khakee
Khakee is a 2004 Bollywood action film directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and written by Santoshi and Shridhar Raghavan about corruption and law and order in India. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Atul Kulkarni, Prakash Raj, Aishwarya Rai, Tusshar Kapoor, Tanuja, and...
(2003) as a supporting actress.
In 2008, Tanuja starred as a judge along with Kajol and Ajay Devgan on Zee TV's family dance series Rock and Roll Family.
Awards and nominations
- 1967 - FilmfareFilmfareFilmfare is an English-language tabloid-sized magazine about Indian cinema. Published by The Times Group, India's largest media services conglomerate, in Mumbai , it highlights the doings of the Bollywood film scene...
nomination as Best Supporting Actress for Jewel ThiefJewel ThiefJewel Thief is a 1967 Indian Hindi film. Produced by Navketan films , the film is directed by Dev's brother Vijay Anand. Music is by S.D. Burman and the lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The film is a crime thriller, and stars Dev Anand, Vyjayantimala, Ashok Kumar, Tanuja, Faryal, Anju Mahendru,... - 1969 - Filmfare Best Supporting Actress AwardFilmfare Best Supporting Actress AwardThe Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Awards is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role...
for Paisa ya Pyar
Filmography
As Artiste:
|
Swarg Narak Swarg Narak is a 1978 Hindi movie produced by B.Nagi Reddy and directed by Dasari Narayana Rao. This family and comedy drama stars Sanjeev Kumar, Jeetendra, Vinod Mehra, Moushumi Chatterjee, Shabana Azmi... (1978) -- Radha Do Chor Do Chor is a 1972 Hindi/Urdu film produced by Raj Khosla and directed by Padmanabh. It stars Dharmendra, Tanuja, Shobhana Samarth, K.N. Singh and Jalal Agha. The music is by R.D. Burman and the lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri... (1972) |
Jewel Thief Jewel Thief is a 1967 Indian Hindi film. Produced by Navketan films , the film is directed by Dev's brother Vijay Anand. Music is by S.D. Burman and the lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The film is a crime thriller, and stars Dev Anand, Vyjayantimala, Ashok Kumar, Tanuja, Faryal, Anju Mahendru,... (1967) |
As Guest Appearance:
- Masoom (1983)
As Special Appearance:
- Khud-daar (1982)
- Bekhudi (1992)
External links
- Sparkling spitfire: Tanuja Dinesh Raheja's profile on Tanuja, Rediff.comRediff.comRediff.com India is a news, information, entertainment, and shopping portal. It was founded in 1996 as "Rediff On The NeT" and is headquartered in Mumbai, India with offices in New Delhi and New York City, USA....