Mumbai: Veteran Bollywood and Marathi film actress Seema R. Deo – who essayed a key role in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s superhit film ‘Anand’ (1971) – passed away here following a prolonged illness, family sources said on Thursday.
She was 81 and breathed her last at a private hospital on Thursday morning after a long battle with Alzheimer’s and other ailments.
Born in Mumbai as Nalini Saraf, Seema Deo is survived by her two sons, actor Ajinkya and director Abhinay.
According to family sources, her body was shifted from the hospital to her son’s residence in Bandra and later was taken in a procession to Dadar to enable film industry people to pay their last respects.
Her last rites were performed at the Shivaji Park Crematorium with a large number of film personalities, fans and family members remaining present to bid a tearful adieu to Seema Deo.
The widow of late actor Ramesh Deo, Seema Deo acted in nearly 90 Hindi and Marathi movies during a career spanning over six decades from the black-and-white to the colour movies era of the Indian film industry.
She is fondly remembered for her important role in the blockbuster film ‘Anand’, which also starred Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna and her husband Ramesh in key roles.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, various cabinet ministers, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule, Congress President Nana Patole, Shiv Sena (UBT) President and Ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray, Urmila Matondkar, Kishore Tiwari, Praful Patel, and others expressed grief over the passing of Seema Deo.
Many film industry personalities and CINTAA also condoled her demise.
Born in Girgaum in south Mumbai, as a schoolgirl Nalini Saraf was a good singer and dancer, and had even sung for the music director Shah brothers, Kalyanji-Anandji for some time though encountering tough social pressures.
Undaunted, she started her acting career with a Marathi film ‘Aliya Bhogasi’ (1957), then a Hindi movie at the age of 18, titled ‘Miya Biwi Razi’ (1960) and later got married with the upcoming actor Ramesh Deo in 1963, with whom she had already acted in a couple of films.
As Seema Deo, she was seen in several films doing roles independently and also with her husband including ‘Aliya Bhogasi’, ‘Saraswatichandra’ (1968), ‘Anand’ and many others.
She acted in lead and character roles in different Marathi films, ‘Jagachya Pathiwar’ (1960), ‘Vardakshina’ (1962), ‘Molkarin’ (1963), ‘Aparadh’ (1969), ‘Ovalite Bhauraya’, ‘Juna Te Sona’ (1975), and ‘Badla’ (1977).
In Hindi films she was seen prominently in ‘Bhabhi Ki Chudiyan’ (1961), ‘Dus Lakh’ (1966), ‘Koshish’ (1972), ‘Sabak’ (1973), ‘Kora Kagaz’ (1974), ‘Yehi Hai Zindagi’, ‘Dreamgirl’ (1977), ‘Dada’ (1979), ‘Patita’ (1980), ‘Benaam Badshah’ (1981), ‘Bezubaan’, ‘Teesri Aankh’, ‘Ghazab’, ‘Daulat’, ‘Hathkadi’, ‘Anokha Bandhan’ (1982), ‘Humse Hai Zamana’, ‘Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye’ (1983), ‘Jawani Ki Kahani’, ‘Naseeb Apna Apna’ (1986), ‘Sansar’ (1987), ‘Taqdeer, ‘Film Hi Film’ (1983), ‘Deewana Tere Naamka’ (1987), ‘Majboor’, ‘Guru’ (1989), and ‘Karz Chukana Hai’ (1991), among others.
–IANS
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