Leela Chitnis

Leela Chitnis Biography

Leela Chitnis was an actress of Bollywood yesterdays. She was at the peak of her career during 1940’s and was the first Indian lady to endorse the popular Lux soap brand. It was a time when Lux brand was endorsed by only Hollywood stars and it happened long before Indian independence in 1941, thus creating a new history in the world of endorsements of Indian brands. She was born in Karnataka and was one of the earliest graduated female artists of film industry. She entered film entry after her divorce. She was mother of three kids then. She was active in Bollywood till late 1980’s doing supporting roles.

She was born in the year 1909 as the daughter of an English professor who was very much attached to Brahmo Samaj. At the age of 15, she married a person much younger than her and had three kids. He was an artist of Marathi theatre company called Natyamanwantar. The couple participated in Indian freedom struggle movement and got arrested once. However the marriage resulted in a separation and to raise her kids she joined theatre and film industry. For a short period, she also worked as a school teacher and later reached Bombay talkies, which hired only graduates.   

In films she started as an extra and did stunt movies also. This happened in the 1930’s. She also owned film group Udyacha Sansar and Usna Navra (1934) was one of her earliest theater works. She became the first graduated society-lady from Maharashtra and entered silver screen as an actress with Bombay Talkies. Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar were her early co-stars. After a glorious career in the early 1940’s her career started declining in the second half and she appeared in mother roles of almost all stars of Bollywood then. She was one of the earliest artists in Indian cinema, who redefined mother type roles like ‘ailing and suffering mother’ and later many actresses followed her steps.

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Updated: March 17, 2014