This Bollywood actress played ‘Superman’ on screen for the first time

Many legendary stars are still remembered as the most memorable characters they played on screen. One such actress made her mark in Bollywood only by playing the role of her mother in numerous films. Throughout her career, she remained a popular on-screen mother. Interestingly, she is being touted as Bollywood’s first female superman. Wondering who she’s talking about? It’s none other than the late actress Nirupa Roy. In 1960, Nirupa Roy became the first woman in the Hindi film industry to play the role of Superman. She played her main character in the movie Superman. Directed by Mohammed Hussain and Ananth Thakur. Superman also featured Helen, Jayaraj and Tuntun in lead roles. This character she played earned her the title of Bollywood’s first female superman.

Nirupa Roy entered the acting industry with the Gujarati film ‘Ranakdevi’. She also appeared in her first Hindi film Amar Raj in the same year. Her performance in the film Do Bigha Zamin (1953) launched her to superstardom and she never looked back after that. After that, she went on to play the role of her mother in all other films. The legendary actress also played the mother of Shashi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan in the 1975 film Deewar. This film directed by Yash Chopra gave her a special identity in the industry. She came to be called as Amitabh Bachchan’s on-screen mother.

Nirupa Roy once made headlines for going to jail. The controversy erupted after her actress second son’s wife Una Loy filed a lawsuit against her. Una accused Nirupa of demanding her dowry and harassing her son. In addition to that, she has thrown many serious allegations against her, following which the actress was punished by the court and sent to jail.

On October 13, 2004, Nirupa Roy passed away from cardiac arrest at the age of 73. During her career as an actress, she appeared in over 250 films and for various films she won three Filmfare Awards. In 2004, she received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.