Zohra Sehgal

Who is Zohra Sehgal?

Zohra Segal is an Indian actress and choreographer, who started her career as dancer with dancer Uday Shankar in 1935 and worked with him for the next eight years. She has appeared in many Bollywood films as a character actor as well as in English language films and television series.

She also appeared in Bhaji on the Beach, The Mystic Masseur, Bend It Like Beckham, Dil Se.. and Cheeni Kum; and the TV series, The Jewel in the Crown, Tandoori Nights, Amma and Family. At the age of 90, she got the lead character around whom the story revolved in 2002 film Chalo Ishq Ladaaye, where she had stunt sequences, emotional scenes etc. Considered the doyenne of Indian theatre, she acted with Indian People's Theatre Association and Prithviraj Kapoor's Prithvi Theatre for fourteen years, during the period traveled over India, with the troupe.

She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1998, Kalidas Samman in 2001, and in 2004, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, presented her with its highest award, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime achievement. She received the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honor, in 2010.