Leela Chitnis

Leela Chitnis was born on 9 September 1909. This bollywood actress at her early stage worked in comedy film Usna Navra that was released in 1934. Leela Chitnis was also publicized in the TOI as the first graduate society-lady from Maharashtra.


Leela Chitnis worked at Prabhat Pictures in Pune before going on to be the main heroine in Bombay Talkies. Bollywood actor Ashok Kumar was so impressed by Leela Chitni's acting skills. The mid 40's followed downfall in her career.

For 22 years, the actress played the mother of the later leading actors, one of them being Dilip Kumar. However, Leela Chitnis continued doing movies and after some time she emigrated to the US in the late 80's and stayed with her children.

In the year 1941 Leela Chitnis reached the height of fame and she was the first Indian film actress to endorse the popular Lux soap brand. The bollywood film industry lost one of the most talented actress on 14th July 2003.

Leela Chitnis-Biography

Leela Chitnis was born in Dharwar, Karnataka, India. Leela was one of the first educated film actresses in the bollywood industry. Leela's father was part of a Marathi theatre company called Natyamanwantar.




Leela's early stage work included comedy Usna Navra (1934) and with her own film group Udyacha Sansar. Leela Chitnis got married and had four children but divorced her husband.

Leela started acting to support her four children. She started as an extra and went on to stunt films. She was publicized in the Times of India as the first graduate society-lady from Maharastra.

Leela Chitnis worked at Prabhat Pictures, Pune and Ranjit Movietone before going on to be the leading lady in Bombay Talkies which saw her overtake and outshine Devika Rani. Her association with Bombay Talkies shot her to stardom and she made a particularly good pair with Devika Rani's leading man Ashok Kumar.

For 22 years, Leela Chitnis played the mother of the later leading men including Dilip Kumar, often playing an ailing mother or a mother going through hardships and struggling to bring up her offspring.

Leela created the archetype of the Hindi Film mother, which was carried out by later actresses. She continued doing films and then migrated to the United States in the late 1980s to join her children. At the age of 93, the actress died in Danbury, Connecticut at a nursing home.