Sudha Shivpuri (14 July 1937 – 20 May 2015) was an Indian actress who was most famous for her role as Baa in the

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

TV serial '' Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' (2000–2008).

Early life and career

Brought up in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

, Sudha Shivpuri started her career early, when she was in the eighth standard in school. Her father had died, and her mother had fallen ill, thus the onus of earning a living for the family fell on her. She is an alumna of National School of Drama graduating in 1963 along with Om Shivpuri. They later got married in 1968 and continued work in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...

theatre. They formed their own theatre company, Dishantar, which produced several important contemporary plays, including ''Aadhe Adhurey'', ''Tughlaq'', and

Vijay Tendulkar Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar (6 January 1928 – 19 May 2008) was a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator primarily in Marāthi. His Marathi plays established him as ...

's ''Khamosh! Adalat Jari Hai'' in which she played the lead role, all directed by

Om Shivpuri Om Shivpuri (14 July 1938 – 15 October 1990) was an Indian theatre actor-director and character actor in Hindi films. A National School of Drama, New Delhi alumnus, Shivpuri became the first chief of the National School of Drama Repertory ...

. In 1974, she shifted to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, as her husband had started getting many offers for

films. She made her film debut with

Basu Chatterjee Basu Chatterjee ( bn, বাসু চ্যাটার্জ্জী; 10 January 1927 – 4 June 2020) was an Indian film director and screenwriter. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Chatterjee became associated with what came to be known as mi ...

's ''

Swami Swami ( ; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to a male or female ascetic who has chosen the path of renunciation (''sanyāsa''), or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas. It is used eith ...

'' in 1977 and went on to act in films like '' Insaaf Ka Tarazu'', ''Hamari Bahu Alka'', "Hum Dono (1985)", '' Sawan Ko Aane Do'', ''Sun Meri Laila'', '' The Burning Train'', '' Vidhaata'' and '' Maya Memsaab'' (1993). Thereafter she took a break from films and shifted to television, where she acted in a few serials like ''Aa Bail Mujhe Maar'' and '' Rajni'' (1985), in which she played Priya Tendulkar's mother-in-law. After the death of her husband in 1990, she started acting again and went on to do many TV serials, including ''Missing'', ''Rishtey'', ''Sarhadein'' and ''Bandhan''. Her big break in television came in 2000, when she was asked to perform the role of 'Baa', the old mother-in-law, in the TV serial '' Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi''. She has done many other Television shows like ''Sheeshe Ka Ghar'', ''Waqt Ka Dariya'', ''Daman'', ''Santoshi Ma'', ''Yeh Ghar'', ''

Kasamh Se ''Kasamh Se'' (English title: ''The Promise'') was an Indian soap opera produced by Ekta Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms. The show aired on Zee TV from 16 January 2006 to 12 March 2009. The story is about three sisters: Bani, Piya and Rano. It ...

'', '' Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil'', in all these serials, the role of Shivpuri's 'Ba' was very famous and Sudha gained a new identity as 'Ba' in public. In 2003 she acted in the Hindi film '' Pinjar'', based on

Amrita Pritam Amrita Pritam (; 31 August 1919 – 31 October 2005) was an Indian novelist, essayist and poet, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi. A prominent figure in Punjabi literature, she is the recipient of the 1956 Sahitya Akademi Award. Her body of wo ...

's famous partition novel. She was awarded the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognit ...

in 2009 for her Acting in Theatre, given by the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and ...

, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.

Personal life

Sudha Shivpuri has a daughter,

Ritu Shivpuri Ritu Shivpuri (born 22 January 1972) is an Indian actress and model, notable for her work in Hindi and Kannada cinema. Daughter of actors Om and Sudha Shivpuri, Ritu made her acting debut in a leading role in the 1993 film '' Aankhen'', which ...

who is also a

film actor and has a son Vineet. She had suffered a heart attack in 2014 and was not doing well for some time. She died from multiple organ failure on 20 May 2015 in Mumbai.

Awards and honors

* In 2009, she received the

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shivpuri, Sudha 1937 births 2015 deaths Indian film actresses Indian stage actresses National School of Drama alumni Indian television actresses Actresses from Jaipur Rajasthani people Hindi theatre Actresses from Indore Actresses in Hindi cinema Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Actresses in Hindi television 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses