Kuldip Kaur

Kuldip Kaur Biography

Kuldip Kaur was one of the earliest Indian actresses who worked in Hindi and Punjabi cinema. Known for vamp roles on silver screen, she acted in over 100 films during the period 1948 to 1960. She passed away at a very young age of 30, following tetanus. She was at the peak of her career when she passed away. Known as "most polished vamp", she regularly worked with Pran for many movies. Ek Thi Ladki (1949), Samadhi (1950), Aadhi Raat (1950), Chhoti Bhabhi (1950), Anarkali (1953), Afsana (1951) and Baiju Bawra (1952) were among her noted roles.

She was described as a brave lady by Saadat Hasan Manto in his book, Stars from Another Sky: The Bombay Film World of the 1940s. She left Lahore in 1947 following communal riots. But she once again returned to Lahore to pick up Pran's car, which prompted the writer to describe her so. She drove the car back alone from Lahore to Mumbai, via Delhi. On a visit to Shirdi of Ahmednagar District, she got prickled by thorns of a ber tree and she neglected it without doing any treatment. She continued with film shooting in Mumbai. But she soon developed fever and an infection which spread rapidly. Later she died of tetanus aged only 30. She died on 3 February 1960 in Mumbai.

Kuldip Kaur was born into a prosperous Sikh family in 1927 in Lahore. She belonged to a family of landlords. She was married to Mohinder Singh Siddhu at the age of 14, and became mother two years later. She started off her film journey with supporting roles. Punjabi film Chaman (1948) was one of her early hits, followed by Dev Anand starrer Ziddi and Grahasti. She played the role of dacoit queen, Roopmati in the highly acclaimed film – Baiju bawra. Punjabi film Yamla Jatt in 1960 was her last film released posthumously.

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Updated: March 20, 2016