Nirupa Roy
Nirupa Roy, born Kokila Kishorechandra Bulsara on 4 January 1931 in Kalwada, Bulsar District (now Valsad, Gujarat), was a famous Indian actress in Hindi cinema. Known as the “Queen of Misery” for her motherly and sorrowful roles, she acted in more than 250 films from 1946 to 1999 and won three Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Awards (Munimji in 1956, Chhaya in 1962, and Shehnai in 1965). She also received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.
Her early life was not widely discussed. As a child, her family called her “Chibi.” She married Kamal Roy at 15 and moved to Mumbai, starting her acting career under her married name. The couple answered a Gujarati newspaper ad for actors in 1946, beginning with the Gujarati film Ranakdevi and then the Hindi film Amar Raj in the same year.
Her most famous films include Do Bigha Zamin (1953), Har Har Mahadev (1950) where she played Parvati Devi, and later as the devoted mother in Deewar (1975). The iconic line “Mere paas maa hai” from Deewar became a cultural touchstone. She frequently co-starred with Trilok Kapoor, Bharat Bhushan, Balraj Sahni, and Ashok Kumar. She had two children, Yogesh and Kiran Roy, with Kamal Roy.
Nirupa Roy died of a cardiac arrest on 13 October 2004 in Mumbai, at the age of 73. Her work, especially her memorable mother roles, left a lasting impact on Hindi cinema.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:48 (CET).