One of the dreamiest heroines of her time, Nutan was known for portraying complex characters with ease. Mostly seen in women-centric roles, the actress gave layers to every performance. In a career spanning four decades, she appeared in more than 80 films and was the recipient of six Filmfare Awards. With films like Sujata, Bandini, Milan, Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki, Anari, Anuraag and many others, Nutan portrayed her naturalistic acting.
Born into a Marathi family to filmmaker and poet, Kumarsen Samarth, and his actress wife, Shobhana, Nutan was the eldest of her siblings, Tanuja and Chatura, and a brother, Jaideep. Apart from films, Nutan’s life revolved around her husband, Rajinish and son, Mohnish Bahl. Apart from her glorious career, Nutan was in the headlines for certain controversies. Do you know she once publicly gave a tight slap to Sanjeev Kumar? Read on to know what happened.
Sanjeev Kumar spread false rumours about his relationship with Nutan
Nutan and Sanjeev Kumar had acted in a few films, and the duo always shared a friendly bond. However, suddenly, rumours about them being romantically involved started doing the rounds. The actress was heavily disappointed with the false reports about her relationship with Sanjeev Kumar. Later, she got to know from a reliable source that it was Sanjeev himself who had ignited the rumours.
Nutan publicly slapped Sanjeev Kumar for maligning her reputation
In an interview with Stardust in 1972, Nutan opened up about slapping her co-star, Sanjeev Kapoor, in public on the sets of Devi. She revealed that apart from spreading rumours of their affair, Sanjeev also claimed that he and Nutan were living together and planning to get custody of Nutan’s son, Mohnish Bahl.
She had enough of the rumours and decided to talk to Sanjeev Kumar. When she went up to him, he gave her an unnecessary attitude, which irked her more. Elaborating about the stinging slap, Nutan said:
“He stopped, with one hand on his hip, a bored come-on-get-over-with-it fast expression, on his face. It made my blood boil. I told him quietly that I wanted to talk to him. With the same indifferent expression, he flicked his wrist disrespectfully at a corner and said, ‘Let’s go and sit there.’ And that did it! I couldn’t take it any more, and I let him have one stinging slap and a large piece of my mind.”
Nutan revealed she had no regrets about slapping Sanjeev Kumar
After the slapgate, Nutan lost many projects as people mistook her actions and didn’t try to hear her side of the story. When asked whether she regretted slapping Sanjeev Kumar, she clearly stated ‘No’ and said that he had no right to malign her name. At that time, it was her husband, Rajnish Bahl, who had trusted her and had helped her overcome the pain of not being trusted.
Nutan’s tragic death from cancer
Nutan was diagnosed with breast cancer and returned the signing amount of all her films. She spent her time in spirituality and distanced herself from her loved ones. In 1990, her health deteriorated as the cancer spread to her liver. On February 21, 1991, Nutan passed away after giving a tough fight to cancer.
Nutan was a woman of substance, who was known for her strong will. Despite being slammed for slapping an actor publicly, she showed no regrets for her action and stood firm with what she believed in.
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