Baby Shakuntala

Umadevi Nadgonde was a Marathi actress, popularly known as Baby Shakuntala. She was born on 17 November 1932 in a middle-class family in Pune, Maharashtra. She made her silver screen debut when she was 6 years old by working in a Marathi Movie ‘Daha Vajata’ which was produced by the iconic Prabhat film company. She was so risk- taking as she chose acting as her career in the days when acting was looked down upon. She proved that her risk was worth it through her films on mythological, social and historical subjects. In her career, she acted in nearly 40 Hindi films which included fourteen films that were silver jubilee hits, and 20 Marathi films.

She made a great impact on others through her spectacular performances in a variety of roles like Janaki in the ‘Ramshastri’, released in 1944, a devdasi in ‘ Sharada Noted South Indian actress Sharada, a three-time r >> Read More... ’, released in 1951, a teenager struggling against odds in ‘Chimni Pakhare’, released in 1952, and Vatsala in ‘Maya Bazaar’, released in 1949. She got an easy entry into the film industry due to a known relationship between her parents and the owner of the famous Prabhat Studio. She quit her film career when she was at the peak of her career after she got married to Babasaheb Nadgonde in 1954. She passed away in January 2015 at the age of 82 due to some old-age-related illness.