Meet the popular actress of the 70s, who started her career at 15 after she got married. She was linked with many leading Bollywood actors and lost her daughter untimely.
Many Bollywood actresses of the '70s paved their way to stardom with either their stellar performances or bold choice of roles. Be it Sharmila Tagore creating a revolution by wearing a bikini or Parveen Babi, establishing herself as a style icon with her fashion choices, every actress of the 70s created her unique identity.
However, Moushumi Chatterjee was unaffected by her contemporary’s success and always stayed away from the rat race. She had her own style and aura, which made her one of the highest-paid actresses of the 1970s. Her innocent eyes and striking beauty awestruck many. Moushumi was so brilliant in her craft that even if she had to perform emotional scenes, she never required glycerin.
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Moushumi was one of the most sought-after actresses, and her exceptional acting won many hearts. However, the actress broke many norms and led an unconventional life. While her flourishing career brought her many highs, it also brought her some heartbreaking moments. Let us look at Moushumi Chatterjee's unconventional life.
Moushumi Chatterjee was born on April 26, 1948 into a Bengali Brahmin family. Her real name was Indira Chattopadhyaya and Moushumi was her screen name. At the age of 10, she made her acting debut in a Bengali film, Balika Badhu as a child actress. After her debut film, she was flooded with film offers, but Moushumi wanted to study.
However, as fate would have it, while studying in class X, Moushumi’s aunt fell ill, and her last wish was to see Moushumi married. She got engaged to her neighbour and legendary music director, Hemant Kumar’s son, Jayant Mukherjee. In an interview with Lehren, Moushumi talked about her marriage at the age of 15 and said:
“My father was very close to his elder sister and she was in the last stage of cancer. Her last wish was to see me getting married. So, my father-in-law suggested that the wedding should happen. I even skipped my exams. I also got a film around the same time. Everything was just falling into place.”
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After her marriage with Hemant Kumar’s son, Jayant Mukherjee, Moushumi moved to Mumbai. Moushumi’s film career began only after her marriage. She made her debut in Hindi cinema with the film, Anurag, which was a blockbuster. Her debut was followed by films like Kachhe Dhaage, Benaam, Roti Kapada Aur Makan, Manzil and many more.
At the age of 18, Moushumi became a mother and delivered her first child, Payal Mukherjee. Moushumi’s success was such that at the age of 18, she owned a Mercedes. Revealing how everyone told her not to have a baby as her career would take a backseat, Moushumi once stated:
“At the age of 18, I had a daughter in my lap, had a Mercedes car that I had bought with my own money. I was just about 18 when I had my first child and I remember my doctor telling me, ‘For the first time in my nursing home, a baby is having a baby.’ I had already done Anuraag and everybody told me don’t have the baby. They all thought that I was not serious about my career as I also returned the money to many producers and I too thought that that was the end and that I would just settle down. But then films after films clicked and I bounced back.”
Moushami Chatterjee was at the peak of her career in the 1970s and worked with superstars like Amitabh Bachchan, Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, and many others. Despite being married, Moushumi was romantically linked with many actors. Sanjeev Kumar, Jeetendra, and Farooque Shaikh were some of the names she was linked to. In an interview with Rediff.com, Moushumi talked about the same and revealed that her father-in-law told her never to pay any heed to the stories written about her in newspapers.
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Moushumi Chatterjee and Jayant Mukherjee embraced parenthood with the arrival of their daughters, Payal Mukherjee and Megha Mukherjee. Moushumi’s elder daughter, Payal, was suffering from type 1 diabetes and went into a coma in 2018. She suffered from juvenile diabetes since she was young.
Payal got married to businessman, Dicky Sinha in 2010. Due to some disputes in the business, Dicky’s relations with the Mukherjee’s soured. However, after Payal’s health deteriorated, she went into a coma and passed away on December 13, 2019, at the age of 45.
When Payal’s health deteriorated, Moushumi accused Dicky and Payal’s in-laws of neglecting her. The veteran actress also claimed that Dicky refused to pay Payal’s medical bills and even stopped Payal’s daughter from meeting her.
Moushumi Chatterjee has often said that God has been partial towards her as he has always given her more than she deserved but took away things dear to her. Despite all the uncertainties, Moushumi has always found her silver lining.
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