Kamini Kaushal (born Uma Kashyap; 24 February 1927 – 13 November 2025) was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films and television in a career spanning seven decades. She is regarded as one of the finest actresses of Hindi cinema. She is noted for her roles in films such as Neecha Nagar (1946), which won the 1946 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and Biraj Bahu (1954), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1956.
Kaushal played the lead heroine in films from 1946 to 1963, wherein her roles in Do Bhai (1947), Shaheed (1948), Nadiya Ke Paar (1948), Ziddi (1948), Shabnam (1949), Paras (1949), Namoona (1949), Arzoo (1950), Jhanjar (1953), Aabroo (1956), Bade Sarkar (1957), Jailor (1958), Night Club (1958) and Godaan (1963) are considered her career's best performances. She played character roles from 1963 onwards, and was critically acclaimed for her performance in Shaheed (1965). She appeared in three of Rajesh Khanna's films, namely Do Raaste (1969), Prem Nagar (1974), Maha Chor (1976), in Anhonee (1973) with Sanjeev Kumar and in eight films with Manoj Kumar namely Shaheed, Upkar (1967), Purab Aur Paschim (1970), Shor (1972), Roti Kapda Aur Makaan (1974), Sanyasi (1975), Dus Numbri (1976) and Santosh (1989).
From the 1990s, Kaushal only sporadically appeared in films. She latterly appeared in Chennai Express (2013) and the romantic drama Kabir Singh (2019), both of which rank among the highest grossing Indian films, winning the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress and a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter. She made her final film appearance with a cameo in Laal Singh Chaddha in 2022.
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Early life
Kamini Kaushal was born in Lahore on 24 February 1927. She was the youngest of two brothers and three sisters. She was the daughter of Shiv Ram Kashyap, professor of botany, University of Punjab at Lahore, British India (present-day Pakistan), and used to have a house in Chaubarji area of Lahore. Kashyap is widely regarded as the father of Indian botany. Her father was a distinguished botanist who discovered six species of plants. She was only seven when her father died on 26 November 1934. She did her B.A. (honours) in English literature from Government College in Lahore. She got an offer to act in films through Chetan Anand in 1946 with Neecha Nagar.
Talking about her teenage years, she said in an interview, "I had no time to fool. I didn't have any crush. I was busy swimming, riding, skating and doing radio plays on Akashwani, for which I was paid Rs 10." When her elder sister died in a car accident, leaving behind two daughters, Kaushal had to marry her brother-in-law, B.S. Sood in 1948. She set up home in Bombay where her husband was a chief engineer in Bombay Port Trust. Her elder sister's daughters are Kumkum Somani and Kavita Sahni. Kumkum Somani has written a book for children on Gandhi's philosophy and Kavita Sahni is an artist. Kamini had three sons after 1955, Rahul, Vidur and Shravan.
In the 1950s, the couple lived in a spacious manor-type house "Gateside" in Mazagaon, which was allotted to her husband by BPT.
Career
Kamini had been a stage actress in Delhi during her college days from 1942 to 1945. She worked as a radio child artist with the name "Uma" in Lahore before the Partition, from 1937 to 1940. She said in an interview about whether she wanted to be an actress in her childhood: "I come from a very intellectual family. My dad, S. R. Kashyap, was a professor at Government College, Lahore and the President of the Science Congress. He'd written about 50 books on botany. Growing up, our family concentrated more on knowledge, but he never deterred us from doing anything we wanted as long as it was positive." Though she had no dreams of joining the film industry while being in college, she was a fan of actor Ashok Kumar. Once she said in an interview: "We were to perform for the war relief fund in college. Ashok Kumar and Leela Chitins were the chief guests. After the show we went to meet him. I thought of having some fun. As he stood talking to the students, I pulled his hair from behind."
Chetan Anand gave her the role of the leading heroine in his film Neecha Nagar. This movie was done by her before marriage and released in 1946. She quoted in an interview, when asked about why her name was changed from Uma to Kamini: "Chetan's wife Uma Anand was also part of the film. My name also being Uma, he wanted a different name for me. I asked him to give me a name beginning with 'K' to match with the names of my daughters Kumkum and Kavita." She won an award at the Montreal Film Festival for her performance in her debut film.
She quoted in an interview about how she got her debut film: "Ravi Shankar was new, he had not done music for anybody. It was Zohra Segal's debut. Uma Anand (Chetan's wife) was with us in college — we were together. Chetan had been teaching at The Doon School and got to me through my brother.".
After Neecha Nagar, she returned to Lahore, but offers started coming in, hence she used to come for shooting from Lahore. After her sudden marriage in 1947, she settled in Bombay with her husband. She became the first leading heroine to continue working as lead film heroine after her marriage as well. Kamini was one of the first well educated heroines (BA in English) in Hindi cinema. She learnt Bharatnatyam at Mumbai's Sri Rajarajeswari Bharata Natya Kala Mandir, where Guru T. K. Mahalingam Pillai, doyen among nattuvanars taught. Since 1948, Kamini Kaushal worked with all the top leading men of her time, such as Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Raaj Kumar and Dilip Kumar.
Death
Kaushal died in Mumbai on 13 November 2025, at the age of 98.
Awards
1956: Filmfare Award for Best Actress: Biraj Bahu
1964: BFJA Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Hindi): Shaheed
2011: Kalakar Awards: Lifetime Achievement Award
2013: Kalpana Chawla Excellence Award
2015: Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
2015: BBC's 100 Women.
2020: Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress: Kabir Singh
2020: Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress: Kabir Singh (nominated)
Legacy
One of the highest paid actresses of the late 1940s, Kaushal appeared in Box Office India's "Top Actresses" list twice, 1947 and 1948. In 2022, she was placed in Outlook India's "75 Best Bollywood Actresses" list.
