Kumari Naaz

Naaz was born as Salma Baig in Mumbai in 1944. Her father, Mirza Dawood Baig, was a writer. She began working at the age of four, as her parents struggled financially. In a later interview with Stardust, she recounted that her mother was physically and mentally abusive towards her, and compelled her to work for her own comfort.^[2]

She started her career as a child actor in films. Her best remembered role as a child artiste was in R. K. Films’ Boot Polish (1954) and Bimal Roy's Devdas.^[3] She earned rave reviews for her earnest natural performance from The New York Times and a special distinction (along with co-actor Rattan Kumar) from Cannes Film Festival in 1955, where the film was shown in competition.^[4][5]

In 1958, a Hindi film adaptation called Do Phool (Two Flowers) was released based on the Swiss literary novel/ icon Heidi. The role of Heidi – called Poornima in the film – was played by Baby Naaz who was one of the most famous child stars at the time along with Master Romi.^[6]

Naaz debuted in the Bhojpuri film industry with the successful film Bidesiya (1963). Avijit Ghosh notes that she became a "sought-after Bhojpuri star" following Bidesiya, and went on to play the leading lady in many Bhojpuri films, including Saiyan Se Neha Lagaiba and Ayeel Basant Bahar (both 1965). She later transitioned to mature roles in Ganga Kinare Mora Gaon (1983). Naaz stated that she "wanted to erase the image of Baby Naaz from the audience's mind" and "enjoy[ed] working more in Bhojpuri films because there is no star system in regional films."^[7]

In Hindi films also, she later matured into a character actress and played supporting roles in films like Bahu Begum, Kati Patang and Sachaa Jhutha (where she played Rajesh Khanna's physically challenged sister).^[8]

Naaz later transitioned into a second career as a dubbing artiste. Before Sridevi started using her own voice, Kumari Naaz dubbed for her in the early Hindi hits of the 1980s.^[9]

She married actor Subbiraj (cousin of veteran actor Raj Kapoor) in 1965 and continued working; the two had acted together in Mera Ghar Mere Bachche (1960) and Dekha Pyar Tumhara (1963).^[10] She converted to Hinduism after marriage, renaming herself "Anuradha".^{[11][better source needed]} The couple had two children: Girish and Gauri.^[10][11]

Naaz was later diagnosed with terminal illness of liver and died in 1995.^[11]

• 1955 Cannes Film Festival — Special Mention (Distinction) — She received this honour for her performance in Boot Polish (1954), along with child actor Pablito Calvo for his performance in the Spanish film Marcelino, pan y vino (1955)^{[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]}

Her films include:^[20]