Zohra Sehgal, who has died aged 102, was one of the first Indian actresses to achieve a truly international profile, with roles in the films Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and Bhaji on the Beach (1993). Typically in her later years she played the part of a traditional south Asian woman struggling to come to terms with the pressures of living in a modern, alien culture as her children and grandchildren increasingly abandon the old ways. She also appeared in a number of TV series, including The Jewel in the Crown (1984) and Dr Who (1964-65), and her Bollywood output was prolific well into her 90s.
Zohra arrived in the UK in 1962, to take up a British Drama League scholarship. After working as a dresser at the Old Vic and playing bit parts in the theatre, she became the face of the BBC's early attempts at multiculturalism, presenting programmes aimed at new migrants and appearing in the 1977 serial Padosi (Neighbours). This led to roles in Courtesans of Bombay (1983), a docudrama directed by Ismail Merchant, but it was The Jewel in the Crown that brought her wider recognition, and made her a reliable feature of many subsequent British Asian productions, including Channel 4's first Asian comedy series, Tandoori Nights (1985-87). She was in her 80s by the time she moved back to India, but went on to appear in a string of films, culminating in Cheeni Kum (2007), in which she played the mother of the Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.
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