Zohra Sehgal

Zohra Sehgal joined Uday Shankar's dance troupe in 1935 and toured internationally before building a remarkable career in theatre and film. She worked with the Indian People's Theatre Association and Prithviraj Kapoor's Prithvi Theatre, bringing movement, wit and presence to the stage. She also choreographed for films including Baazi and Awaara.

Her later career included British television and Indian films such as Dil Se and Cheeni Kum. Audiences discovered her across generations, rather than in just one era. She received the Padma Shri in 1998, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 2004 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2010. She died in 2014 at the age of 102.