NEW DELHI // Indians on Friday mourned the passing of Zohra Sehgal, the grand old lady of Indian theatre, dance and cinema.
Ms Sehgal died of heart failure on Thursday at the age of 102 – only a little younger than India's film industry. Her last movie Saawariya (Beloved) was released in 2007, marking the end of a film career that began in 1946. She also performed and choreographed productions of modern dance and ballet, toured India with her theatre troupe for 14 years, won renown for her readings of poetry, and was in the international hit Bend It Like Beckham.
She also appeared in two episodes of an early season of the BBC’s Doctor Who.
Narendra Modi, the prime minister, paid tribute to her on Twitter, calling her “prolific and full of life”. Amitabh Bachchan, the Bollywood veteran who acted as Ms Sehgal’s son in the 2007 movie Cheeni Kum (A Little Less Sugar), tweeted: “What a journey and what an immensely loveable co-star.”
Born in Saharanpur, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, on April 27, 1912, Sehgal — unusually for a young Muslim woman of her time — went to study acting and dance in Europe in 1930.
She returned to India 10 years later, first to work with Uday Shankar, one of the country’s leading dancers and brother of the sitar player Ravi Shankar, and then joined the acclaimed Prithvi Theatre troupe in Bombay (now Mumbai).
After the death of her husband Kameshwar, Sehgal migrated to Great Britain in the early 1960s, where she acted in a host of television programmes and films. She returned to India when she was 80, and started to take the sort of roles for which she became well known in the twilight of her career: as the impish, wise grandmother with a particular fondness for young couples in love.
It was her “pertness, or sauciness” that often endeared Sehgal to moviegoers, said Jai Arjun Singh, a New Delhi-based film critic.
“She briefly enlivened even a film that was as dead on arrival as The Mistress of Spices, which is saying a great deal – so much energy and vitality even in her short, poorly written role,” Singh said.
He said a similarly cheeky tone pervaded her 1997 autobiography, Stages.
“Given the kinds of things she said in her book – about wanting her ashes flushed down the toilet, for instance – I think this chutzpah is a personal quality, which she successfully incorporated into her roles,” Singh said.
The reigning superstar of Hindi film, Shah Rukh Khan, also praised Sehgal and her “journey of a million miles overloaded with smiles”.
“Even at a 100-plus, I have yet to meet a naughtier young girl,” Khan said tweeted on Friday. He had worked with her on four films in the 1990s and the 2000s.
Sehgal had been ill with pneumonia for several days before her demise. She is survived by her son Pawan and her daughter Kiran.
ssubramanian@thenational.ae
Notable Yas events in 2017/18
October 13-14 KartZone (complimentary trials)
December 14-16 The Gulf 12 Hours Endurance race
March 5 Yas Marina Circuit Karting Enduro event
March 8-9 UAE Rotax Max Challenge
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
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Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
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Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
