Mumbai: Dina Pathak, a veteran actress, was born 4 March 1922 in Amreli, Gujarat. Pathak was active not only in acting but also in India’s freedom struggle. You will be surprised to know that she spent her life in a rented house and only owned a house during the last few days of her life. She died in Mumbai October 11, 2002, at the age of 80 years.
Pathak’s elder daughter Ratna Pathak Shah and younger daughter Supriya Pathak are well-known names in the world of acting. Ratna married actor Naseeruddin Shah and Supriya tied the knot with Pankaj Kapoor. On her birthday anniversary let us tell you facts related to her life.
Dina is one of the actresses of Hindi film industry who lured the audience with her acting skills for years. She was quite active during the independence movement for which she was expelled from St Xavier’s College in Mumbai.
In March 1979, Dina in an interview said that after being dropped out of college, she studied in another college and received B.A. Degree. Dina married Baldev Pathak, who ran a clothes shop near the Gateway of India in Mumbai. Baldev used to design clothes for actor like Rajesh Khanna and Dilip Kumar. It was Baldev who designed ‘Guru Kurta’ and other such clothes for Rajesh Khanna.
Dina’s husband Baldev used to call himself India’s first designer, however, during the end of Rajesh Khanna’s career, Baldev’s shop was also affected. Later, he had to close his shop and at the age of 52, he passed away.
Dina acted in more than 120 films and her acting career was six-decade long. The actress was also very active in Gujarati theatre and because of her influence both daughters were into theatres.
Elder daughter Ratna and Dina used to fight a lot. Ratna says, ‘Later our relationship turned into a different way and we became friends. I could talk to my mother on any subject. The memorable role of Dina Pathak was in Gol Maal where she portrayed, Mrs Kamala Srivastava and Vimla Sharma, Ramprasad/Laxmanprasad’s fake mother’s role. There are many other films in which Dina Pathak left her own mark.
