Former
Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, theatre
personality MK Raina and Prasar Bharti CEO Jawahar Sircar were among
those who turned up to pay their last respect.
Zohra's body was kept in an open area for some time before being taken for the final rites.
Azmi remembered the actress for her vivacious personality.
"I
worked with her for the first time in a play in 2002. She was around
90-year-old at that time. She was always punctual at the rehearsals. She
was thorough professional and always had a smile on her face. She
always used to crack jokes," Azmi said.
Akhtar said it was not possible to write the history of 21st century theatre without Zohra Sehgal.
"She
had contributed a lot to every field where she had worked, be it dance,
theatre or cinema. She had a cheerful personality," he added.
Dikshit said she had many inspiring memories of Sehgal.
"It
was hard to describe Zohra Sehgal. She was a great artiste and a very
cheerful human being. She had a brilliant memory. Our country will
always remember her. She never took anything negatively."
Raina
said Sehgal's death marked the end of an era in theatre. "She was
punctual and highly professional. She was always prepared with her
dialogues. Her presence used to make the environment lively," he said.
The
veteran star spoke about death at her 102 birthday in April this year,
saying she was preparing herself to die with a smile. She had told her
family that she wanted a simple funeral.
Sehgal had a great
innings as an artiste, performer and actor that spanned more than seven
decades. She started her career as a dancer with Uday Shankar in 1935.
She had appeared in many Bollywood films as a character actor as well as
in English language films besides television series and plays.
Often called the grand old lady of Bollywood, she last appeared in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ‘Saawariya’ in 2007.
She
worked with some of the biggest stars of this era, be it Amitabh
Bachchan in ‘Cheeni Kum’, Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Dil Se’ or Salman in ‘Hum
Dil De Chuke Sanam’.
A Padma Shri awardee, she also received the Padma Vibhshan in 2010.
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