There are some names in the world of Bollywood, whose shine is visible on the screen, but the real struggle and their extraordinary talent often gets covered with dust. One of those names is Kumari Naaz, whom people knew as ‘Baby Naaz’ in her childhood.
From child artist to Bollywood voice
She started acting at a very young age and won the hearts of the entire nation with her innocent acting. As lovely as her smile was on screen, her life behind the screen was equally full of difficulties. At one time, he not only earned name as a child artist, but even after growing up, he played many memorable roles.
Very few people know that she also became the voice of superstar Sridevi in Hindi films in the 1980s. Kumari Naz was born on 20 August 1944 in Mumbai. Her family was very poor, and due to this financial crisis, she started shooting in the studio at the age of four. He started his film career with the film ‘Accha Ji’ in 1950 and after that he played brilliant roles in films like ‘Gunaah’, ‘Rupaiya’, ‘Shama Parwana’.
1954 film ‘Boot Polish’ made Naaz famous
She got her real break from the 1954 film ‘Boot Polish’, in which she played the character of ‘Bellu’, a poor orphan girl. His acting in this film was so strong that he started being discussed not only in India but also abroad. ‘Boot Polish’ was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and Naaz received a Special Mention award along with her co-star Ratan Kumar. This was a big thing especially for an Indian child artist at that time.
lovely sister of bollywood
His career as a child artist was at its peak. Later she also got the opportunity to become a heroine, but she could not regain her childhood popularity. She played important roles in serious films like ‘Devdas’, ‘Ganga Jamuna’, ‘Kaagaz Ke Phool’, and ‘Musafir’, but the role that was most special in giving her recognition as an adult artist was the 1970 film ‘Sachcha Jhootha’, in which she played the role of Rajesh Khanna’s disabled sister. Her innocent and emotional acting in this film touched the audience so much that people started calling her ‘Bollywood’s beloved sister’.
Kumari Naaz became the Hindi voice of Sridevi
Gradually, when he started getting less opportunities in films, he started his second career as a dubbing artist. Very few people know that when Sridevi stepped into Hindi films from South Indian films in the 1980s, initially her voice did not fit in Hindi. In such a situation, Kumari Naaz did the dubbing in Sridevi’s initial hit films. Especially in hit films like ‘Himmatwala’, ‘Tohfa’ and ‘Mawali’, she gave voice to the character of Sridevi. There was innocence and delicacy in her voice which matched Sridevi’s characters.
Bollywood’s beloved sister Kumari Naaz lost to liver cancer
Naz married actor Subbiraj, who was Raj Kapoor’s cousin, in 1963. After marriage, she converted to Hinduism and changed her name to ‘Anuradha’. Gradually she distanced herself from films and became engrossed in her family and then continued working solely as a dubbing artist. In his career, he worked in more than 200 films, in which he played roles ranging from child artist to character artist and dubbing artist. He got the special honor of Cannes Festival, which very few Indian artists got at that time.
At the end of his life he developed liver cancer. In 1995, her condition became so serious that she went into a coma and died on 19 October 1995.

