Bollywood heroine’s career ended after superstar’s slap caused facial paralysis, husband cheated on her with sister

ALSO READ | Abused by mother, Bollywood’s biggest child star would be denied food after slaving all day, danced for money on stage; no one from Bollywood attended her funeral

A slap on her face left her paralysed

Lalita was one of those rare film actors who transitioned from silent film to talkies quite successfully, and was on her way to becoming one of the most popular leading ladies of time, when this journey was cut short. In 1942, while shooting for a film with Bhagwan Dada, who was one of the most popular leading actors of the time, a scene demanded that he slap her right across the face. For some reason, he actually slapped her, which is often not done in cinema. Actors usually ‘cheat’ the slap, where they pretend to slap the co-actor without actually hitting them.

Bhagwan hit her so hard that Lalita fainted on the spot. This caused her facial paralysis as the vein in her left eye burst and the incident left her with a permanent squint, which was noticeable even till her old age. In an old chat with Doordarshan, Lalita said, “For two years, I was jobless. I was fired from many films.” Lalita realised that her career as a lead heroine was over, but she persevered.

Lalita Pawar was fired from many films after her face was disfigured. (Photo: Express Archives)

A few years later, when she was in a state to work again, Lalita resumed her journey in the movies and now started accepting character roles. Lalita realised that the length of the role was insignificant, as long as what she did on the screen was impressive, as around this time, she did a small but appreciated role in Raj Kapoor’s Shree 420.

Husband had an affair with sister

Years before Lalita lost her career as a lead actor, she had already experienced a significant setback in her personal life. In the 1930s, Lalita married film producer Ganpatrao Pawar. The two had developed fondness for each other while working together, and Lalita was convinced that she wanted to marry him, and so she did, but, a few years later, she learnt that her husband had been cheating on her. She found that he was having an affair with her sister, and so the marriage ended.

Lalita later married producer Rajprakash Gupta. They welcomed a son named Jai.

Lalita Pawar passed away at 82. (Photo: Express Archives)

Lay dead for two days before anyone could find out

Lalita was one of those rare actors who found fame at every stage of her career. In the 1980s, after she appeared in Ramayan, her career got another lease of life. Sadly, in the 1990s, Lalita was diagnosed with mouth cancer. She and her husband moved to Pune to take care of her health and she was still in the middle of treatment when she passed away unexpectedly. It just so happened that her husband and her son were not in the city when she died, and so no one came to know about her passing for two days. When no one was taking calls at her home, her son got worried and sent someone to check on her. That’s when her mortal remains were found.

Lalita passed away in 1998 at 82.