By Maya Palit
Just last week, Mother’s Day listicles celebrated Reema Lagoo, the Marathi actor who is still being called ‘Bollywood’s eternal mom’. Lagoo was best-known for her memorable supporting roles as the hep and friendly mother of the hero or heroine.
And now Twitter is in mourning, as Lagoo passed away after a heart attack very early this morning.
She acted as a mum in several blockbusters, including Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Vaastav: The Reality (1999) where she kills her son, Gumrah (1993), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), and Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003).
Somme people have been remembering her as Nirupa Roy 2.0 or applauding her for having played an ‘ideal and moral’ mother, but Lagoo had more going for her than playing Salman Khan’s mother in a bunch of films. She was a big presence in Marathi cinema and theatre, as well as various television sitcoms.
Her first critically acclaimed roles were in the film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988), in which she played Juhi Chawla‘s mother, and her powerful acting in Rihaee (1988) alongside Hema Malini and Neema Gupta. She’s also played a lavani dancer in Aakrosh (1980) and was made a big deal of for her acting in the television sitcom Tu Tu Main Main and Shrimaan Srimati.
Watch her trying to handle the world’s most annoying son here:
And being forced to play the harmonium here: