Shashi Ranjan remembers Tun Tun; says, ‘The film industry didn’t care about her dire condition, but she laughed at the way she was being treated by the world’ – Exclusive | Hindi Movie News – Times of India

Tun Tun aka Uma Devi Khatri was the first comedienne of Hindi cinema. In a film career spanning about five decades, she acted and sang in innumerable films and left an indelible mark in the industry. On her 100th birth anniversary, Shashi Ranjan remembers her unmatched sense of humour that could not be dimmed even in the most trying conditions, the poor condition she lived in during her final days, how the industry deserted her and more.
“When I found her, she was living in a chawl and living in bad condition and she was very sick. When the production guys met her, she said that she couldn’t walk and had trouble even getting herself food. When I got to know about this, I went to meet her and requested her for an interview. She was very happy. But when she told me the stories of how she was managing to get some money so that she could afford to buy medicine, I was deeply hurt. So, I paid her 25,000 rupees for doing an interview with us,” recalls Ranjan.
He said that she was living in dire conditions. “And as you’d know the film industry doesn’t care about the ones who are not in the run,” he said.
Tun Tun started working from a very young age. She sang the song Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon which had become popular but nobody was ready to give her recognition or lend her a hand of support, recalls Ranjan. “I remember she reiterating in the interview that she gave her life for the industry and look at the condition that she was back then. She thanked us for interviewing her and when I requested her, she sang the song Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon. Her specialty was that despite being in such a condition, she didn’t lose her sense of humour. She laughed at her poverty, she laughed at the way she was being treated by the world. I liked that very much. Although I felt sad for her it stayed with me that she didn’t lose her sense of humour,” he concluded.