Sudha Shivpuri (14 July 1937 – 20 May 2015) was an Indian actress who was most famous for her role as Baa in the Hindi TV serial Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (2000–2008).

Biographie

Brought up in Rajasthan, Sudha Shivpuri started her career early, when she was in the eighth standard in school. Her father had died, and her mother had fallen ill, thus the onus of earning a living for the family fell on her.

Om Shivpuri and Sudha got married in 1968 and continued work in Delhi theatre. They formed their own theatre company, Dishantar, which produced several important contemporary plays, including Aadhe Adhurey, Tughlaq, and Vijay Tendulkar's Khamosh! Adalat Jari Hai in which she played the lead role, all directed by Om Shivpuri.

In 1974, she shifted to Mumbai, as her husband had started getting many offers for Hindi films.

She made her film debut with Basu Chatterjee's Swami in 1977 and went on to act in films like Insaaf Ka Tarazu, Hamari Bahu Alka, Sawan Ko Aane Do, Sun Meri Laila, Burning Train, Vidhaata and Maya Memsaab (1993).

Thereafter she took a break from films and shifted to television, where she acted in a few serials like Aa Bail Mujhe Maar and Rajni (1985), in which she played Priya Tendulkar's mother-in-law.

After the death of her husband in 1990, she started acting again and went on to do many TV serials, including Missing, Rishtey, Sarhadein and Bandhan. Her big break in television came in 2000, when she was asked to perform the role of 'Baa', the old mother-in-law, in the TV serial Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.

She has done many other shows like Sheeshe Ka Ghar, Waqt Ka Dariya, Daman, Santoshi Ma, Yeh Ghar, Kasamh Se, and Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil.

In 2003 she acted in the Hindi film Pinjar, based on Amrita Pritam's famous partition novel.

She was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2009 for her Acting in Theatre, given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.


Personal life
Sudha Shivpuri has a daughter, Ritu who is also an Hindi film actor and has a son Vineet. She had suffered a heart attack in 2014 and was not doing well for some time. She died from multiple organ failure on 20 May 2015 in Mumbai.