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in 1945 and 1946, the plays being ‘Ghar Ki Laaj’ and ‘Jasoos’. Her last
appearance in the public stage was in the play ‘Prithviraj’ in the role of Mehga at
Star Theatre in 1950. Thereafter she worked in call shows till almost 1958.
Jamuna Puliney (1933) has been credited as her first film. This is probably
because this was her first film contract although ‘Ankh Ka Tara’ (1932) released
before Jamuna Puliney. In all she acted in about forty-eight films in Bengali,
Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, and Tamil languages. In most of them, she had songs as a
major attraction or else did comic roles as in Bengali Indira (1937) and Hindi
Deewali (1940) to name a few. She did the role of Dhai Ma in both the versions
of Swayamsidhha (1947). Thereafter she was not seen on the screen. As a
playback singer she lent her voice in films like Alibaba (1937), Chandragupt
(1934) in Hindi, Ab-E-Hayat (1933) in Urdu and Dil Ki Pyaas (1935) also in Urdu.
She did not act in these four films. Indubala did not receive any major award
apart from the Gold Disc given on behalf of His Master's Voice. The government
of India never considered her name for any award. The Sangeet Natak Academy
however honoured her with a lifetime achievement award in 1975. The
government of West Bengal, India however did arrange for a pension for which a
lot of running about had to be done. In personal life, Indubala was most humble
and polite and bold in her behavior and was never ashamed to admit or discuss
her origin. Even when established as a major singing artiste with all India fame,
she refused to move out to a respectable place leaving her residence in
Rambagan, a notorious red light area of Calcutta. Indubala was got herself
involved in voluntary work for the uplift of fallen women and worked actively for
their rights in society through various organizations, which were patronized by
top political leaders of the time. She had some interesting hobbies like writing
poetry and collecting perfumes. Even at old age all the empty perfume bottles
were kept within her view. She was fond of jewelery too and had a great
collection, either purchased or gifted by admirers. These valuables vanished
when she was too unwell to keep track of them. Her contemporary artiste Miss
Angurbala was a close friend with whom she confided and shared the joys and
sorrows of life and this friendship lasted till the very end. Indubala adopted a
nephew of her mother's friend Jiban Krishna Ghosh. The boy's name was Pranab
Ghosh. This foster son did not look after her mother very much when in old age
Indubala suffered from conditions like cataract and then paralytic stokes. It was
Dr. Badan Sengupta who made necessary arrangement for her treatment She
could not afford nursing homes and therefore was treated at state government
hospitals in all occasions of illness. The end came on the thirtieth day of
November 1984 after a prolonged illness during which again Dr. Badhan
Sengupta looked after her as his own mother. Perhaps by coincidence her friend
Angurbala died the same year.
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