1. Leela Naidu was an Indian actress who starred in a small number of Hindi and English films, including Yeh Raste Hain Pyar Ke, based on the real-life Nanavati case, and The Householder, Merchant Ivory Productions' first film.
22 Facts About Leela Naidu
1. 2.
Leela Naidu was Femina Miss India in 1954, and was featured in the Vogue along with Maharani Gayatri Devi in the list of "World's Ten Most Beautiful Women", a list she was continuously listed in from the 1950s to the 1960s in prominent fashion magazines worldwide.
3.
Leela Naidu is remembered for her stunning classical beauty and subtle acting style.
4.
Leela Naidu ran one of Madame Curie's labs in Paris.
5.
Leela Naidu was Scientific Advisor to UNESCO for Southeast Asia, and later, an advisor to the Tata group.
6.
Leela Naidu enjoyed the advantages of birth and the connections of her parents.
7.
Leela Naidu grew up in Europe, went to an elite school in Geneva, Switzerland, and in her teens, took acting lessons from Jean Renoir.
8.
Leela Naidu met Salvador Dali in Grand-hotel Opera, Paris where she posed for a painting of the Madonna.
9.
Leela Naidu was crowned Femina Miss India in 1954, and the same year was featured in Vogue magazine's list of the world's ten most beautiful women.
10.
Leela Naidu made her film debut alongside Balraj Sahni in Anuradha, directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee.
11.
In 1963, Leela Naidu played the lead role of a rebellious young bride in the first Merchant Ivory film The Householder, directed by James Ivory.
12.
Leela Naidu then suggested to Merchant-Ivory, making a movie about a book called The Householder by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, which led to their introduction to Ruth and a fruitful lifelong partnership.
13.
Leela Naidu was considered for the role of Rosie in Vijay Anand's Guide, but the role required a trained dancer, and so Naidu lost out to Waheeda Rehman.
14.
Later, Leela Naidu made a guest appearance in the Merchant-Ivory film, The Guru.
15.
Leela Naidu returned to cinema in 1985 to play a Goan matriarch in Shyam Benegal's period film Trikaal.
16.
Leela Naidu turned down Raj Kapoor four times when he approached her for casting her in his films.
17.
Leela Naidu briefly held a job as an editor at the Bombay-based magazine Key Notes.
18.
Subsequently, Leela Naidu met philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti while in London, and was deeply attracted to his teachings.
19.
Leela Naidu lived alone, in an elegant and large old flat bequeathed to her father by the Tatas, at Sargent House, in old Bombay the by-lane of the Colaba Causeway, Mumbai.
20.
Leela Naidu spent most of her last decade indoors but had a steady roster of visitors as she was an excellent conversationalist.
21.
Leela Naidu would call her friends and keep in touch with both her daughters and grandsons.
22.
Leela Naidu died in Mumbai on 28 July 2009, due to lung failure after a prolonged bout of influenza, at the age of 69.