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Shashikala Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated October 14, 2026 • 3 min read

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Quick Info

Date of birth4 August 1932

Age88 Years (at time of death)

BirthplaceSolapur, Maharashtra

ProfessionActor

NationalityIndian

Marital statusWidowed

SpouseOm Prakash Saigal

FamilyTwo daughters: Shailaja and Rekha (Rekha died in 1993)

Shashikala Biography

Shashikala was a veteran Indian film and television actress whose career began with small screen and film appearances in the 1940s and spanned decades. She

Early life and background
Shashikala Jawalkar was born on 4 August 1932 in Solapur, Maharashtra, into a Marathi family. She grew up participating in local performances from an early age, taking part in singing, dancing and acting at village melas. Her father, Anantrao Jawalkar, ran a cloth shop in Solapur. During her teenage years the family faced financial difficulties and moved to Mumbai in search of better opportunities.

In Mumbai she became the family’s primary earner. The early years involved hardship: the family sometimes struggled to meet basic needs, and Shashikala worked in households while seeking acting work. Those efforts took her from studio to studio until she began appearing in films.

Career
Shashikala’s first recorded film work was a cameo in a qawwali sequence in the 1945 film Zeenat. She continued with small roles in films of the 1940s, including appearances in Chand, Jugnu and Doli, and gained wider attention with the 1948 production Pugree.

Over the course of her career she acted in more than 100 films. Her body of work includes titles across several decades, with notable appearances in Chacha Chowdhury (1953), Sangam (1954), Phool Aur Patthar (1966), Anokha Bandhan (1982), and the 2004 film Mujhse Shaadi Karogi. Her final film role was in Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav (2005), in which she appeared as a South African witness.

Shashikala became known for her supporting performances and received multiple industry honours. She won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress twice, in 1962 and 1963, and was a repeat recipient of Bengal Film Journalists’ Association awards in the 1960s for supporting roles. Later in life she was recognised with a Padma Shri in 2007 and a lifetime achievement honour at the V. Shantaram Awards in 2009.

Alongside cinema, Shashikala worked in television. She appeared in serials such as Son Pari (2000) on Star Plus and Dil Deke Dekho (2016) on SAB TV. One memorable song picturisation featuring her was “Dadi Maa Dadi Maa” from the 1988 film Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani.

Personal life
In her early twenties Shashikala married film director Om Prakash Saigal. The couple had two daughters, Shailaja and Rekha; Rekha died of cancer in 1993. Her marriage later encountered severe difficulties. She left her family for a time and went abroad, an episode she described later as a mistake that led to suffering. After returning to India she spent a significant period in Calcutta working with the organisation led by Mother Teresa, where she served for several years in care roles.

Following that period she restarted her acting career and returned to Mumbai to continue working in films and television. She was sometimes referred to by the nickname Baby.

Public profile
Shashikala was recognised for a long and varied career in Hindi cinema, particularly for character and supporting roles. Physically, sources list her height as approximately 161 cm (about 5 feet 3 inches), with brown eyes and salt-and-pepper hair later in life. Her life included public milestones—award wins, a Padma Shri, and a widely reported late-career presence on television—that kept her in public view across generations.

Latest updates
Shashikala passed away on 4 April 2021 at her residence in Mumbai at the age of 88. Her contributions to Indian cinema were acknowledged through the awards she received and the long list of films and television projects in which she appeared.

Editorial Review and Sources

This F4U profile is written from publicly available career and profile information, then reviewed for clarity before publication. If you spot an outdated detail about Shashikala, send the page URL and a reliable correction source to f4udotin@gmail.com.

Reference context: StarsUnfolded

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Recent Work

Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav

Played a South African witness

2005
Mujhse Shaadi Karogi

Featured in the 2004 film

2004
Dil Deke Dekho

Appeared in the television serial on SAB TV

2016
Son Pari

Appeared in the television serial on Star Plus

2000
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Career Highlights

  1. Debuted with a cameo in Zeenat (1945)
  2. Won Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1962 and 1963
  3. Awarded the Padma Shri in 2007
  4. Acted in over 100 films across six decades
Reviewed by F4U Editorial Desk

F4U profile pages are prepared from public career information, checked for readability, and updated when reliable correction sources are shared with the editorial team.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Shashikala born?

Shashikala was born on 4 August 1932.

What is Shashikala known for?

Shashikala is known for actor.

What is Shashikala’s marital status?

Shashikala's marital status is listed as Widowed.

Who is Shashikala married to?

Shashikala is publicly listed as married to Om Prakash Saigal.