Sonam Kapoor Ahuja pays tribute to 'Bollywood's first female Comedienne' Uma Devi Khatri

Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor recently took to Instagram to pay tribute to the late ‘iconic diva’ Uma Devi Khatri aka Tun Tun, who became ‘Hindi Cinema’s first female Comedienne’. Describing her stellar career, Sonam aptly mentioned how Uma Devi Khatri broke all the stereotypes surrounding ‘Women aren’t funny’. Uma Devi made her acting debut in Dilip Kumar and Nargis starrer Babul and since then, she went on to become a comic legend.

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It is Dilip Kumar who renamed Uma as ‘Tun Tun’ to suit her comic persona. Owing to the legendary comics’ popularity, the name Tun Tun has now become synonymous with fat women in India. In the post shared by Sonam Kapoor, she described that Uma was ‘neither a trained singer nor a learned actor’. She worked extremely hard to propel out as an extraordinary star.

Sonam Kapoor’s tribute to Uma Devi Khatri

How often have you heard the (rather sexist and outdated) phrase… “Women aren’t funny”?
Well, here’s a look at Uma Devi Khatri, an iconic diva, who took that stereotype and broke it - becoming the first female comedian of Bollywood. Her career of 5 decades had her sing, act and tickle our funny bones in over 150 films, but did you know that she was actually neither a trained singer nor a learned actor? She gave her career every push it needed to propel it forward - no matter what came in her way. Beloved re-christened Tun Tun by Dilip Kumar, she made her way into our hearts.
Tun Tun passed away at the age of 80 in 2003 but is still remembered for bringing joy to so many lives, spearheading the way for female comedians, and being her vivacious self: no matter the hardship or struggle she faced.

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Tun Tun’s Career

Uma Devi moved to Bombay at age 23 to pursue her career in Bollywood. She approached Naushad Ali for help, who instantly auditioned her and signed a contract with her. She began her career as a singer by crooning several melodious songs like Wamiq Azra, Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon, Kahe Diye Jale & more. Her 1948’s Chandraleka proved to be both her biggest success and also the reason for the downfall of her singing career.

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Uma was blacklisted by many for breaching her contract, however, later upon her mentor Naushad’s suggestion, who knew her flawless comic timing, she took up acting. The late comedian had starred in more than 150 movies and is yet known for her major contribution in her field. Her jokes majorly revolved around weight and skin tone. In her post, Sonam has also mentioned Uma’s quote that said she was proud of her body type. Uma said, 

My bulk is my trump card. I don’t regret that I am fat. I’m lucky I was born this way. However, that does not mean that I am not in favour of dieting. I agree dieting is very essential to maintain a slim and healthy body. But where is the need for me to be slim and ravishingly beautiful?

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