Leela Chitnis (née Nagarkar; 9 September 1909 – 14 July 2003) was an actress in the Indian film industry, active from 1930s to 1980s. In her early years she starred as a romantic lead, but she is best remembered for her later this roles playing a virtuous and upright mother to leading stars.She was born in a Marathi-speaking Brahmin family, in Dharwad, Karnataka. Her father was an English literature professor. She was one of the first educated film actresses. After graduation she joined Natyamanwantar (नाट्य मन्वंतर), a progressive theater group that produced plays in her native Marathi language. The group's works were greatly influenced by Ibsen, Shaw and Stanislavsky. With the theatre group, Leela played the lead role in a series of comedies and tragedies and even founded her own repertory.Chitnis belonged to the Brahmin caste.However, her father adhered to Brahmo Samaj, a religious movement that rejected caste.She married a much older man named Dr. Gajanan Yeshwant Chitnis at the age of 15 or 16, and quickly had four children. The couple supported India's struggle for independence from Britain and once risked arrest by harbouring Manabendra Nath Roy, a Marxist freedom fighter. After she divorced her husband, she worked as a school teacher and began acting on stage in melodramas typical of the time. She appeared in several movies, and went through a Bombay university to be hired by a major studio, Bombay Talkies; it hired only college graduates.She had four sons Manavendra (Meena), Vijaykumar, Ajitkumar and Raj. She lived with her eldest son in Connecticut in United States, until her death. She had three grandchildren then.

For more information press the link below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leela_Chitnis