Chand Usmani (3 January 1933 – 26 November 1989) was an Indian actress in Hindi films from the 1950s to the late 1980s. She won the 1971Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is best remembered for playing self-sacrificing wives and mothers.^[2]

Chandbibi Khanam Usmani was born on 3 January 1933 inAgra,Uttar Pradesh, into aPashtun family.^[3] She married Mukul Dutt (director ofAan Milo Sajna),^[3] with whom she had a son, Roshan.^[1] She ran a halfway house at her home inMahim for runaway girls who had come to Mumbai seeking a career in films.^[4] She died in Mumbai on 26 November 1989.^[5]

Chand Usmani came to notice by participating in a talent contest called 'Kardar-Kolynos-Teresa Contest' in 1949, winning second place.^{[6][non-primary source needed]} In 1953, she debuted as the heroine inJeewan Jyoti oppositeShammi Kapoor (his debut too).^[3] She also starred inBarati,Baap Re Baap andSamrat Prithviraj Chauhan, and had major roles in several other films, includingRangeen Raten,Naya Daur,Prem Patra andPehchan.
She received much critical acclaim: a review ofRangeen Raten (1956) said that she "gives a brilliant performance; hers is also the best developed character, and as a result she becomes the life and soul of the film."^[7] InBaap Re Baap, a key scene is noted for "the joy exhibited by Usmani on screen".^[8] The Film Heritage Foundation of India describes her as the "effervescent Chand Usmani, with her heart-warming smile".^[6] She won aFilmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1971, for her portrayal of the character Champa, a prostitute, in the 1970 filmPehchan.^[9] Writing nearly 40 years later,The Hindu's film reviewer considered that "Chand Usmani does justice to Champa's role displaying restraint, poise and grace in a role which provided ample opportunity to easily go over the top."^[10] Despite having a long career, she said in an interview withTabassum that she regretted not having an agent/manager, which led to her not getting diverse roles and not having more success.^[3] In many of her roles, she played a self-sacrificing wife, mother, girlfriend or sister, as summed up byMahasweta Devi in her 1986 short story 'The Wet-Nurse':

"Jashoda was a true example of Indian womanhood. She was typical of a chaste and loving wife and devoted mother, ideals which defy intelligence and rational explanation, which involve sacrifice and dedication stretching the limits of imagination, and which have been kept alive in the popular Indian psyche through the ages, beginning with Sati-Savitri-Sita right down toNirupa Roy and Chand Usmani in our times."^[11][12]

• Chand Usmani atIMDb
• Chand Usmani atBollywood Hungama

• 1933 births
• 1989 deaths
• Indian film actresses
• Actresses from Uttar Pradesh
• Indian people of Pashtun descent
• Actresses in Hindi cinema
• Entertainers from Agra
• Filmfare Awards winners
• 20th-century Indian actresses

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