Indian actress Zohra Sehgal turns 100
Tributes have been paid to celebrated Indian actress Zohra Sehgal who is marking her 100th birthday.
In a career spanning more than seven decades, Sehgal has entertained millions of people through her performances in films and on stage.
She began her career with well-known dancer Uday Shankar in 1935 and later joined theatre.
Her performance in some of the recent Hindi films like Cheeni Kum received extensive praise.
The feisty actress was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, in 2010 for her work.
Fans and friends have been sending birthday wishes to Sehgal.
Film actor Amitabh Bachchan praised Sehgal's "unbound energy and enthusiasm" at the age of 100 and said she was "still like a child".
At 94, Sehgal played Bachchan's mother in hit Hindi film, Cheeni Kum, and critics said the chemistry between the two worked very well.
"The eminent Indian actress Zohra Sehgal is 100 years young! Congrats to my Zohra Khala [aunt]! Much love from New York," author Salman Rushdie wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
Actress Dia Mirza tweeted: "100th Birthday of the Grand Lady of Indian theatre and cinema Zohra Sehgal! What a journey!!! And what a Lady!"
Sehgal was born in 1912 in the town of Saharanpur in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
She stepped into the world of acting by joining left-wing political theatre group Indian Peoples' Theatre Association (IPTA), which dominated the Indian cultural scene in the 1940s.
She was associated with the doyen of Indian theatre, Prithviraj Kapoor, for more than a decade.
In 1962, Sehgal went to London on a drama scholarship and worked in several English films and popular television productions like My Beautiful Launderette, Tandoori Nights and The Jewel in the Crown.