Shankar contacted Sehgal through a
telegram, saying, "Leaving for Japan tour. Can you join immediately?" It was here that she met her future husband Kameshwar Sehgal, a young scientist, painter and dancer from
Indore, eight years her junior, belonging to the
Radha Soami sect. The two continued to work at the Cultural Centre and established themselves as leading choreographers. During their time in Almora, Kameshwar Sehgal composed a noted ballet for human puppets and choreographed the ballet
Lotus Dance. The duo later migrated to
Lahore, where they set up their own dance academy, the Zohresh Dance Institute. Following the communal tension preceding the
Partition of India, they moved to
Bombay, with their one-year-old daughter, Kiran. Sehgal joined the
Prithvi Theatre (where her sister, Uzra Butt also worked) in 1945, as an actress with a monthly salary of Rs 400, and toured across India with the group. Also in 1945, Sehgal joined the theatre group,
Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), acted in several plays, and made her film debut in IPTA's first film production, directed by
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas,
Dharti Ke Lal in 1946; she followed it up with another IPTA-supported film,
Neecha Nagar. Directed by
Chetan Anand and starring Rafiq Ahmed and Uma Anand,
Neecha Nagar was one of the first projects of the
parallel cinema movement in the subcontinent. Upon release, the film became a critical success and was screened as such international film festivals as
Cannes Film Festival, where it won the
Palme d'Or. , part of the
Uday Shankar Ballet Troupe, ca 1935–37. During her stay in Bombay, Sehgal became friends with several theatre and film personalities. She continued her association with theatre, appearing in successful productions including
Ebrahim Alkazi's
Din Ke Andhere (portraying Begum Qudsia) and
K.A. Abbas's stage productions for IPTA. She lived in a rented house owned by
Chetan and Uma Anand. She also worked as a choreographer for Hindi films, including
Guru Dutt's
Baazi and
Raj Kapoor's
Awaara (both 1951). After her husband's death in 1959, Sehgal moved to
Delhi and was appointed as the director of the newly founded Natya Academy. She worked in the same position for about three years. Later in 1962, Sehgal was awarded a drama scholarship, which required her to move to
London,
United Kingdom. She briefly worked as a dance instructor at a
Chelsea-based school run by
Bharatanatyam dancer
Ram Gopal. Following that, Sehgal made her television debut with a BBC adaptation of a Kipling story
The Rescue of Pluffles, in 1964. She went on to appear in three episodes of the science fiction fantasy series
Doctor Who in 1964 and 1965; the episodes that Sehgal worked in, however,
are currently lost. She also anchored 26 episodes of
BBC TV series,
Padosi (Neighbours; 1976–77). Sehgal's first film role came in 1982, when she was signed by
Merchant Ivory Productions. She appeared in the
James Ivory-directed
The Courtesans of Bombay, which released later that year. This paved the way for an important role as Lady Chatterjee in the television adaptation of
The Jewel in the Crown (ITV, 1984). She continued to make sporadic appearances in British films for the next few years, most notably in such productions as
The Raj Quartet,
The Jewel in the Crown,
Tandoori Nights, and
My Beautiful Laundrette.
Return to India Sehgal returned to India in the mid-1990s and lived for a few months in Burdwan. At that time she acted in several films, plays and TV series. She first performed poetry at a memorial to Uday Shankar organised by his brother,
Ravi Shankar in 1983, and soon took to it in big way; she started getting invited to perform poetry at various occasions. She even travelled to Pakistan to recite verses for "An Evening With Zohra Sehgal". Her impromptu performances of
Punjabi and
Urdu became a norm. After stage performances she was often requested by the audience to recite
Hafeez Jullundhri's famous
nazm,
Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon. In 1993, the critically acclaimed play
Ek Thi Nani was staged in Lahore for the first time, featuring Zohra and her sister Uzra Butt (who was now staying in Pakistan). A performance of its English version
A Granny for All Seasons was held at
UCLA in 2001. She became very active in Hindi films in grandmotherly roles from 1996, with frequent appearances in high budget movies such as
Dil Se,
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam,
Veer Zara,
Saawariya and
Cheeni Kum. She was 90 when she did the film
Chalo Ishq Ladaye in 2002, where she was the central character of the film and Govinda played her grandson. The film
Ishq Ladaye had her riding a bike and fighting the villains as well. In 2008, at the
United Nations Population Fund (UNPF)-Laadli Media Awards in New Delhi, she was named
Laadli of the Century, and the award ceremony was presided by the then Chief Minister of Delhi,
Sheila Dikshit. ==Personal life==