Nutan - Legacy

Legacy

Nutan was noted for her willingness to play unconventional roles and several of her roles were labelled "path-breaking". M.L. Dhawan from The Tribune wrote, "When squeakers and screamers ruled the roost, Nutan fine-tuned her dialogue delivery with an evocative voice. A natural throw was the hallmark of Nutan’s dialogue delivery. She was low key and mellow as she was peppery and sarcastic and yet made a strong impact." According to Dhawan, "a fleeting expression on her face conveyed much more than dialogue," and he further noted her for accepting only roles in which "she either played the main part or at least shared equal footing with the male counterpart."

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Nutan "developed a natural acting style under Bimal Roy's direction."

Actresses like Sadhana and Smita Patil noted Nutan as their influence. Sadhana was once quoted as saying, "If there was any actress I modelled myself in the lines of it was the versatile Nutan in Seema, Sujata and Bandini. Parakh was a film where I really followed Nutan." Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali said of her, "They don't make actresses like her anymore."

In 2011, Rediff.com listed her as the third-greatest actress of all-time.

Nutan’s narrative is depicted in the book Nutan – Asen Mi Nasen Mi written by famous Marathi author Lalita Tamhane. The book can be summarized as one describing Nutan’s life experiences, interactions with co-actors/family/friends, etc., as told by her to Lalita Tamhane.