Uma Devi Khatri, celebrated as Indian cinema’s first lady comedian and fondly remembered by her stage name Tun Tun, made audiences laugh with her sparkling charm. Yet behind that infectious laughter lay a life shadowed by immense sorrow, loss and hardship—a story of courage and resilience that few knew.

She was born in Uttar Pradesh. At a tender age, she lost her entire family. Her parents and siblings were killed in a land dispute. In one interview, she recalled the painful memories of her childhood:

"I don’t even remember who my parents were or what they were like. I must have been two or three years old when they died. My elder brother was only five years older. By the time I was five, my brother was also killed. After that, instead of having proper meals twice a day, I had to do household chores at relatives’ homes. I never got the chance to study. I taught myself to read and write Hindi."

Her love for music grew from listening to songs on the radio. Childhood for Uma Devi was steeped in poverty, hardship and hunger—but music was her constant companion. Singing brought her joy, and she dreamed of performing in films. She fled her home to go to Bombay in pursuit of that dream.

Eventually, she reached the doorstep of music composer Naushad Ali. Determined, she told him, “Give me a chance to sing, or I will jump into the sea.” Naushad Ali gave her the opportunity, and she sang four or five songs in his films. Yet, it was not her voice but her comic talent as an actress that captured the audience’s heart. From 1950 onwards, she appeared in numerous films, both small and major roles.

After retiring from cinema, however, she fell back into the depths of poverty. A journalist later described her final years in Mumbai: she lived in a slum, bedridden and in dire conditions, without money even for food or medicine. Even on that bed, she would laugh remembering her hardships. She laughed at the way the world had treated her, the journalist recalled.