November 27th, 2009

Helen

Helen

Helen

Known as the “Golden Girl” of Hindi cinema, dancer-actress Helen raised the standards of film dance to new heights. She perfected the art of “clean” cabaret, her elegance and style lending the genre respectability.

Born in Burma (now Myanmar) to a French father and Burmese mother, Helen’s family fled to India during World War II. Economic compulsions forced Helen to become a chorus dancer in films. However, her training in classical dance soon saw her doing solo numbers. Amongst the earliest of these was for the song Mr John O Baba Khan in the film Baarish.

The phenomenal success of Mera naam Chin Chin Chu (from the film Howrah Bridge) established Helen as the foremost dancer of Hindi cinema. Her dances soon came to be regarded as a necessary ingredient for a films success, and were almost de rigueur for features made between the 1950s and the 1970s.

What set Helen apart from other dancers was her grace, control over rhythm, and above all, a sensuousness that is best seen in such immortal hits as Piya to ab to aaja (Caravan),O haseena zulfonwali (Teesri Manzil), Aa jaane jaan (Inteqam), and Mehbooba Mehbooba (Sholay).

Helen played the lead role in several B-grade productions. But it were films such as Gumnaam and Lahu Ke Do Rang that revealed her acting skills. Helen’s performance in the latter won her the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1979.

After a long sabbatical, Helen returned to acting with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Khamoshi.

Helen was honored with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 1999.

Actors & Actresses