Bindu: She began acting only after her marriage. They say na, the best thing in life come to you after marriage. Bindu pushed her luck a little further. Straight vamp, no sister, no heroine roles. Today, they are given the decent name of item girl. Those days they were just called item.
We cannot recall even one instance of her acting (though she has done quite a few). However, we do recall her from a number of dance scenes where she mouthed Lata or Asha. Of all her songs, my fav is the jugalbandi qawalli with Pran from the movie Dharma. 'Raaz ki Baat'
Helen: Breaking in must have been tough with such a non-Indian face. However, having exceptional dancing skills did help. Once she found a footing, there was no looking back. Dance after dance, she was now a star fixture in movies.
She did manage to play the lead role in a couple of films. Among them is Cha Cha Cha. Inexplicably, it didn't stick. Her solo dancing performances are what made her famous. Watch her in Mungda from Inkaar. One of her last item numbers and one of her best.
Aruna Irani: She was a child artiste, bit-role player, would-be heroine, and finally item number specialist. You must see her in the song from ‘Love Story. She must have been 60, but she doesn’t look a day older than 40. Kidding, she was 40 plus but looked not a day over 20. BTW her mom and Bindu's mom are sisters.
Faryal: She came into the industry starry-eyed and with high hopes. Nothing went as planned. Then she got a role in Dev Anand's Jewel Thief as a club dancer and got typecast. She couldn't shed it off, and soon it was too late. She did the next best thing; got married and said tata bye bye to the industry.
Cuckoo: Whose real name was Cuckoo, by the way. She ruled the dance scene in those early days. Not a particularly good dancer, but she was the only one around. And was flexible, I mean body-wise, so flexible that people called her The Human Rubberband, and she had a pleasant face—always smiling. Never moved up from being an item dancer, and one day she too just vanished from the scene.
Padma Khanna: Her major claim to fame was the item number in the movie Johnny Mera Naam. If you haven't seen it, do it now. The sing is not remarkable, neither is the dance. What is, is the way she disrobes to save her lover boy. She is also remembered for the song from Amitabh's 'Saudagar. Yes, big B himself. The song ‘Sajna Hai Mujhe had a major second life in the remix era. She was Kaikeyi in Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan. Her biggest role, however, was as a body double for the then-weak Meena Kumari in Pakeezah.
Rohini Hattangadi: There is no way this name can be on this list. After all, she was the Mahatma's wife. Be calm, guys. All her life she played the strong woman. And in that journey, she did get to play a vamp but once. And that role stands out even today. The movie was Sridevi’s Chaalbaaz. There is this make-up scene. See it to believe it.
Jayshree T and Meena T, Kalpana Iyer, Prema Narayan, Bela Bose, Laxmi Chaaya are not included here. Some even classify Nadira, Manorama, Shashikala and Lalitha Pawar as vamps. Not me. These are legends who deserve a separate list.
#bollywood #vamps #hindimovies #helen #bindu #arunairani
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