Sarla Yeolekar

QAMYAB – THE FORGOTTEN GEMS OF BOLLYWOOD

Qamyab is our humble tribute to all those lesser-known actors, one hit wonders and junior artists who we see umpteen times but don’t know about; beyond their faces. These actors have been an integral part of Bollywood but didn’t get their due. This series is our sincere attempt to put a name to these faces, familiarize them to our readers and celebrate their achievements in life – however big or small. We believe that every artist contributes in his/her own way to the cinema’s success. Qamyab will explore the unknown lives of such actors and artists as we believe even these forgotten gems of Bollywood deserve their due recognition today.

Songs and dance play an integral part in Hindi films and we have had quite a few stars whose career would not be the same without their dancing skills. The late great Shammi Kapoor was labelled a rockstar like Elvis Presley; Mithun Chakraborty is still known as the Disco Dancer and of course, Govinda ushered in a new era of breakdance with Ilzaam (1986). Amongst the female dancers, Cuckoo was first well-known dancer during the talkie era followed by Helen who needs no formal introduction. The legacy was taken forward by Madhumati, Bela Bose, Laxmi Chhaya and Bindu. Who can forget Padma Khanna performing the bold strip tease dance number “Husn ke lakhon rang” in Vijay Anand’s smash hit Johny Mera Naam (1970)!

One more name deserves a mention in the above list but is largely forgotten today. That name is Sarla Yeolekar whose “Zooby Zooby Zooby” song in Dance Dance (1987) was one of the highlights of the movie as well as her career. Dance Dance was producer- director B. Subhash’s follow up to the blockbuster Disco Dancer (1982) and thematically, its sequel. Subhash was collaborating with his favourite Mithun Chakraborty and Bappi Lahiri for this film and Smita Patil was to play the dual role of mother as well as sister to Mithun da. As she was pregnant while filming, Subhash decided to shoot the sister’s portion first and then move on to the mother’s part post her delivery. Fate had other plans in store and in an unfortunate event, Smita passed away in December 1986 due to child birth complications. B. Subhash had no choice but to look for a replacement for the mother’s role. His search ended with Sarla Yeolekar who was a great dancer as well and would fit the bill perfectly.

Contrary to popular belief, Dance Dance was not Sarla’s debut Hindi film and she was seen earlier in movies like Zinda Dil (1975), Paapi Pet Ka Sawal Hai (1984) and Insaaf Main Karoonga (1985) where she had a blink and miss roles. The box office success of Dance Dance made her a household name and when she appeared on screen during the credit titles dancing to the beats of “Zooby Zooby Zooby” in Alisha Chinoy’s mesmerising voice, the audience was smitten. Yeolekar added her glamour quotient to the number with her sensuous grooves and torrid expressions. The Hindi audience started calling her as “Zooby Zooby” girl which became her permanent identity. Later, B. Subhash cast her in most of his films like Commando (1988), Aaj Ke Angaarey (1988), Love Love Love (1989) and Nachnewale Gaanewale (1991).

Prior to entering Bollywood, Sarla Yeolekar was an established actor in Marathi cinema where she had worked with stalwarts like Sulochana Latkar, Shreeram Lagoo, Nilu Phule, Jayshree Gadkar, Arun Sarnaik, Ashok Saraf, Ravindra Mahajani, Ranjana, Yashwant Dutt, etc. In fact, her first step in acting was veteran Chittaranjan Kolhatkar’s famous play Ashi Wasti Ashi Mansa. Her most memorable role in Marathi was in V. Shantaram’s cult classic Pinjara (1972). Besides Marathi films, Sarla also appeared in Gujarati language movies notably in Chandu Jamaadar (1977) which was Gujarati version of Dada Kondke’s blockbuster Pandu Hawaldar (1975). She won the best actress award for the Marathi film Sugandhi Katta (1974) as well as Gujarat State Award for her performance in Dear Bhaojai.

After the success of Dance Dance, Sarla Yeolekar appeared in quite a few Hindi films but was largely restricted to mother roles. In her brief career till mid ‘90s, she acted in about one hundred fifty films in different languages. Some of her noteworthy performances are in : Sathicha Vachan (1969), Pinjara (1972), Sugandhi Katta (1974), Harya Narya Zindabad (1972), Bhakt Pundalik (1975), Saamna (1975), Pudhaari (1976), Choricha Mamla (1976), Banya Bapu (1977), Mansa Paris Mendhare Bari (1977), Chandu Jamaadar (1977), Netaji Palkar (1978), Chandan Malyagiri (1978), Javyachi Jaat (1979), Darodekhor (1980), Bhamta (1982), Insaaf Main Karoonga (1985), Dance Dance (1987), Commando (1988), Paap Ki Duniya (1988), Aaj Ke Angaarey (1988), Love Love Love (1989), Aag Se Khelenge (1989), Nachnewale Gaanewale (1991), Dilwale (1994) and Namak (1996).

Sanjay Dutt’s delayed film Namak (1996) remained her last appearance in Bollywood. By the new millennium, Sarla Yeolekar had completely disappeared from the Hindi film industry except a few appearances in Marathi films like Janam Kundali (2003), Mulgi Lagnachi (2007) and Maherchi Vaat (2008) in elderly roles. Almost a decade later in 2017, Sarla Yeolekar appeared in public when she received the lifetime achievement award organized by Dadasaheb Phalke Marathi Sanskrutik Karya Trust. The prestigious award was presented to her by Kiran Shantaram with whom she shared her memories about his legendary father V. Shantaram during the making of Pinjara (1972). This was her last public appearance till date.

The septuagenarian ‘Zooby Zooby’ girl now lives a reclusive life in Mumbai away from the arc lights of cinema.