Salome Roy Kapur

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.

There have been many one film wonders in Bollywood; these are actors who appeared in just one movie and then vanished from the industry.

These one-film wonders include Jyotsna Singh in Vishwatma (1992), Madhuvanti Patwardhan (sister of Bhagyashree) in Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1997), Gayatri Joshi in Swades (2004), Vicky Arora in Yalgaar (1992) and Chirag Paswan in Miley Naa Miley Hum (2011). The best amongst them was Gayatri Joshi, who was launched by noted filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker in Swades opposite superstar Shah Rukh Khan. But she quit films immediately to settle down in marriage.

Our today’s article takes you through the life journey of an actress, who appeared in just one Bollywood movie and left acting. Later, she did blink and miss roles in two films from different era, which were largely unnoticed and discovered by us only during our research.

After working in one Hindi film, this actress was long forgotten by the glamour world as she preferred to keep a low profile. Even then, she remained connected to the film industry in a different way. In fact, she got noticed after forty years, when her current generation made their mark in Bollywood. She is a multi-talented personality and a professional dancer, theatre actor, model as well as personality development trainer.

Our readers would be curious to know who she is… well, the actress we are talking about is Salome Roy Kapur. The surname might give a hint who her current generation is…

Salome was born in November 1951 to Sam Aaron and Ruby as Salome Aaron in a Bene Israel community, one of the native Jews living in India. Sam and Ruby were highly qualified and introduced western dancing, specifically Samba to India.

It was Salome’s parents, who trained the late great Bhagwan Dada for his iconic hit Albela (1951). Salome inherited her parent’s genes and since the age of five, was trained in various classical dance forms like Bharatnatyam, Kathak and Kathakali as well as the global Latin American, Spanish and tap dances.

Usually, it is common in Bollywood that a top model or a beauty pageant winner enters the acting world as next step. But in case of Salome, it was the other way around; she first tried her hand in acting and later, switched full time to modelling.

At the age of just twelve years, Salome featured in the 1963 Cadbury ad along with her brother Edwin. The following year, she appeared in another ad for Apsara sarees. This vetted her appetite for full time acting and luckily, she got her first film quite easily.

After launching his son Joy Mukherjee successfully in Love In Simla (1960), producer- director S. Mukherjee decided to launch his younger son Deb in Tu Hi Meri Zindagi (1965), which was based on the Goa freedom struggle. The plot revolved around a young man called Rocky, who turns in to a revolutionary after his lady love Maria is killed by the Portuguese.

Tu Hi Meri Zindagi introduced the then fourteen years old Salome as the leading lady Maria. Not much is known about how S. Mukherjee came across Salome and cast her in this film. Probably, Mukherjee saw her in one of the two ads she did or her father Sam Aaron, who was one of the choreographers of the movie, recommended her.`

Surprisingly, Salome decided not to pursue a career in acting after Tu Hi Meri Zindagi. She instead opted for a full-fledged modelling career.

In 1968, the pretty Salome started modelling, participated in many shows and became a big name in the fashion world. As dancing was in her DNA, she would mix dance moves during her ramp shows, which would wow the audience.

Rocking the fashion industry, Salome was a runner-up in a Spain beauty contest in 1971 and became Miss India in 1972. This was indeed a huge achievement for her and Salome continued to be a top model throughout the ’70s and ’80s. She kept herself super busy by doing various forms of dance, theatre and fashion shows.

Salome modelled for all the top brands of her time like ITC, Wills, Godrej, Cadbury, Calico, TBZ, Taj Mahal Tea and leading textile companies like Bombay Dyeing and Century. She used to travel a lot for her assignments. During her hey days in early ’70s, she met Kumud Kapur, an army officer posted in Kashmir.

Interestingly, Kumud had a filmi connection as his father Raghupath Roy Kapur was a movie producer in the ’40s. Soon, love blossomed between Salome and Kumud and they got married. Post marriage, Salome continued her work in the field of fashion and entertainment.