Bela Bose

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.

In the early ’50s, a young Anglo-Indian girl called Helen made a name for herself in Bollywood as a cabaret and rock & roll dancer. Helen became a trendsetter and set the stage for many others like Laxmi Chhaya, Faryal and Madhumati to follow. One more significant addition to this dancer list was Bela Bose.

Known not just for her graceful dance moves but also for her villainous as well as comic performances, Bela’s career commenced during the peak of Helen and to complete a good innings alongside the legend wasn’t an easy task but still, she left her own indelible mark in the Hindi film industry.

Bela was born on 18th April, 1941 to a wealthy Bengali family from Calcutta (now Kolkata). Her father was a cloth merchant and mother, a homemaker. She was the third child among the five siblings. Her family was doing well initially until a bank crash wiped away her father’s fortunes and he shifted to Bombay (now Mumbai) with his family to start afresh. Unfortunately, more cruel fate was in store as her father died early in a road accident. After this incident, her mother wanted to return back to Calcutta but had no financial support to do so.

Bela was always fond of dancing right since childhood and decided to take it up as a profession at the age of eleven years under the tutelage of Master Tanmay, who decided to teach her for free on a condition that she would perform at his stage shows. This went on for some time until Bela had to drop out from her dance classes to take care of her toddler brother as her mother started working in a nursing home. But soon enough, Bela Bose found a mentor in noted tabla player Nawab Ali, who taught her dance and also helped her in getting shows while she was just fourteen years old.

Gradually, Bela became a part of group dancers of the golden era of cinema but many dance masters would reject her that time due to her height and skinny physique. In those days, she would visit many studios hoping to be part of the shoot as an extra. During the filming of Raj Kapoor’s Main Nashe Men Hoon (1959), Bela was spotted by director Naresh Saigal who asked her to perform on the title song ‘Mujhko maaf karna main nashe mein hoon’ with the legendary Raj Kapoor and a solo performance on ‘Yeh na thi hamari kismet’.

After the film’s release, Bela Bose got noticed by all and it opened the doors for her in the industry. The whole of ’60s decade was fruitful for her where she not only performed to some hit songs but also proved her acting abilities by playing various comedic and negative characters.

Ek Phool Chaar Kaante (1960), starring Sunil Dutt and Waheeda Rehman, is one of the first films where Bela got to act and also had some crucial dialogues. Her film Sautela Bhai (1962) with Guru Dutt is often considered her debut which was also a major turning point in her career.

Her other significant films in a career spanning two decades include Modern Girl (1961), Opera House (1961), Pyar Ki Daastan (1961), Chhote Nawab (1961), Mall Road (1962), Professor (1962), Anpadh (1962), Bandini (1963), Bin Badal Barsaat (1963), Cha Cha Cha (1964), Ziddi (1964), Roop Sundari (1964), April Fool (1964), Guide (1965), Devar (1966), Wahan Ke log (1967), Anita (1967), CID 909 (1969), Shikar (1968), Bhai Ho To Aisa (1972), Rocky Mera Naam (1973) and Jai Santoshi Maa (1975).

Bela worked with all the top heroes of that time like Guru Dutt, Dev Anand, Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Biswajeet, Joy Mukherjee and Feroz Khan.

As an actress, her most memorable role was the evil Durga Vyas in the sleeper 1975 hit Jai Santoshi Maa. Bela was cast alongside her real-life husband Ashish Kumar Sengupta with Kanan Kaushal and Anita Guha in the title role. The craze for this film was beyond imagination and Bela’s character of a wicked woman, who keeps troubling her sister-in-law Kanan Kaushal throughout the movie, used to spawn hate and abuses from the audience. An indicator of how effective her performance was!!

On the personal front, Bela Bose was madly in love with Bengali film superstar Ashish Kumar Sengupta (Ashish Kumar in short), best known as the mythological hero of Hindi films. Bela had met him through actress Mala Sinha and love blossomed between them instantly and they got married in 1967. Post marriage and kids, Bela reduced her work and concentrated on family life. She completed her pending projects before bidding goodbye to acting.

As aforementioned, her last hit movie was Jai Santoshi Maa. Riding on its success, Bela Bose and Ashish Kumar produced a few devotional films together like Solah Shukrawar (1977), Ganga Sagar (1978), Raja Harishchandra (1979), Badrinath Dham (1980) and Navratri (1983). Bela Bose had quit acting much earlier but remained active as a co-producer with her husband till the early ’80s after which she devoted her time fully to bring up her kids Manjushri and Abhijit.

After being away from the industry for almost twenty years, Bela Bose made a comeback in 2002 with actor-producer Aruna Irani’s TV serial Zameen Se Aasman Tak in a pivotal role. This remains her last assignment. Her son Abhijit Sengupta tried his luck in Bollywood and did one film titled Param Veer Chakra (1995). A decade later, he directed Do Aur Do Paanch (2005) with Arbaaz Khan in the lead and superstar Salman Khan in a cameo appearance but this film never released and he quit the industry forever. Abhijit then started his own business as SG (Sengupta) Lifespaces and is doing well now.

Bela was living a blissful family life until tragedy struck in 2013 when Ashish Kumar suddenly passed away while the family was holidaying in Goa. After her husband’s demise, Bela lived with her son Abhijit. She was active on Facebook as Bela Sengupta and would often interact with her fans. On the morning of 20th February, 2023, her children posted a message on her Facebook timeline asking for prayers as she was admitted to MGM Hospital in Navi Mumbai due to age related issues. On the same evening, Bela left for her heavenly abode. She continues to remain alive in the memory of her fans, who have seen her dance and groove to soulful tunes from the golden era of Bollywood.