Kamal Roy

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.

The Bollywood horror genre was redefined by Ramsay Brothers in the ’70s and ’80s with the right blend of scare and sex. Without the use of VFX, the Ramsays’ created their monsters through masks and hours of makeup to send the chills down the spine of their loyal audience.

Most of their films had a male monster like their favourite Anirudh Agarwal in Purana Mandir (1984), 3D Saamri (1985) and Bandh Darwaza (1990), Om Shivpuri in Dahshat (1981), Shamshuddin in Tahkhana (1986) and Manik Irani in Purani Haveli (1989). However, for their 1988 release Veerana, they decided to make an evil witch as the main villain. They named this female character Nakita.

In one of his later interviews, Shyam Ramsay narrated his real-life paranormal experience with a witch on the Mahableshwar- Mumbai highway while returning from the shoot of Purana Mandir (1984). Supposedly, that was the germinating point for the character of Nakita.

The actress playing Nakita’s role is Kamal Roy, a relatively lesser known ’70s glam girl who got instant fame for this role but disappeared just as quickly. In fact, her fate was similar to Veerana’s main heroine Jasmin who vanished after the movie became a super hit. Indeed, this film remains a rare instance where none of its actors could capitalise on its box office success. Kamal Roy included!!

Kamal Roy was born as Shabana on 19th December in Kolkata (then Calcutta) and completed her schooling there. She then came to Mumbai to become an actor like her idol Hema Malini. But in absence of any mentor, Kamal struggled for some time in Bollywood. Gradually, she went on to become a glam doll due to her western looks and bold attitude.

Her first film was Aulaad (1968) in which she had a small role which went unnoticed. Nevertheless, Kamal’s journey in Hindi cinema commenced and she went on to feature in short roles in many films like Fareb (1968), Bobby (1973), Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973), Anamika (1973), Manoranjan (1974), Chor Machaye Shor (1974), Imtihan (1974), Ponga Pandit (1975), Dus Numbri (1976) and Aap Beeti (1976). All these films had her in blink and miss parts but she managed to stay afloat due to her uninhibited skin exposure.

Kamal got the image of a sex symbol and openly spoke about doing kissing and bold scenes. She invariably played the villain’s moll or bed partner. Showman Raj Kapoor’s Bobby (1973) remains one of her better roles where she played the hero Rishi Kapoor’s friend. Her scene with Shashi Kapoor in Chor Machaye Shor (1974), where she accuses him of rape was quite bold for its time. In the Vinod Khanna starrer Imtihan (1974), she played one of the college students and villain Ranjeet’s friend and was mostly seen in skimpy clothes.

In between her glamorous characters, Kamal did one devotional film titled Bhagwan Samaye Sansar Mein in 1976, where she played Goddess Laxmi but this film fared poorly and couldn’t help her career. This was probably the only non-glamourous role of Kamal Roy.

By the end of the ’70s decade, Kamal Roy had many films to her credit but still hadn’t got the recognition she expected. In the early ’80s, Kamal had no new release except for the long delayed The Gold Medal (1984), which was in the making since 1969. She was speculated to have quit the industry forever and settled down in marriage. And then in 1988, came Veerana!!

Kamal’s ten minutes role in this horror hit proved to be a career milestone for which she is remembered till date even after thirty-five years. She appears in a glamorous avatar only for ten minutes at start of the movie and is hardly recognizable later as the witch Nakita with all the hideous makeup. Kamal was nearing forty years when she did Veerana but still looked charming and bewitching in her short appearance. Her bath tub scene with Vijayendra Ghatge was sizzling hot and became talk of the town after the film’s release. Director Tulsi Ramsay later confessed that this was boldest sex scene they had ever filmed.

Interestingly at one point, Kamal had wanted to back out from Veerana. It seems she had to spend six to seven hours in the makeup room to get the look of a witch and when she saw herself in mirror for the first time, Kamal was so aghast that she screamed loudly and then expressed her desire to quit the film immediately. Tulsi and Shyam Ramsay had a tough time convincing her to stay back in the movie. She is also said to get recurring nightmares during the shooting of her horror sequences.

Veerana gave such tremendous exposure to Kamal Roy that most people believe it was her first and last movie, which is obviously untrue. The sad part was even after the film succeeding so well, Kamal Roy didn’t continue her acting career for long. Her next and last movie was a low budget comedy called Teen Moti in 1995. This film featured the duplicates of three top stars of that time- Jackie Shroff, Sanjay Dutt and Shahrukh Khan – with a plot revolving around finding the true heir to an ancestral property. Kamal Roy had a small role of a cunning aunt out to usurp this estate. The film bombed badly at the ticket windows and Kamal’s appearance in it also went unnoticed.

After Teen Moti, there is nothing heard about Kamal Roy. Rumours of depression and alcohol addiction were floating about her but remained unconfirmed. Kamal chose to stay away from the film world and focus on her family life. She is said to have been a single parent to her only daughter and is now leading a blissful life with her grandchildren in the heartland of Mumbai. In spite being away from Bollywood for so many years, her fans still remember her as Nakita – the seductive witch of Veerana.