Shalini

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.

Stage artists from across India, have contributed immensely to Bollywood. Our forgotten gem for today, is also a popular stage actress and belongs to Konkani (Goan) stage.

During the golden era of Hindi cinema, this Konkani speaking actress entered the Hindi industry as a one film wonder. She was already a big name on Konkani stage and had acted in some highly successful Konkani films. She got a chance to showcase her talent in Bollywood through this one movie, which was a remake of her own Konkani hit. The actress is Shalini Mardolkar, best known by her first name as Shalini.

Whenever the Konkani audience remember Shalini, the first thing that comes to their mind is the character of Claudia from the classic Konkani film Nirmonn (1966). Over the decades, Goan artists have made a mark in the world of movies and music. Shalini too was a name to reckon with as she was trained in music by one of the members of the legendary Mangeshkar family and went on to sing with many big names from the Konkani industry.

Shalini was born on 15th August, 1939 at Vorso Mardol in Goa. Not much is known about her family and early life but she was said to be interested in becoming an actor and her love for stage started since childhood itself, when she would play both male as well as female child characters.

Shalini migrated from Goa to Pune to take part in dramas and joined the Prabhat Sangh Mandal, where she got to work with Marathi legends like Chitaranjan Kolhatkar, Shanta Jog and Kesarbai Bandodkar.

Apparently, Shalini was born to act on stage and she started with Marathi stage and later, did many Gujarati dramas as well. But it was the Konkani stage which made her a star and she was often referred by fans as ‘Our Lady’.

When Shalini started her career in 1949, Goa was still under the Portuguese rule. For those who may not know, Goa was a separately ruled Portuguese state even after India became independent in 1947. It was only on December 19, 1961 that Goa attained its independence through the brave efforts and immense sacrifice of the local Goa Liberation movement.

Coming back to Shalini, she started her career on Konkani stage with tragedy King C. Alvares in the tiatr (drama or play) Bhav Bhoinn (Brother Sister) directed by Anthony Franklin. Her first pay packet was one hundred rupees, which was the highest salary for an actor then. This tiatr had big names like Anthony Mendes, Anthon Desa and Souza Ferrao. Shalini also sang a duet with Anthony Mendes in this popular drama.

The following year in 1950, the first ever Konkani film titled Mogacho Anvddo (1950) was released. Shalini was the heroine of this movie and was lucky enough to make the quick transition from stage to movies, though she was a relative newcomer.

Shalini was always known for her perfect timing and natural acting. Around that time, she got the opportunity to play Mother Mary in the tiatr Saath Dukhi directed by JP Souzalin.

After this tiatr success and her marvellous performance, the Konkani audience started calling Shalini Dukhan Bhorleli Saibin (Our Lady of Sorrows), a tag which stuck with her forever. She went on to act with prominent names of Konkani tiatr like Prem Kumar, M. Boyer, Alfred Ros and Adi.

As aforementioned, Goa was liberated from Portuguese in 1961 and got annexed with India. This opened the doors for artists from Goa to venture in to Bollywood. In 1963, noted director A. Salaam made his directorial debut with Aamche Noxib, which was a huge hit and the first Konkani film to be made after Goa’s independence.

Two years later, A. Salaam decided to make a musical family drama and cast C. Alvares as the lead hero opposite Shalini. The film was titled Nirmonn and released in 1966.

Nirmonn does not need any introduction to the Konkani audience as it went on to become one of the all-time blockbusters. The plot revolved around a musician (C. Alavares), who goes to work in Karwar leaving behind his wife Shalini and their three children. But his ship sinks and he passes away and Shalini is forced to marry a rich no-gooder Rudolph for the sake of her children.

Shalini’s character in the film was named Claudia, which almost became her alter ego. The song ‘Claudia mogachya’ (Lovable Claudia) is identified with her. The other hit song in the film was ‘Dhol mojea bai’. Both these songs are still memorable and played regularly in Goa.

Nirmonn turned a blockbuster and Shalini became a household name and immortalized as Claudia. The film received two National awards at 13th National Film Awards and buoyed by its immense success, A. Salaam decided to remake the film in Hindi as Taqdeer (1967).