Sheila Vaz

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 ’50s and ’60s Bollywood is not only known for some great films but also for its melodious songs and awesome dance. Unlike today, dance was not mandatory for the lead actors of that era and it was left to certain professional dancers, who attained their own share of stardom.

In those times, the dance form was purer and more western, typically revolving around twist and rock and roll like the one introduced by the legendary Elvis Presley. Another common factor was these Bollywood dancers majorly came from the Catholic community (particularly sharing the roots of Portuguese Goa). Some of these famous names include Edwina Violette, Robert D’Costa, Tricky Joe and many more.

Today, we would like to take up one such dancer, who made a significant contribution to the film industry. She is particularly well known for a highly popular song, which we will disclose later. This dancer was Sheila Vaz and some of our new gen readers may not know her but we would like to take you through her twisty moves and grooves on celluloid through this article. Hope you enjoy the journey…

Sheila Vaz was born on 18th October, 1934 to a Konkani speaking Goan Catholic family. At the time when she started her career, Cuckoo Moray was the only ruling (and highest paid) dancer of Bollywood.

Sheila (also credited as Sheela in many movies) was born up in Bombay’s (now Mumbai) busiest area Dadar, which is inhabited by a mix of Maharashtrian, Catholic and Gujarati crowd. It may surprise you that Sheila didn’t speak Hindi at all. She was provided the lyrics of her songs in Roman or Portuguese language, which she understood properly.

Sheila Vaz started her career as a dancer at the tender age of seventeen, though there were considerable restrictions from her family to enter films. Initially, she was the background dancer in many movies and later, graduated to a lead dancer. Her name didn’t appear in credits of some films as was the norm then but still, she was a well-known face.

Sheila’s career span was quite short lasting from 1953 to 1960, which is considered a part of the golden era of Hindi cinema, when content and melody merged beautifully to give us some evergreen classics. Her reported filmography states she began her career in 1951 but there is overall confusion on this aspect as the data of non-main leads and junior artists was never maintained in those days.

In a rare interview given just a few years ago, Sheila did clarify that the first film she signed was Kishore Sahu’s Mayur Pankh (1954) but Kidar Sharma’s Gunah (1953) released first. She had some big hits in her kitty like Shree 420 (1955), CID (1956), Tumsa Nahi Dekha (1957), Solva Saal (1959), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), etc.

With many evergreen songs filmed on her like Ramaiya vastavaiya, Dil ka haal sune dilwala, Ghar aaj akhir aaye bara sanwariya, Chupnewale samne aa, Suna hai jab se mausam, Sheila (or Sheela) Vaz attained fair recognition. But above all, it was Leke pehla pehla pyar from CID (1956), which had the heroine Shakila wooing the legendary Dev Anand, which brought true name and fame to Sheila Vaz. Her graceful smile and dance moves in the song caught everyone’s eye. This iconic song was shot in a record time of just one day at Worli Seaface in Bombay, which gives us an indication how professional and elegant Sheila Vaz was as a dancer!!

In a career span of few years, Sheila Vaz was lucky enough to work with legends like Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Guru Dutt and Shammi Kapoor.

Things were going well for Sheila in her career. She was one of the top dancers of Bollywood, who was making a mark with her peers like Cuckoo and then upcoming sensation Helen. The late great Guru Dutt also wanted her to cast her as a leading lady in one of his films but somehow, it wasn’t to be.

Sheila met director Ramesh Lakhanpal and married him in 1960, leaving behind a promising career during her peak at the age of just twenty-six. Her pending films released until 1961. Chhote Nawab remains one of her last few films to be released which was first ever independent film done by music director R.D. Burman, who composed the popular song Ghar aaja ghir aaye for Sheila.

After getting married to Ramesh, Sheila completely disappeared from the film industry and never made a public appearance. It was also difficult to trace her as she had changed her from Sheila Vaz to Rama Lakhanpal.

Finally, after close to five decades in 2009, a certain online publication covered her interview in which she fondly admitted that though she had quit the industry many years ago, people still recognize her work.

It seems her neighbourhood youngsters would come to appreciate her whenever they would see her songs on television or on YouTube. She also revealed to have lost all the mementos received from her fans and the industry when her ground floor home was flooded during July 2005 Mumbai deluge.