A pleasantly plump Helen, doing a rare jig in Mohabbattein is a stark contrast to the slim and shapely Helen of ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s. The pout is intact and the sexy look has given way to a graceful presence. Helen is someone, most others of her generation would envy. As a second wife of Salim Khan she belongs to the powerful high profile camp usually described as Salman camp. But her beginning was small.
She began her career as a chorus dancer in the 50s, having escaped from Burma, she arrived in Bombay. Here she spent several years of struggle, striving to get noticed. However, her debut film 'Hoor-E-Arab' came from P.N.Arora, where she was required to do a solo dance. Recognition came with Shakti Samanta's 'Howrah Bridge', with the extremly popular song 'Chin Chin Choo'. Helen, who had once danced as part of Cuckoo's dance troupe, now displaced Cuckoo as the leading dancer in films.
Helen was not content dancing and wanted to play the heroine. Unfortunately for her, with her Anglicised accent and alien looks, she could only gather a few B-grade films like 'Cha Cha Cha' and 'Aaya Toofan'.Disappointed, she continued dancing and P.N.Arora, who was managing her work, encouraged her dancing as it was more lucrative. None the less, she was offered second lead roles as the kittenish wamp in 'Gumnaam' 1965, 'Dus Lakh'1966, 'Teesri Manzil' 1966 and she excelled in all of them. By the mid seventies despite successful songs like 'Mungda Mungda' and 'Mehbooba mehbooba', she was sidelined. Age and personal drama took their toll. Her flat was taken over by the court receiver, her finances were in a mess and the acting roles were drying up.
At this juncture, writer Salim of the Salim-Jaaved fame helped her out. He offered her three films - 'Imaan Dharam', 'Don' and 'Dostana'. However, these films revived her career only temporarily. She later became the second wife of Salim Khan with the consent of his first wife, Salma. Leading a life of near-anonymity, Helen now makes an on-screen appearance very rarely, like in the Amitabh-starrer 'Akayla' and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Khamoshi'. Her racy cabaret numbers like 'O Haseena Zulfon Wali Jaane Jahan', 'Aa Jaane Jaan Mera Yeh Husn Jawan', and 'Piya Tu Ab Toh Aa Jaa' are very popular and remembered even today.
Her number 'Ye mera dil' from Don has been picturised on Kareena Kapoor recently, in the remake of 'Don' being directed by Farhan Akhtar.
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