Death of Kalpana ; A ” Gul Badan ” Ceases to Exist

Kalpana

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA           JANUARY 12 , 2012           07.10 P. M.

On January 04 , 2012 Kalpana , yesteryear actor a.k.a. Kalpana Mohan , died in a Pune hospital at the age of 65 . She was battling cancer for 5 years . I do know , the name Kalpana does not ring a familiar bell . Today’s generation is oblivious of her name and ignorant of her work . It is sad state of affair that news of her death appeared in national news papers 6 days later . Even a film news paper like Screen failed to report her death in the latest issue .,

But cine – goers of my generation will always remember her fondly . She did two super hit films like ; ” Professor ” and ” Teen Devian ”  in 1962 and 1965 respectively .

Born in Srinagar in a family of freedom fighters , Kalpana was a trained Kathak dancer . At the insistence of Balraj Sahani and Ismat Chughtai she moved to Bombay [ now Mumbai ] and made debut in ” Professor ”  [ 1962 ] , a Shammi Kapoor starrer .

A Poster of Professor

Another Poster of Professor

Later on she worked in another super hit film ” Teen Devian ” [ 1965 ] , a Dev Anand starrer .

A Poster of Teen Devian

Another Poster of Teen Devian

One More Poster of Teen Devian

I remember Shammi Kapoor serenading her with super hit songs  ; Ai Gul Badan ….. Ai Gul Badan and Khuli Palak Me Jhootha Ghussa , Band Palak Men Pyar ……… Jeena Bhi Mushkil ….. Who can forget these immortals songs ; Aawaz De Ke Hamen Tum Bulao ……… or Koi Aayega …. Aayega ….. Aayega …… and Main Chali Main Chali ……. Peechhe Peechhe Jahan …… ?

Shankar Jaikishan‘s super hit music and interesting story plot made this film ” Professor ” a rage in the 60s . Kalpana arrived with a bang .

She then did ” Teen Devian ” in 1965 with Dev Anand . Sachin Dev Burman‘s melodious music added ethereal quality to Kalpana’s beauty . Can any Hindi movie buff forget Dev Anand entreating Kalpana with Kishore Kumar , Asha Bhosle duet , Are Yaar Meri Tum Bhi Ho Ghazab , Ghoonghat To Zara Odho …… ?

Are Yaar Meri .... Song

I still remember another gem from the same movie , Khwab Ho Yaa Tum Koi Haqueeqat ….. Kaun Ho Tum Batlao ….. Mr. Dev Anand singing this song on piano and Kalpana and Simi sharing screen space with him .

Khwab Ho Ya Tum .....Song

In ” Professor ” , she was in solo lead . In ” Teen Devian “ , she shared screen with much senior Nanda and another beauty Simi Gerewal . Still she got top billing .

Kalpana

She just did only couple of films . ” Professor ” [ 1962 ] , ” Naughty Boy ” [ 1962 ] , ” Teen Devian ” [ 1965 ] , ” Saheli ” [ 1965 ] , ” Pyar Kiye Ja ” [ 1966 ] , ” Biwi Aur Makan ” [ 1966 ] , ” Tasveer ” [ 1966 ] and ” Nawab Sirajuddaula ” [ 1967 ] .

She quit films after her marriage with story – screenplay writer Sachin Bhowmick . They both were as different as the chalk is from cheese . So marriage failed . She got married again in 1967 , got divorced again in 1972 and then moved to Pune , where she lived till her death .

I was saddened when I saw a recent photo of Kalpana , which was published in Times of India . Age had dimmed her beauty . An aging and lonely Kalpana Mohan caught my fancy once again . I was not a huge fan of hers but I did like her in films like ; ” Professor ” , ” Teen Devian ” , ” Pyar Kiye Ja “ and  ” Biwi Aur Makaan ” .  In the conservative India of 1965 , ” Teen Devian “ got A Certificate from censors , so the film got famous and the craze was enormous . And I , like other youngsters of my age , was charmed by Kalpana and this film .

I did not like her recent photo and I was pained but I am posting it for the record and for the posterity . This photograph of Kalpana is a sad reminder of the ephemeral world we are living in ; real and reel , both .

Kalpana : Then & Now

Farewell Kalpana ji !

In the last quarter of 2011 , your two illustrious co – stars ; Shammi Kapoor and Dev Anand left us . Now you too have gone !

Mortal people ; immortal memories !

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

www.vidur.co.in

www.vidurfilms.com

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