INDIA. Mumbai: Yesteryear actress Bela Bose (Bela Sengupta), who acted in many popular movies, including the blockbuster Hindi film “Jai Santoshi Maa”, passed away due to age-related ailments in Mumbai on February 20, Monday. She was 79 and is survived by her son, daughter and grandson.
The news of her death was shared by paparazzi Viral Bhayani and film historian Shishir Krishna Sharma on Instagram and Facebook, respectively, on Monday evening. However, the exact cause of her death was not known.
Trained in classical Manipuri dance form, Bela Bose acted in nearly 200 Hindi and regional films from 1950 to 1980. She honed her acting skills by performing in Bengali plays. She got her big break when she was asked to do a song-dance number with Raj Kapoor in “Main Nashe Mein Hoon” (1959). Her first role was in “Sautela Bhai” (1962), opposite Guru Dutt at 17. In “Hawa Mahal”(1962), she played the role of Helen’s sister.
Among the many films in which she left her indelible mark are F.C. Mehra’s “Professor” (1962), Bimal Roy’s “Bandini” (1963), F.C. Mehra’s “Amrapali” (1966), Atmaram’s “Shikar” (1968), Prasad Production’s “Jeene Ki Raah” (1969) and Bhagyalakshmi Chitra’s mythological film “Jai Santoshi Maa” (1975). In “Jai Santoshi Maa”, she became a character actress and played the villainous sister-in-law. She also excelled in: “Umang”, “Yeh Gulistan Hamara”, “Dil Aur Mohabbat”, “Zindagi Aur Maut”, and “Wahan Ke Log”.
Bela Bose was born on April 18, 1941, in Kolkata. Her father was a cloth merchant, and her mother was a homemaker. Following a bank crash that wiped out their fortune, the family shifted to Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1951. Bela Bose started her career as a schoolgirl as a group dancer in films to help support her family after her father’s death in a road accident. She picked up more films after she finished her schooling.
She was among the most well-known dancers of that era, along with Helen and Aruna Irani. She was quite famous for playing small eye-catching roles of club dancers and vamps.
In 1967, she married Ashish Kumar (Sengupta), a leading man in “Jai Santoshi Maa”. She gradually eased out of films after giving birth to two children- a daughter and a son. Her husband passed away on November 23, 2013. Her daughter- Manjushri Nayar, is a doctor in Coimbatore, and her son Abhijit Sengupta is a businessman running -Sengupta (SG) Life Space Private Limited in Navi Mumbai. He also runs his father’s distribution company, “Jai Santoshi Mata Pictures”.
Bela Bose was a multi-faceted personality. She used to write poetry, was a fine painter and was a state-level swimmer. She had served as the president of the War Widows Association under the aegis of Mohini Giri.
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