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Mala Sinha, Bollywood actress,singer and dancer. She was one of the top screen
beauties of the 'Classic' 1950s period and the Mod 60s. With her very modern
facial features she transitioned with great success from the glamor of the 50s
golden era to the 'studied artificiality' of the 60s pop era. Her character
always had to be the crux of the story.
Today, her unforgettable performances (Pyaasa, Phir Subah Hogi, Gumraah), have
been relegated to the shade, while her weakness for over-the-top, mawkish
melodrama is remembered. Born a Nepali Christian, the young Mala was a
chinky-eyed girl with curly hair and average height. "I was not as good-looking
as Madhubala, all I had going for me was talent," she remembers. With time, she
fine-tuned her looks, inspiring Mahesh Bhatt to comment, "She exuded sensuality
in Pyaasa." When colour seeped into films, she made the audience sit up,
revealing a surprisingly slim new look in films like Aankhen, where she swayed
memorably in a figure-hugging, strappy gown to Gairon pe karam apnon pe sitam.
While most of her contemporaries looked old-maidish once they entered the
dreaded mid 30s, Mala looked chic in chiffon saris and butterfly blouses in
Maryada, where she matched Rajesh Khanna's mannerisms with captivating coquetry
in the impish Chupke se dil de de. Was her role as good as the superstar's?
Well, she had a double role and romanced both Rajesh and Raaj Kumar in the film.
Mala began rather humbly in the early 1950s in Bengali films like Roshanara.
Soon, she shifted to Mumbai. She made a not-so-princely entry with Badshah
(1954).
A lead in Kishore Sahu's Hamlet followed. During Kidar Sharma's Rangeen Raatein
(1956), hero Shammi Kapoor's girlfriend, the vivacious Geeta Bali took an unsure
Mala Sinha and groomed her. The spotlight first shone on her in Guru Dutt's
Pyaasa (1957). Mala's character had negative shades as she played an ambitious
woman who betrays her impoverished poet lover (Guru Dutt) for a millionaire
publisher (Rehman). Yet Mala won the audience. Her trump card was her ability to
emote with her pain-heavy eyes despite being mute about her remorse. Mala soon
made the grade from promising newcomer to star when she signed three films with
a biggie like Raj Kapoor: Parvarish (1958), Phir Subah Hogi (1958) and Main
Nashe Mein Hoon (1959).
Based on Fyodor Dostoyevski's Crime And Punishment, the stark Phir Subah Hogi
showcases Mala in a performance that's eye-openingly subtle. In latter years,
however, Mala Sinha sacrificed subtlety for melodrama but she had no regrets ---
it paid her rich dividends. In 1959, Mala had, on one hand the merry Dev Anand
musical Love Marriage; while at the other end of the spectrum was her role in B
R Chopra's Dhool Ka Phool. In Yash Chopra's debut directorial venture, Dhool Ka
Phool, Mala Sinha again had a dark-shaded role of a woman who abandons her
illegitimate child.
A trio of hits in 1962 --- Anpadh, Hariyali Aur Raasta and Dil Tera Deewana ---
preceded her career best, B R Chopra's Gumraah (1963). She essayed the a woman
forced by circumstances to marry her sister's widower (Ashok Kumar), but is
tormented by the presence of her ex-lover (Sunil Dutt). Mala made her
character's dilemma over whether to succumb to an extramarital affair seem
identifiable and human. Mala next had a huge hit as a village belle in Himalaya
Ki God Mein (1965), though her performance seems contrived today. Strong,
women-oriented roles were known as her forte. Guru Dutt cast Mala in an
author-backed role (as a working woman pinning her hopes on a hopeless romance),
in his production, Baharen Phir Bhi Aayegi. When he passed away, the film was
reshot with Dharmendra in the lead.
nterestingly, Mala Sinha did three films each with three of the biggest banners
of her times: B R Chopra's Dhool Ka Phool, Dharamputra and Gumraah; Vijay
Bhatt's Hariyali Aur Raasta, Himalaya Ki God Mein and Holi Aayee Re and Ramanand
Sagar's Aankhen, Geet and Lalkaar. But since playing the central role was a
major motivating factor for Mala Sinha, she also worked in several films with
upcoming stars like Dharmendra (Anpadh), Manoj Kumar (Hariyali), Sanjay Khan
(Dillagi) and Amitabh Bachchan (Sanjog), besides doing 10 films with Biswajeet.
She is said to have refused a fill-the-bill role in Ram Aur Shyam opposite a
stalwart like Dilip Kumar.
To Mala's credit, she could shoulder hits like Anpadh, Aasra and Do Kaliyan, on
her own slender shoulders. Even after she married Nepali actor C P Lohani (with
whom she had done the Nepalese film, Maiti Ghar) in 1968, she had a huge success
playing a Japanese girl in Aankhen. But after Mala gave birth to daughter
Pratibha, her career began to wane. Subsequently, she paired with Rajesh Khanna
in Maryada and won accolades for her moving performance as Sanjeev Kumar's
grey-haired wife in Zindagi. She did do some character roles. But after Khel in
1992, has stayed away from the arc lights.
Mala Sinha's marriage was a long-distance affair --- she lived in Mumbai, her
husband in Kathmandu --- but it has lasted 34 years. Though Mala evinced as much
interest in her daughter Pratibha's career as her father did in her career, she
was unable to achieve the same success for her daughter. Today, Mala, who is
heavily into religion, lives in a multi-storeyed bungalow at Bandra. The
sprawling bungalow a testimony to the huge stardom that was once hers.
Awards Won:
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1957 Pyaasa
- 1958 Phir Subah Hogi
- 1959 Dhool Ka Phool
- 1962 Hariyali Aur Raasta
- 1963 Gumraah
- 1963 Bahurani
- 1965 Himalaya Ki God Mein
- 1966 Aasra
- 1968 Do Kaliyan
- 1968 Aankhen
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