Reading about the tragic life of the beautiful actor Vimi is even more heart rending. Vimi was exploited by her husband Shiv. Vimi was no great shakes as an actress but she was exploited by Bollywood too. When she died in 1977, no one knew that she existed and there was no money for the funeral. Movie offers had dried up. She had become a pauper and an insolvent by then. This was Vimi’s fate despite the fact that she had two lovely children.
Vimi had reached abysmal lows in her life having succumbed to the bottle. A girl who started as a Radio Jockey was disowned by her parents once they learnt of her inclination towards Bollywood. Her recalcitrant attitude proved to be her undoing. No one remembers Vimi today except when songs of Humraz are played on satellite television. Real life appeared to have imitated reel life in Vimi’s case. She rubbed BR Chopra the wrong way by demanding more money to shoot the last sequences of Humraz and her career was aborted even before it began.
The list is actually endless. There were so many actors who remained silent all through their life never speaking about their troubled marital lives in the open. Not everyone was as lucky as Devika Rani to lead a regal life in Tataguni estate after retiring as an actor. Udita Goswami married her heart throb Mohit Suri and Geeta Basra married Harbhajan Singh in what seemed like picture perfect marriages. Unfortunately, there are not many examples that one can think of when it relates to the successful marital life of a former actress.
In fact, many of the actresses who quit movies in the early ’70s and ’80s have had to find alternate careers. Rajashree Shantaram, Alka, Neeta Mehta, Bhavna Bhatt, Ranjeeta and Radha Saluja are still working in the US in careers far removed from the glitter of Bollywood. Actor Anupama, who married a doctor and migrated to the US, stages plays for the Indian diaspora there. Namita Chandra who was introduced by Rajshri in Paheli in 1977, married a doctor and shifted to the US in 1984.
Some actors were lucky to have found the right soul mate. Many were not. Some chose to end their lives like Ziah Khan and Nafisa Joseph. Tamil actor Devika (she was the Kareena Kapoor of Tamil cinema in the ’60s) had a disastrous marriage with a man named Devdas. Devika died early leaving her young daughter all alone.
If actor Srividya, who died of cancer, was duped by Kamal Haasan who promised marriage and later backtracked from his commitment, actress Lakhsmi, who acted in the super hit Julie found solace in her third marriage with a fellow actor.
Srividya was the daughter of classical vocalist ML Vasanthakumari, who herself had had a broken marriage. Srividya acted in two Hindi films in the mid-’70s – Jaise Ko Taisa Mila and Arjun Pandit. She had a great career in Tamil and Malayalam movies, both as a leading actor and as a character artiste. But her reputation got sullied with multiple affairs with multiple actors.
Srividya married in haste only to repent at leisure. She married a man from Kerala who exploited and harassed her by refusing to grant her a divorce. Later, Srividya was forced to pay large sums of money for freedom from a tyrannical husband. This is according to rumour mills in Chennai.
An actress like Asha Sachdev who starred in B-grade films but is most notably known for her role as the dumb friend of Neetu Singh in the movie Priyatama recalled how her entire family, comprising step brothers and step sisters, lived off her sole earnings. She later made a fleeting appearance as Jaya Bachchan’s friend in Fiza but one has not seen her lately. Asha escaped marriage and the brutalities or harsh realities associated with an actress’s marital life.
Tanvi Azmi’s mother Usha Kiran had a happy and peaceful marital life with her husband Dr Manohar Kher till her death. Usha Kiran had an affair with a much older director, Amiya Chakraborthy. But a visit by the latter’s wife changed Usha Kiran’s heart and she realized it was futile to break a family. She quietly moved on and married Dr Kher. The latter, the actor claims in her autobiography, was such a noble soul that he permitted her to visit Amiya’s home when the noted director passed away. Now how many actors can boast of a husband like Dr Manohar Kher?
It would be noteworthy to end this article with a comment by former actor Naina Sahu. Naina, daughter of director Kishore Sahu (who played Marco, Waheeda Rehman’s husband in Guide) was introduced in 1967 in the movie Hare Kanch Ki Chudiyan. The movie was later made as Kya Kehna, which introduced Preity Zinta to Bollywood. It was the story of an unwed mother. The movie had great songs but was an average grosser. Naina acted in one more movie, Pushpanjali that released in 1970 and that was the last one heard of her.
After close to 47 years, Naina has gave an interview. Asked why she chose to disappear from movies, she replied, “If something that happens in movies, like a girl marrying a man of her choice, happens in real life then that aspect becomes the dominant influence in the girl’s life.”
Naina married Jai Rao and eventually settled in Goa, away from public gaze. Mother to Gautam Rao, Naina presents a picture of a contented homemaker having obliterated the image of the actress forever. Now how many actors can claim to have had such a peaceful life?