Helen

Helen's stepfather, Captain G. W. V. Lindow, served in the British Royal Artillery during the Second World War. Lindow died from wounds he sustained on 21 January 1943 during the North African Campaign.

LIFE & FAMILY · SOURCED

Helen is Salman Khan's stepmother.

LIFE & FAMILY · SOURCED

Helen was nominated for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for her roles in Gumnaam, Shikar and Elan in 1965, 1968 and 1971 respectively. In 1979 she won the trophy for her performance in Lahu Ke Do Rang. The win came after a prolific career phase in which she appeared in more than 500 films, generally characterized by high-energy dance sequences and Westernized character archetypes.

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Helen pioneered the integration of cabaret and oriental dance into Indian cinema in the 1950s and 1960s.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

In 1957 Helen moved in with director P. N Arora, who exploited her financially. She left him in 1974 after learning that he had spent her money without her consent. As a result she went bankrupt and her apartment was seized.

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Helen married Salim Khan in 1981 and became his second wife. She met Khan in 1962 on the set of Kabli Khan (1963), where she took the lead female role and played his enemy. This union created a blended family structure within the Khan family, as Salim Khan remained married to his first wife, Salma Khan. Helen later adopted the family's youngest daughter, Arpita Khan.

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Helen's father, George Desmier, served as an officer in the French army and disappeared during Japan's occupation of Burma in the 1940s.

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Helen's sister Jennifer (Jenny) first married the dancer and choreographer Oscar Unger. She appeared in Aarti (1962). Oscar later married his fellow dancer Teresa Nazreth. Jennifer then remarried Air Vice Marshal Narendra Lal Gupta. They have a son and a daughter. They divorced in 2005.

LIFE & FAMILY · SOURCED

Helen's father, George Desmier, served as an officer in the French army before his death during the Japanese occupation of Burma in the Second World War. Her mother Marlene, a nurse of Burmese origin, led the family on a 900-kilometre walk to Dibrugarh, Assam, in 1943 to escape the conflict.

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Helen bore an uncanny resemblance to the 1960s Bollywood dancer Madhumati and the two were often mistaken for each other.

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Helen's first marriage was in 1957 to the Dil Daulat Duniya-fame film director Prem Narayan Arora, who was 27 years her senior. She divorced him in 1974.

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Throughout her filmography, Helen used extensive cosmetic modifications, including coloured contact lenses and wigs, to portray different ethnic identities. During the production of The Trawler Incident: The Forgotten Typhoon Catastrophe (1965) she played an Anglo-Indian gold digger named Kitty Kelly. In Ek Se Badhkar Ek (1976) she played a German spy. In the 1958 feature Howrah Bridge (1958) she appeared as a Chinese nightclub dancer. In Inkaar (1977) she appeared as an Indian fisherwoman. In Prince (1969) she played an Italian friend of Vyjayanthimala. In Lahu Ke Do Rang (1979) she played a Burmese woman named Suzy. In Hulchul (1971) she appeared as an African woman.

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At the peak of her career in the Indian film industry, the actress maintained the practice of wearing a burka in public spaces. The decision served as a protective measure to ensure anonymity and prevent harassment by fans and onlookers on her way to studios or social events.

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Helen's separation from P. N. Arora coincided with the seasoned performer's decline in high-profile film assignments. Screenwriter Salim Khan intervened during this period of bankruptcy to secure her a significant role in the production of Sholay. This casting decision facilitated a major professional revival in the Mumbai film industry.

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Helen's brother Roger Richardson (Jairag) appeared as a naval officer during a musical sequence in the Navketan Films production Jewel Thief (1967).

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The production of Dil Daulat Duniya (1972) served as a colour remake of the 1948 Indian film Pugree. P. N. Prem Narayan Arora, who had made the original black-and-white film in 1948, returned to direct the 1972 version. The 1948 iteration starred Kamini Kaushal, while the 1972 production starred Sadhana and Rajesh Khanna. Helen played the character Rita in the 1972 remake. This role corresponded to the character previously written for Shashikala in the 1948 original. The 1972 release followed the peak of Rajesh Khanna's box-office dominance, and the film achieved significant commercial success after its theatrical release.

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Helen appeared alongside M. G. Ramachandran in the song sequences "Naan Sollitara" and "Sila Kudipathu Pole" in the 1972 film Sanghe Muzhangu, which starred Lakshmi as the female lead. In the 1958 film Uthamaputhiran she appeared with Sivaji Ganeshan in the song sequence "Yaarde Nee Mohini"; the production was the first Indian film shot in the Technirama process. She collaborated with Sivaji Ganeshan again in the 1962 mythological drama Sri Valli, which used the Gevacolor film process for its colour cinematography, performing the dance sequence "Malai naattu kuravar nanga".

DEEPER MEANING · SOURCED

Lalit Aurora, the nephew of Helen's former husband P. N. Arora, played the lead role in the 1986 film Nasamajh. Directed and written by Virendra Sharma, the film also featured actors Sahila Chadha, Madan Jain and Arvind Deshpande. Vee Film Makers Pvt Ltd served as the production company for the feature, which received its censorship certificate on 11 August 1986.

LIFE & FAMILY · SOURCED

The production duo NAWTIKS used archival footage of Helen for the music video of the track 205-A, which appears on their 2024 studio album Negative One. The producers took specific visual sequences from her established body of work to match the project's industrial aesthetic.

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Helen remains the stepmother of the actress Neelu Arora, who is the daughter of director Prem Narayan Arora and his first wife. Helen married Prem Narayan Arora in 1957.

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In the 1970s Helen was in a relationship with the actor Satish Kaul.

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Helen appeared in the shelved production Gudda Guddi (1976), produced by Fun Seeker. The cast included Pratap, Alka, A. K. Hangal and Mohan Choti. Pratap Purswani directed the project and Ravindra Jain composed the music.

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The production Ana Jaanti Hun (1978) was never released and listed Helen among its main actors alongside Nazneen, Bindu and Sujit Kumar. Fair Mount Pictures served as the production house under the direction of Jan Mohammed. Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma, professionally known as Laxmikant-Pyarelal, composed the music for the project.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The Government of India honoured Helen with the Padma Shri in 2009 for her contributions to art. After a career in which she appeared in more than 700 films, she received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.

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