Geeta Bali stardom, Amritsar to Bombay
Like a typical heroine of yesteryear, Geeta Bali’s real life story, too, reads like a script of her black and white films. She dropped out of school after Class 6 to help her family — a blind father, a partially deaf mother, a partially deaf elder brother and a sister. Her family would travel to Burma, Malaya and Sri Lanka, along with her father Kartar Singh, who was a religious preacher. The family lived in the vicinity of Chowk Baba Sahib, near the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
During their trips to other countries, Geeta — born Harkirtan Kaur — and her elder sister Hardarshan Kaur gave stage performances. Both were excellent dancers. Geeta had learnt classical dance and music, horse riding and Sikh martial art ‘gatka’ at a young age.
However, these performances by the two young girls did not find favour with conservative Sikhs. In December 1939, they were not allowed to perform at Lahore. The nine-year-old Harkirtan vowed that she would come back and perform at the same venue. The resolute girl kept that promise — nine years later, she performed at the same stage as a star, Geeta Bali.
As a child, Geeta was selected to sing for a programme at the All India Radio, Lahore. The vivacious girl wanted to emulate Shirley Temple, an immensely popular American child star of her era. She was noticed by Pt Gyan Shankar, a leading choreographer, who selected her for a documentary film, ‘The Cobbler’ (1942). Her agility and sense of rhythm won her a solo performance in RK Shorey’s Punjabi film, ‘Badnami’, in 1946. The same year, Mazhar Khan, a renowned producer-director from Bombay, signed her for a film. Geeta shifted to Bombay, along with her family and Pt Gyan Shankar.
Mazhar’s film got delayed and Pt Shankar came across well-known film-maker Kidar Sharma, whom he had known since his Amritsar days. Geeta was not beautiful in the traditional sense. She was quite thin, but Sharma was impressed by her sense of humour and eloquent eyes. He signed her for ‘Suhaag Raat’ (1948) at a princely sum of Rs 26,000, against the wishes of his brother and the studio staff. The film turned out to be a blockbuster.
Sharma repeated her in more films, including ‘Neki Aur Badi’ (1949), ‘Bawre Nain’ (1950) with Raj Kapoor, and ‘Rangeen Raaten’ (1956) with Shammi Kapoor, whom she married in a temple on August 24, 1955, with only one other person in attendance.
Earlier, Dev Anand had cast her in Navketan production ‘Baazi’ (1951), in which Guru Dutt made his debut as a director. ‘Baazi’ was a super hit. People thronged theatres just to see her song ‘Tadbir se bigdi hui taqdeer bana le’, and her superb dancing. Anand and Geeta went on to give five more hits — ‘Jaal’ (1952), ‘Kishti’ (1954), ‘Farar’ (1955), ‘Milap’ (1955) and ‘Pocket Maar’ (1956).
Considered inimitable, Geeta worked with top names like Madhubala in ‘Dulari’ (1949), ‘Neki Aur Badi’ and ‘Nishana’ (1950); with Suraiya in ‘Bari Behen’ (1949); and with Kamini Kaushal in ‘Jailor’ (1958). However, in all these films, only her superb performances are remembered. Meena Kumari once said, “Geeta is more accomplished than me as an actress. She has a much wider range.”
She became so popular that whenever she came on screen, the crowds would chant, “Geeta Bali, chai ki pyali”. Her ‘Anand Math’ (1952) is remembered for its patriotic fervour and the song ‘Vande Matram’, which has been ranked as one of the best composed songs in Hindi cinema.
Having seen hardship, Geeta would often help her colleagues in need. She helped Guru Dutt to first turn producer and then a hero in her production ‘Baaz’ (1953). Surinder Kapoor, actor Anil Kapoor’s father, was Geeta’s secretary. She also helped him become a producer. Rajesh Khanna, who was doing theatre, would visit the building where Geeta had her office. She wanted to cast him as a hero in her last incomplete film ‘Rano’ (1964), based on Rajinder Singh Bedi’s novel ‘Ek Chadar Maili Si’, but it was Dharmendra who bagged the role.
Geeta would get 10 per cent of her earnings from her mother. She kept this money in a cupboard in Kidar Sharma’s office. Whenever any needy person approached her, she would write a chit to Sharma to give him/her the money. When she died, there was still Rs 3,000 left, Sharma recalled. In 1962, during the war with China, she donated all her jewellery to the National Defence Fund, set up for the welfare of the armed forces.
Geeta Bali was only 34 when she died of smallpox, which she contracted during ‘Rano’s shoot, on January 21, 1965. It was ironical as she dreaded it the most because her father had lost his eyesight to smallpox. But death has not dimmed her brilliance. Her impish beauty and dimpled smile continue to dazzle.
