Veteran actress and classical dancer Bela Bose passes away at 79

Bela Bose, a veteran actress and classical dancer, passed away on February 20 at the age of 79. She appeared in several movies during the 1960s, and her honest portrayal in the hugely successful 1975 movie Jai Santoshi Maa pushed her to national prominence.


Bela Bose was born in Kolkata but relocated to Mumbai until a financial crisis wiped out their money and forced them to transfer to Mumbai, then Bombay. After her father died, she began her career as a group dancer in films to support her family, and she continued to work in films after finishing her education in the 1960s.



She played the role of a glamorous dancer, seen in the background of Helen and Aruna Irani, among others, in a number of films, including Bhagam Bhag and CID, until her first big break came when she performed a dance number with Raj Kapoor in the 1959 film ‘Main Nashe Mein Hoon’ and began to be recognised in the Hindi film industry.


Three years later, in 1962, Bela Bose landed her first starring part in Sautela Bhai, alongside Guru Dutt, and went on to act in several other films, including Shammi Kapoor’s Professor, Bimal Roy’s Bandini, and Lekh Tandon’s Amrapali. In 1975, the late actress had her greatest triumph as the evil sister-in-law in the religious film ‘Jai Santoshi Maa’, which became one of the most popular films at the box office. She reportedly appeared in about 150 films during her career.


Bela Bose changed her name to Bela Sengupta after marrying Ashish Kumar, her co-star from ‘Jai Santoshi Maa’. In recent years, the actress has been quite active on social media, sharing old images from her film sets on Facebook and Instagram. Her son, daughter, and grandchild survive her.

FAQs

1: Who is Bela Bose's husband?
Ashish Kumar.


2: How old was Bela Bose?
She was 79 years old.