The Girl with the Golden Smile

The Babuji Dheere Chalna actor, Shakila, passes away in a Mumbai hospital

Yesteryear actor Shakila, of the luminous smile and wayward curls, from Aar Paar’s Babuji Dheere Chalna, passed away in Mumbai on Wednesday afternoon. The 82-year-old, who was living in Bandra, had a massive heart attack and was rushed to Arogya Nidhi Hospital in Juhu. The funeral was held on Thursday morning at the Mahim cemetery in Mumbai.

Born Badshah Begum on January 1, 1935, Shakila made her debut in Duniya (1949), where she starred alongside Suraiya, who was at the time one of the most popular Hindi film actors. She acted in a number of fantasy films such as Sindbad the Sailor (1952), Lal Pari (1954), Ali Baba 40 Chor (1954) and Hatim Tai (1956). In a career spanning 14 years, she worked with several leading directors such as Shakti Samanta and actors such as Shammi Kapoor (China Town) and Raj Kapoor (Shriman Satyawadi).

The film she is best known for was Guru Dutt’s Aar Paar (1954), in which she played a gangster’s moll, and immortalised two classic Geeta Dutt songs — Babuji Dheere Chalna and Hoon Abhi Main Jawan — on the screen. As a producer, Dutt also cast Shakila opposite Dev Anand in 1956’s CID. She played a rich brat who falls for the leading man’s charms.

After her marriage in 1963 to Johny Barbr and move to the UK, Shakila stopped working in films, apart from brief appearances in Hum Intezaar Karenge (1989) and Rajdrohi (1993).

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