Geeta bali Gifted with effervescent naturalism
Bollywood in its history has had a galaxy of stars from its inception todate, but Geeta Bali was easily one of the five best actresses ever to grace the Hindi screen.
Geeta Bali was gifted with effervescent naturalism and a delightfully dead-on sense of comic timing.However, she frittered away her talents in by acting in a multitude of B. Grade films.
She was born on 1 January 1930, her love for life captivated Shammi Kapoor and in 1955, Geeta sidelined her career to marry the as –yet-unsuccesful Shammi Kapoor in an impromptu wedding who was one year younger to her on 23 August 1955 they have a daughter and son.
During her 10 year long career she had acted in 70 films and at one time there were three premieres on the same day. Geeta Bali has acted opposite top heroes of her time.,with Raj kapoor in Bawre Nain 1950, Baazi with Dev Anand 51, Ghayal Sheik Mukthar 51, Jaal with Bhagwan 52, Baaz with Guru Dutt 63, etc.
She was nominated for Best Actress for the film Aji Bas Shukriya 58, Pocket Maar 56 and for Dulari 49. ( She acted with Madhubala). One of her favourite film was Albela with Bhagwan songs of which are still popular
In 1951 she unexpectedly found herself at the zenith of her career. Through sheer force of will, she triumphed with two films despite the dice being loaded against her. In Baazi she acted opposite Dev Anand, who had said that people would come repeatedly to the theatres only to see Geeta dancing to the song “Tadbeer se bigdi hui.”
In Albela Her hero was Bhagwan, a comedian whom no other heroine would have been willing to star opposite. Yet she worked her alchemy and the film is a cult favourite even today.
Geeta was not a traditional beauty. None of her features were individually stunning unlike Madhubala, but her face added up to more than just the sum of its parts, especially when awash with her archetypal vibrancy.
Her appeal lay in her personality. Upretentious even after stardom, shunned the coy act of the 50s heroines. On 21 January 1965 the 36 year old Geeta Bali died of smallpox and was cremated at Banganga, close to the temple where she had married Shammi Kapoor.