Geeta Bali was a popular and versatile Bollywood actress. Her tryst with silver screen started when she was only 12. She became a known star in the 1950s. In 1955 she married Shammi Kapoor who was not yet a star and also a year younger than her. Unlike other actresses who gave up films after marrying into the Kapoor family, Bali continued her film career until her death. Anand Math is one Bali"s unforgettable film.
Early Life of Geeta Bali
Geeta Bali was born in pre-partition Punjab in Sargodha in 1930 in a Mohyal family. Her birth name was Harkirtan Kaur, a Sikh. Bali and her family resided in Amritsar before 1947. Her father, Kartar Singh, was blind. Singh was a known philosopher, Sikh scholar and kirtan singer. Harkirtan (Geeta Bali) and her sister Hardarshan received encouragement from their father to learn classical music and dance, horse riding and gatka fencing. After few years, her family shifted to Mumbai and was living in sheer poverty when she started to get profitable breaks in films.
Film Career of Geeta Bali
Bali kick started her film career as a child actress. She was only 12 when she appeared in the film "The Cobbler" as an artist. Later, Bali made her debut as a heroine in the film "Badnaami".
Some of her films include:
•Bawre Nain (1950) with future brother-in-law Raj Kapoor
•Baazi (1951) with Dev Anand
•Ghayal (1951) with Sheikh Mukhtar
•Albela (1951) with Bhagwan Dada
•Jaal (1952) with Dev Anand
•Baaz (1953) with Guru Dutt
•Mr. India (1961)
Achievements of Geeta Bali
•Geeta Bali received a Filmfare Nomination as Best Actress for the film Vachan in 1955.
•She also received a nomination as Best Supporting Actress for the film Kavi in 1955.
Personal Life of Geeta Bali
On 23 August 1955, Bali tied the knot with Shammi Kapoor. The couple were blessed with a son named Aditya and a daughter named Kanchan. While shooting a Punjabi film, Rano, based on a novel Eik Chadar Maili Si by Rajinder Singh Bedi, Bali contracted smallpox. She breathed her last on 21 January 1965.
