‘I saw blood, skull on the…’: Meet superstar who survived war, was left homeless, was once India’s top paid…

Within the Nineteen Sixties, an actress created waves within the Bollywood industry. She turned heads and delivered numerous superhit films. Over her four-decade-long career, this actress appeared in greater than 1,000 films. Famously is termed the “golden girl” of Hindi cinema, this iconic personality is none rather than Helen. At some stage within the 60s, Helen became celebrated for her blockbuster dance numbers, and no doubt, she brought an unparalleled “oomph” factor to every performance. However it surely, while her life appeared glamorous, it became a fine distance from easy. Did you recognize that Helen needed to flee her home at just three years old? Yes, you read that right!

Helen became born in Burma (now Myanmar) to a 0.5-Spanish, 0.5-Burmese mother named Marlene and a French father. Her mother worked as a British officer. Life took a tragic turn when Japanese troops invaded Burma, forcing Helen and her family to flee their home. The family endured a harrowing 9-month-long journey on foot to prevail in Dibrugarh in Assam. The actress also survived World War II.

In a 1964 interview with Filmfare, as quoted by Jerry Pinto in his book Helen: The Life and Times of an H-Bomb, the veteran actress recalled the traumatic incident. Helen shared how she and her family were forced to leave Burma as Japanese forces relentlessly bombed the realm.

“Burma became being mercilessly bombed by the Japanese,” she recalled. “My mother packed a pair of things, and we went to the airport with my toddler brother in my mother’s arms. That night, the aerodrome became bombed. Frightened and nervous, we returned home.”

Helen described how life in Burma had change into “unbearable” for her family. Her stepfather, whom she thought about her father, became a British officer who had already been killed. Left without security within the war-torn state, Helen said, “Mother and I had been virtually reduced to skeletons, and my brother’s condition became important. We spent two months within the health facility.”

In a television special with Nasreen Munni Kabir, Helen shared a vivid and chilling memory of passing through a bombed area. She said, “I will still center of attention on a moment when, within the middle of the night, we were running out of the house, and we passed a spot where a bomb must have fallen. It became a store, and there became hair, blood, and [bits of] skull on the wall.”

Helen became a lot of the head-paid actress within the industry.