| Bio: | Kalpana Mohan was born as Archana in Srinagar, Kashmir, India on July 18, 1946. Her father, Avani Mohan, a freedom fighter, was close to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (Indira Gandhi's father) and an active member of the All India Congress Committee. For his political beliefs, he was jailed for some time. Nehru often invited Kalpana, a trained Kathak dancer, to dance at the Rashtrapati Bhavan whenever dignitaries visited. Actor Balraj Sahani and Urdu writer Ismat Chughtai spotted the beautiful dancer and encouraged her to come to Mumbai and try her luck in films. She changed her name from Archana to Kalpana for films. Kalpana's first film "Pyaar Ki Jeet" lasted only a week in theatres. Her second film "Naughty Boy," (1962) seemed more promising. Her director was the famous Shakti Samanta, and her leading man was the equally famous Kishore Kumar, and she replaced Kumar's real-life ailing wife, the megastar Madhubala, as the heroine. But the film turned out to be yet another disappointment. It was her third film Professor (1962) that turned out to be the biggest hit of her career. It starred Shammi Kapoor who earned a Filmfare nomination as Best Actor, and it would become one of his favorite films. Kalpana, as his heroine, got attention from the public. But Shammi refused to work with her again and supposedly badmouthed her to other producers and directors claiming that she was cranky. She married and divorced her first husband, writer Sachin Bhowmick very quickly. The negative publicity surrounding the ill-fated union hurt her career even more, especially since Bhowmick was writing for many successful films, and the producers thought it would be awkward casting his ex-wife in the same films. In 1965, she had another hit film, Teen Devian (1965) with Dev Anand, where she looked gorgeous and gave a sensitive performance as a lonely movie star. However, she shared screen space with two other leading ladies Nanda and Simi Garewal, so she didn't have the kind of stature |
|---|
