And, of course, that pretty much implies: Ten of my favourite Helen dances.

The ‘Queen of the Nautch Girls’ (as a 1973 documentary about her dubbed Helen) turns 85 today: she was born on November 21, 1938, in Yangon. The story of the long journey from Myanmar to Mumbai is not something Helen talks about (she seems to be amazingly reticent; Jerry Pinto, writing about her in The Life and Times of a Bollywood H-Bomb, says that he wasn’t able to get hold of her for even a short interview). But that she entered cinema, courtesy dancing mentor Cuckoo, as a teenager, is well-known. And that she burst upon the firmament of the Hindi silver screen and made it her own is there for everybody to see. From the mid-1950s onward, Helen was to be seen increasingly in Hindi cinema, and with the foot-tapping Mera naam Chin Chin Choo, she rocketed to the top: by the 60s, no commercial film worth its salt could be without a Helen number.

Sometimes she would be paired with another dancer: a Minoo Mumtaz, a Madhumati, a Laxmi Chhaya. Sometimes it would be a male actor, a big star, even, like Shammi Kapoor or Feroz Khan. Equally often, though, it was just Helen. Beautifully made up, perhaps sporting a blonde or brunette wig, and even if she was dressed in what might seem to be a revealing costume, actually always clad in a decorous body suit. She was energetic, graceful, never obscene or merely titillating in a vulgar sort of way: there was class here.

I am a big Helen fan; I have been one for many years now. So a landmark birthday couldn’t go unobserved. In celebration, therefore, here’s a list of ten of my favourite song-and-dance sequences which feature the inimitable Helen. To reduce the scope somewhat (and to give myself room to do other Helen posts!—do watch this blog over the next couple of weeks), I will focus here only on songs that feature Helen on her own, not with another major actor/actress. Here, I do include dancing extras.

All of these songs (barring one, on the cusp) are from pre-1970s Hindi films that I’ve seen; in no particular order:

1. Is duniya mein jeena ho toh (Gumnaam, 1965): Gumnaam is one of my favourite Helen films: she isn’t just a pretty face here, she isn’t just here for her superb dancing. Instead, Kitty is one of the pivotal characters of the story, and Helen gets a chance to show off just how good she could be, too, as an actress: that chilling scene where she walks through the jungle en route to the beach is one of the most memorable scenes for me in all of Hindi cinema. And Gumnaam features this, one of Helen’s iconic songs, where her character sets out to cheer up her despairing, scared companions. Kitty peps everybody up, and in the process, shows that Helen doesn’t need strobe lights, a glitzy costume and a club floor set-up in order to dazzle.

2. Rangeen bahaaron se hai gulzaar China Town (China Town, 1962): China Town was another film that gave Helen a somewhat bigger role than usual: as the Chinese girl Suzie, she was cast opposite Shammi Kapoor (in a double role) and got to be not just the pretty club dancer, but also (unusual in Hindi cinema, which tended to equate club dancers with vamps) a ‘good girl’, one who deserved a happy ending to her romance. China Town begins, in fact, with Helen: the credits roll even as Rangeen bahaaron se hai gulzaar China Town plays, finally segueing from the streets of Calcutta into the night club where Suzie dances amidst a troupe of extras. A delightfully lilting tune, and Helen is lovely.

3. Dil ka na karna aitbaar koi (Halaku, 1956): One of her earliest films, Halaku featured Helen in two very popular song-and-dance sequences: with Minoo Mumtaz in Aji chale aao, and a solo in Dil ka na karna aitbaar koi. She’s very young here, barely even eighteen, and you can see it in the somewhat rounded features, the almost child-like innocence that comes through in her expressions. But her youthfulness doesn’t come in the way of Helen’s expertise as a dancer, and as an actress, even. She is so graceful, so light on her feet, her hands moving so beautifully: perfect.

4. Yaar baadshah yaar dilruba (CID 909, 1967): As a contrast in styles, both in choreography and in the special character that Helen brought to her dancing, there’s Yaar baadshah, which—like Dil ka na karna aitbaar koi—has a lilting Arabian-type tune, now slow, lingering over the notes, now faster, more energetic. But, unlike the song in Halaku, this is no medieval dancer consoling a broken-hearted lover: this is a modern cabaret dancer, strutting her stuff to entertain a crowd of diners and drinkers. In every gesture, every expression, every movement, there is the assumed seduction, an invitation. As Helen makes her way across the space, you can see how everybody’s eyes follow her about: she rules.

5. Mera naam Chin Chin Choo (Howrah Bridge, 1958): How could I possibly leave out this song, the dance which was for me my introduction to the icon that is Helen? I was perhaps twelve or so when I first saw Mera naam Chin Chin Choo (thanks to a Geeta Dutt LP my parents owned, I had listened to, and fallen in love with, the song much earlier).  I remember being mesmerized by Helen: by the sheer energy she brought to this dance (I remember, too, trying to do that part of the dance which coincides with the chorus, where, legs together, she moves side-to-side very fast: I just could not manage it, no matter how hard I tried). Madhubala, as Edna, was the dancer in Howrah Bridge; but much as I love Madhubala, I think Helen—with this one song—upstaged her, at least in the dancing department.

6. Ooi ma ooi ma yeh kya ho gaya (Parasmani, 1963): Further proof (if it was needed) of Helen’s versatility. Unlike most of the songs in this list, Ooi ma ooi ma is distinctly Indian, its milieu completely devoid of any Western influences. And Helen fits right in: her training in several dance forms, including Manipuri, Bharatnatyam and Kathak, meant that she could do the footwork, the mudras, the very Indian moves, brilliantly. A delightfully peppy song from a film which had some great music, and Helen’s effervescence is worth watching. Plus, she looks so lovely here.

7. Mehfil soyi aisa koi (Inteqaam, 1969): Like Gumnaam or Shikar, Inteqaam was one of those films that gave Helen (even a Helen who was otherwise in pretty much standard mode as Westernized, clinging dress-clad, club-dancing girl) something more to do than just dance her way through a couple of songs. Here, she was friend and accomplice to the heroine (played by Sadhana), out to have her revenge on the people because of whom she went to jail, and because of which her mother died. Helen gets to plot, to harbour secrets, and—of course—to dance in the club which the two of them run.

The iconic Aa jaan-e-jaan, often touted as Lata Mangeshkar’s only ‘cabaret’ song, is Helen’s more famous song from Inteqaam, but there’s this one too, where Helen uses her song and her dance to alert her so far oblivious fellow conspirators to danger.

8. O meri jaan maine kaha (The Train, 1970): The Train, like Intequam, had Helen in a fairly important role, though here, as the ‘other’ girl—the cabaret dancer, not the ‘good girl’ (played by Nanda), who gets the man—she was destined to a one-sided love. On the dance floor, however, Helen’s character gets to unabashedly and openly flirt with the man she’s in love with (Rajesh Khanna). While the male dancer (Chinu Rajput), lip-syncing to RD Burman’s throaty singing, is there to some extent in O meri jaan maine kaha, bright, sparkly Helen rules the screen. I am amazed at her athleticism, and her playfulness, the way she combines these with grace as well as sensuality, and never comes across as vulgar.

9. Hello hello Hyderabadi (Bada Bhai, 1957): In a change from all of those much popular songs, here’s a relatively obscure one. A young Helen, not yet in the Mera naam Chin Chin Choo league (which was to follow in the next year) still manages to be sweetly attractive as the singer-dancer in a rather seedy watering hole. This place doesn’t even pretend to be outwardly ‘respectable’, as so many hotels and clubs in Hindi cinema, merely fronts for all kinds of nefarious and criminal activities, try to be. This place is crawling with baddies, and Helen’s dancer does her best to entertain them.

It’s interesting to see the difference between this ‘club performance’ and the many in the following decade that Helen made her own: her clothes, while clingy, cover her completely (even without a body suit being used), and there’s no bronze wig (a staple accessory, which became so part of Helen’s onscreen look, they made her don it even when she was dancing mujras and Indian folk dances).

9. Arre tauba are tauba yeh teri ada (12 O’Clock, 1958): Like Mera naam Chin Chin Choo, this song too was composed by O P Nayyar, and you can glimpse similarities between the two, from the beat to the clapping, and that reflected in the dancing as well: some of the choreography does mirror that of the well-known song from Howrah Bridge. But Arre tauba arre tauba deserves to be better known: it too has an energy and vivacity that I find quite infectious, and a young, pretty Helen is worth watching (when is she not?) The set here is large, so Helen dances and prances all over the place, light on her feet, graceful, but generally not dancing as vigorously as in Mera naam Chin Chin Choo.

10. Kahaan phir hum kahaan phir tum (Night Club, 1958): If a film is titled Night Club, how can it not have a dance by Helen, who undoubtedly ruled the club song in Hindi cinema? Here too, she puts in an appearance, as the main attraction at the eponymous night club. A wonderful song, seductive and yet playful, sung by Geeta Dutt to music by the very versatile Madan Mohan. In Kahaan phir hum kahaan phir tum, Helen, while on the more usual ‘club’ dance floor (unlike the seedy one of Arre tauba arre tauba) is not the brash, more in-your-face seductress of songs like Aa jaan-e-jaan or Mehfil soyi aisa koi: here, all clad in white, surrounded by diaphanous veils, she looks fragile and pretty.

Which are your favourite Helen-on-her-own songs? (I have posts coming up that show her dancing with major actors and actresses, so please refrain from adding songs like that here).