Helen and another Actress: Ten Dance Songs

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As part of the birthday celebrations of Helen (she turned 85 on November 21st, 2023), another post of Helen songs.

While Helen has shimmied to umpteen songs by herself (or with a band of male dancers in attendance), there are also a fair number of songs where Helen isn’t the only woman dancing. To celebrate my favourite dancer’s 85th birthday, I thought, it would be fun to come up with a list of song-and-dance sequences featuring Helen with another actress.

But a simple ‘Helen-and-another-actress’ song list would be too easy. So, to make it a little more challenging for myself, I decided to impose two rules in addition to my usual guidelines (which are that the film in question should be from before the 70s, and one that I’ve seen):

(a) The actress should be someone I can name
(b) No two songs should be picturized on the same actress with Helen; Helen should be the common dancer.

Here goes, then, in no particular order:

1. Kya ho phir jo din rangeela ho (Nau Do Gyaarah, 1957): With Shashikala. Helen, in her early days, was invariably allotted one typical role: the dancer. Even in slightly later films, where she got rather more substantial roles, it was pretty much impossible to imagine Helen not having at least one dance to her credit.

Shashikala, on the other hand, played a staggeringly wide range of roles—all the way from heroine (Aab-e-Hayat) to shrewish second lead (Apne Hue Paraaye, Hariyaali aur Raasta) to sweet sister or friend (Junglee, Sujata, Anupama)—to vamp, as in Nau Do Gyaarah, where she played the greedy hotel dancer who, in cahoots with her lover (played by Jeevan), sets out to nab a wealthy estate. Kya ho phir jo din rangeela ho, a fabulously seductive club song, brings Shashikala and Helen together—this being Helen’s only appearance in the film. She provides a curvy and very young counterpoint to the relatively sleek and sophisticated-looking Shashikala, and even though the two of them never appear in the same frame together, this is one gem of a song.

2. Aji chale aao (Halaku, 1956): With Minoo Mumtaz. Another of those innumerable films in which Helen appears basically only to dance, Halaku had some good music—including this very popular song featuring Helen and Minoo Mumtaz as two street singers/dancers. While the audience is mostly fairly involved (one of them even getting up, eager to join in the dance), others go about their somewhat suspect business. And the two girls, now and then with a few extras joining in for a quick twirl before they disappear, go on singing and dancing.

3. Na na na re na na haath na lagaana (Taj Mahal, 1963): With Madhumati. Madhumati (who looked sufficiently like Helen to fool many people into thinking that they were actually sisters) never quite made it into the same league as Helen (come to think, no other dancer did). But she danced alongside Helen in several well-known dances. I was torn between this one and Huzoor-e-vaala jo ho ijaazat from Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi, and finally settled for this one—mostly because it’s different from the rather more typical club/party sort of dance that Huzoor-e-vaala represents. Set in the Rajput court at Udaipur, where a rebellious Khurram (later to be the emperor Shahjahan) has arrived, seeking shelter from his father Jahangir, Na na na re na na is the entertainment provided by two dancers at the court. While they’re both obviously women, Madhumati dresses as a man and acts the flirtatious passerby to Helen’s pretty girl, who warns him: Don’t touch me, or I’ll abuse you (yes, as if that will be much use).

4. Main albeli pyaar jataakar (Shikar, 1968): With Bela Bose. Considering Bela Bose was among the more prominent dancers of the 60s, it’s a little surprising that she’s not often seen with Helen in the same dance (though she shines, on her own or with other dancers like Madhumati and Laxmi Chhaya, in several songs). Bela Bose and Helen can be seen in Cha Cha Cha, while the credits roll (sadly, not to an accompanying song—just music). In this song from Shikar, they do get to dance together for a while, even though Helen, as the urban glamour girl, holds centre stage. She is enough of an attraction for Bela’s tribal girl to start getting pretty annoyed—until Helen pulls her onto the ‘dance floor’ and they get to compare thumkas. Good, peppy song, and both Bela Bose and Helen are vivacity itself.

5. Tumko piya dil diya kitne naaz se (Shikari, 1963): With Ragini. From Shikar to Shikari (and, a brief aside: Shikar is a very good thriller, Shikari is a loony trying-to-be-high-adventure film that is a damp squib but has fabulous music by GS Kohli). Here Helen teams up with the film’s heroine, Ragini, in a lovely duet. The two (dressed like mirror images—Ragini in red with a white odhni, Helen in white with a red odhni) match steps perfectly. There’s so much grace here, so much energy, and you realize just how versatile Helen was. She could be the slinky cabaret dancer most Hindi film viewers are familiar with, but she could also dance ‘traditional’ very well indeed.

6. Peeke hum toh chale (Gumnaam, 1965): With Nanda. A song and dance with a difference. Nanda, despite having acted as the eponymous nartaki, was really more of an actress than a dancer, so this ‘dance’, so to say, is not too difficult for her character. She is one of two women, the other being the glamorous Kitty (Helen), in a group of people who find themselves stranded on a deserted island and with a mysterious killer prowling about, picking off the members of the group one after another… to try and get over their terror, the women take to drink. They end up pretty tipsy, and happy enough to sing and dance about it. The dancing is minimal, really, but Helen looks so pretty even when she’s acting drunk.

7. Aaye haaye dilruba (Dr Vidya, 1962): With Vyjyanthimala. Helen teams up with another stalwart dancer-actress, in a song and dance to show the difference between the East and the West (with, naturally, the ‘modern’ West being depicted as frivolous and shallow, while the stay-at-home, steadfast lover of the East embodies all the virtues). Helen begins this dance as a solo. Vyjyanthimala, who plays her friend in Dr Vidya (a friend whose marriage is pretty much wrecked because of Helen’s character), is cheesed off by the egoism inherent in the song, and when egged on by her friends to oppose it, does so—by going up on stage and singing and dancing as well. I think the two women look lovely here, and dance very well too. You can see the slight difference in their dancing styles: there’s definitely a trace of Indian classical dance in Vyjyanthimala’s moves, for example.  

8. Hum tumhaare hain zara (Chalti ka Naam Gaadi, 1958): With Cuckoo. What list of dance songs featuring Helen with another female dancer could be complete without a Helen-and-Cuckoo song? Cuckoo Moray was the one who brought Helen into the Hindi film industry in 1951 with films like Shabistan and Awara—in both of which Helen was part of the chorus. By 1958 (the same year that Helen really made her presence felt with the smash hit Mera naam Chin Chin Choo, from Howrah Bridge), Helen was emerging as a prominent dancer in her own right. Here, she teams up with Cuckoo in a wonderful mujra. The synchronization of their movements is excellent, and you can see just how good Helen and Cuckoo are together.

9. Hamaar kahaa maano rajaji (Dulhan ek Raat ki, 1967): With Laxmi Chhaya. Among the more accomplished dancers of the 60s in Hindi cinema, one of my top favourites is the effervescent Laxmi Chhaya. While she appeared in one of my favourite Helen films (Teesri Manzil), oddly enough, Laxmi Chhaya did no dancing there, except for a little incidental shake-a-leg among the crowd near the end of Aaja aaja main hoon pyaar tera. In the year following Teesri Manzil, however, she teams up with Helen for this dance in Dulhan ek Raat ki. They act the pretty standard naachne-gaanewaalis of the Hindi cinema of that period; nothing exceptional there—but they’re well-synchronized.

10. Baaje mori paayal chhanan-chhanan (Das Lakh, 1966): With Babita. Babita isn’t one of my favourites, but there’s no denying that she did act in a fair number of films in the latter half of the 60s, opposite some of the leading men of the time. Here, in Das Lakh, her character and Helen’s team up to perform onstage in a dance-off that is meant for charity. While it starts off in what looks like an obvious (as it’s billed) ‘Indian and Western Dance Competition’, it eventually changes into a more synchronized dance where both dancers dress similarly and mirror their moves.

Do you have any other songs to add to this list? Please share!

24 thoughts on “Helen and another Actress: Ten Dance Songs”

  1. Great list!! With two of my absolute favourites, ‘Kya ho phir jo din rangeela ho’ and ‘Hum tumhaare hain zara’, and also a lot of new songs for me to listen to. Wonderful tribute to Helen, outstanding job as always Ma’am!

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  2. Great list Madhuji!
    Yesterday I told you about my misplaced list of Helen songs. I obviously couldn’t find it.
    But I think, the overlapped songs were
    Hum tumhare hain zara
    Aaye Haye dilruba
    I think I had, Huzoor e wala (the screenshot in your post) on my list.
    Let me think if I can add songs.
    :-)

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  3. I always read your blog and it is great! Responding for the first time. It is a fantastic list ! One of my favourite is ” mukabala hamse Na Karo” from Prince with Vyjayantimala.

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    • Muqabla humse na karo is a nice song, but since it also features a major actor, I didn’t know where to slot it – in this post or in my upcoming post (which is of her songs/dances with major actors). But I’m happy you posted it!

      Glad you enjoyed this post, thank you for the appreciation.

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  4. Great write up, Madhu ! You included two of my favourite Helen songs….. “Main albeli pyaar jata kar” in which the chorus with the male dancers is awesome. And “Tumko piya dil diya” in which Helen and Ragini seemed to have exchanged dupattas ! Didn’t you remeber “Muqaabla ham se na karo” from “Prince” where Helen and Vyjayanthimala compete with each other ? Also in “Dus Lakh” there’s another Helen and Babita dance , “Agre ka Lala angrezi dulhan laaya re” in which Helen sings to a sleeping Babita in Asha Bhonsle’s voice, the famous “Mere Mehboob ” song…. only in this one she says “Ae husn zaraa jaag tujhe ishq jagaaye, deewana tere liye laaya hai Lipton ki chaaye” ! In “Pagla Kahin Ka” There’s a lovely song with the roles reversed. Here Helen is getting married to someone she doesn’t love and Madhumati sings and dances at her wedding . The song is “Suno zindagi gaati hai” which has amazing prelude music.

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    • Thank you, Pradeep! I’m glad you enjoyed this post. And thank you for all the songs you’ve mentioned – some of them I remembered, but there were others (the one from Pagla Kahin Ka, for one) which I’d completely forgotten, even though I’ve seen the film.

      Muqabla humse na karo is an unusual song for me, because it would fit two song lists: this one, and my upcoming list, which features Helen dance songs with a major actor. I couldn’t figure out where to put it, so I decided to omit it altogether, given that Helen with Vjyanthimala is here, and Helen with Shammi Kapoor is in the next list!

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  5. great post celebrating helen ji. really sorry,but to be honest i didn’t knew that helen was alive. :(
    also my favourite pair of dancing damsels is that sequence from yahudi: “bechain dil khoyi si nazar”
    ah! the beats and singing, ofc the dance and picturisation too. one is cuckoo, other one ?idk.
    going off topic:
    madam have you reviewed aman, film of 1967. that anti war and nuclear disarmament rhetoric one? personally, all this deterrence and world war things were incomprehensible for indian audience that time, and the film failed. but it was a success in foreign lands. Quoting from rajendra kumar’s biography:
    “Aman released in May 1967. It was a very good film, but it didn’t run. For the Indian audience, the film was far ahead of its time. It enjoyed success mostly in Iran, Lebanon, Egypt and so on. Iranians would rush towards me, exclaiming, ‘Aga Kumar, yallahyallah! Aman, yallahyallah!’
    my view is that all this cold war days, can be summed up in a sentence” it could have happened so much, happpened nothing”, and on these lines the NCERT has thick chapters for schoolgoers to learn and decipher(indeed!)
    please dont bother my horrible jumps from one topic to another, my comment is too poorly structured. just expressed what was in mind
    good day!

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    • Lol to that comment about not knowing Helen was still alive! :-D

      Glad you enjoyed this post, though. Thank you for reading.

      I haven’t reviewed Aman, though I’ve seen the film, many many years back. My memories of it aren’t good: it’s so preachy, and Rajendra Kumar (not one of my favourites) is really irritating in it, so I’ve never had the desire to rewatch the film. Which is a shame, because the message of the film is a good one. I wish it had been more subtle.

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  6. Another admirable post just like its predecessor. In the description of the third song, you have mentioned the Rajput court at Udaipur where a rebellious Salim has arrived, seeking shelter from his father Akbar. Actually, it’s Khurram (later Shahjehan) seeking shelter from his father Jehangir.

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  7. Not a favourite of mine, but this one song “Deep Jale Dekho” from Dil Daulat Duniya (1972) had Sadhana, Helen and Bela Bose performing. And then there’s “Kaise Rahoon Chup” from Inteqam (1969)….well that had Helen literally doing nothing except occassionally pouring “apple juice disguised as alcohol” into Sadhana’s glass and giving cheers.

    https://youtu.be/5eNqwidOf34?feature=shared

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    • Thank you for these! Both these songs were on my shortlist, but I ended up dropping them. Kaise rahoon chup I dropped because Helen doesn’t dance in this, not even a little, and Deep jale dekho simply because it’s not a very nice song. But as an example of Helen and Sadhana sharing screen space, it certainly deserves to be there.

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  8. Really nice list, Madhu. If I had done a “Helen and another Actress” list, I think I would have included several of these too – especially that Helen and Vyjayanthimala dance-off from my old YouTube channel. :)Regarding Helen and Cuckoo, I certainly like the dance in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, and it’s great to see them do a semi-classical mujra, but the first dance of theirs that I think of is the highly energetic one in Yahudi.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF9fglyFUxQ

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    • I saw a notification in my mail that you’d commented on this post, and (without reading your comment), I was wondering if you’d managed to find a Helen and Padmini song! :-) I have to admit I searched a lot, but couldn’t find one.

      Bechain dil koi si nazar is a really good dance, thank you for adding that. And for the appreciation; I’m glad you enjoyed this, Richard.

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  9. Thoroughly enjoyable..
    I’d like to add here a sequence from the movie Cha Cha Cha , which had Helen as a the main female lead. Otherwise an insignificant movie , it sank without a trace I suspect, but the music was great and the lyricists even greater. But here the sequence i talk of is right in the beginning of the film, right after credits, with Helen , Bela Bose and a brief snippet of Aruna Irani , all doing the Cha Cha Cha . It is almost a two minute pure western dance sequence , which is unusual for a Hindi film of those times. Attaching the link to the full movie here, where the sequence appears at around 2.14 mts.

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