Geeta Bali

Geeta Bali (1930 - January 21, 1965) was born in a Mohyal family in pre-partition Punjab as Harkirtan Kaur, a Sikh. Her family moved to Bombay and were living in near poverty when she started to get breaks in films. She became a star in the 1950s. In 1955 she married Shammi Kapoor who was 1 year younger than her but not yet a star. She had also worked earlier with her future brother-in-law Raj Kapoor in Bawre Nain and with her future father-in-law Prithviraj Kapoor in Anand Math. Unlike other actresses who gave up films after marrying into the Kapoor family, Bali kept acting until her death. Her secretary was Surinder Kapoor, father of producer Boney Kapoor and actor Anil Kapoor.She had two children with Shammi, before she died on January 21, 1965 of smallpox. She left behind a son Aditya aged 8 and a daughter Kanchan aged 3.

Later her niece Yogeeta Bali also made it into films.

Films

Some of her hit films are "Bawre Nain" with future brother-in-law Raj Kapoor, Baazi (1951 film) with Dev Anand, Baaz with Guru Dutt, Jaal, Albela with Bhagwan Dada. She received a Filmfare Nomination as Best Actress for Vachan (1955) and another nomination as Best Supporting Actress for Kavi (1955).

External links

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* http://www.junglee.org.in/sk.html
* http://www.rediff.com/movies/2002/apr/09dinesh.htm