Geeta Bali became jealous of Mala Sinha, locked herself in a room and wept after witnessing her talent: ‘She will replace me’

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Kidar Sharma agreed, and was surprised to see how devoted the young Mala was. She would show up daily for rehearsals, impressing one and all. “One thing I remember about her was that when I asked her how many paranthas she wanted for lunch, she would ask for 10. She said, ‘I want just one, but can I take the rest home? We don’t have enough for two meals’. I liked this about her. She was superb, and I knew that she was very talented.” A few weeks later, he said, Geeta paid him a visit to ask how Mala was coming along.

Actors Mala Sinha and Shammi Kapoor facing the camera, Chand Usmani holding the clap-stick and Geeta Bali switching on the camera during the muhurat of film Rangin Raaten. (Express Archive)

He continued, “She asked, ‘Has my daughter learnt anything?’ and I said that she had done wonderfully. I asked Mala to perform a scene for Geeta. She was embarrassed, but I reminded her that she needs to soldier on. She touched Geeta’s feet, smeared the dirt beneath her feet on her forehead, and performed the scene with aplomb. But immediately, Geeta got up, walked off, and locked herself in the next room. She didn’t utter a word, but she couldn’t handle what she’d seen. Mala was worried what she’d done. I told her not to worry.”

Kidar Sharma knocked on Geeta’s door, and asked what had happened. She said, “Maine bola tha isse sikhaiye, yeh nahi bola tha ke itna sikhaiye ki meri zarurat na rahe (I asked you to train her, I didn’t ask you to train her so well that I am no longer needed)’.” Geeta threatened to quit, and Kidar Sharma told her that she was welcome to leave if she wanted to. They had already had a falling out previously, when Geeta became an overnight star, lost it all, and returned to him for work. He offered her a supporting role in Rangin Raaten, which Geeta accepted. Not long afterwards, Geeta married Shammi Kapoor and stepped away from the films. She died at the age of 34 due to smallpox.

Geeta Bali second from left, Mala Sinha and Chand Usmani on the set of a film Rangin Raaten. (Express Archive)

In his final interview, conducted by Shashi Ranjan for the show Ek Mulaqat, Kidar Sharma recalled his first interaction with a young Geeta. “She wasn’t educated, she came from nothing. But she knew that if she works hard, nobody can stop her. There used to be a dance master named Pandit Gyan Shankar, and he came to me one day with folded hands. He said, ‘Sharma ji, there is a poor girl named Geeta. She and her blind father have been living in a house next to the railway tracks. Please, could you come meet her, she is like my child. There was no place for me to even sit. They place a slab of wood, and covered it with a sheet, and asked me to sit there. And the second I sat down, I saw the girl I’d come to meet. That was Geeta. I selected her,” he said.