Vamps in Bollywood

The recent blitzkrieg on the electronic media around the lady companion ( or is it adopted daughter?) of a Godman-turned-Rapist has strengthened the view that women are no more the weaker sex. In fact,  they are proving the proverbial phrase of  "kandhe se kandha mila kar kaam karna" right all the time !

In Bollywood too, the villains have often been supported by their Mona darlings ( as Ajit used to address his molls) but there have been actresses who have played fulkl-fledged roles of vamps on their own. They knew how to scheme, bitch and honey-trap the straight guy, normally the hero !

Let us retrieve the  memories of  the actresses playing vamps in film after film, down the years. 

The first name that comes to mind is no doubt, Nadira. A jew by birth, she had the looks and demenaour of the agressive woman who dominated the frame in which she appeared.

The villainous role of mother-in -law was almost copyrighted by none other than Lalia pawar. In the films of 50s to 70s, she single handedly destroyed many "sati-savitri" bahus by turning their simple husbands against them. Her physical appearance of a defective eye came in handy, giving her the manipulative edge , which convinced the audience that she is indeed the source of all that is villainous in the film. In the social/family dramas, ther was no need of a villain , if Lalita pawar was in the cast. 

While on the topic of social/ family dramas, one can not but remember Manorama , whose devilish eyes and smile were always in sync. She played the evil chachi/mausi/bhabhi, much to the discomfort of her victims, the unsuspecting relatives at the receiving end. 

Shashikala was another significant actress in the 60s who excelled in playing negative roles like jealous sister, wayward wife or a flirtatious socialite.

Helen had been a dancer and an integral part of the cast of films requiring a cabaret song. However, she also got   cameos as the vilaain's moll ( who has eyes for the dashing hero, and often sacrifices herself , taking the bullet meant for him) or a freelancing rogue agent. Her seductive skills were often called for and unless the hero was a tough nut, they were mostly successful. Check out Helen seducing Ashok Kumar in this song. 

The one actress who started to give Helen a run for her money was Bindu. Already married with kids, she had entered Hindi film industry quite late, but made up for the delay by bagging roles of scheming Bahu ( remember Do Raaste?) and young murderous wife of an old man (Joshila!), apart from other characters of dubious nature. 
Of course, she never got Lalita Pawar as her mom-in-law ( it would have been a treat to watch the duo scheming  against each other, no holds barred !). She had Achala Sachdeva or Nirupa Roy as her helpless mom-in-law who, in the interest of their sons, kept on tolerating the ignominies thrusted on them. 

Bindu played the seductress equally easily, almost effortlessly and her voluptous figure was instrumental in her getting such roles. 

Aruna Irani also played the scorned woman ( hell hath no fury, as you all know) to perfection amongst other  roles requiring her to inconvenience the heroines. In latter years she played a dominating mother in law in Beta, giving an exemplary performance.

Padma Khanna was another actress with a great figure , who shot to limelight with her strip tease in Johny Mera naam, but went on to play a lot of characters  including  bar dancer, con-woman  and the other woman.
                    

The list of actresses playing negative roles is quite long and each archetypal role got a newer actress to essay it. Faryal, Laxmi Chhaya, Kalpana Iyer, Shoma Anand in the 70s and 80s and Kashmeera Shah, Supriya Karnik and Mahie Gill have been playing vamps in layer years.

There have been heroines taking up negative roles too ( Priety Zinta in Armaan, Kajol in Gupt and Priyanka Chopra in Aitraaz are a few examples) , but that is a different story.

With the lead actresses exhibiting characteristics which were attributed to vamps at one time, the typecasted vamps have gone out of reckoning, at least in Bollywood!