“When it All Began: The Untold Stories of the Underworld.”
Bollywood’s most iconic dancers, actress Helen had faced personal crisis long before she had gained fame in the film industry. She was married to film maker P.N.Arora . Things were not right between the couple and one fine day he threw her out of her own home, due to which Helen was forced to seek help from not so favorable element , Mumbai’s under world.
‘When It All Began: The Untold Stories of the Underworld”
Former Mumbai Police commissioner Rakesh Maria wrote the book , ‘When It All Began: The Untold Stories of the Underworld’ , he had penned the rise of the first generation of the dons such as Karim Lala, Haji Mastan and Dilip Aziz and the little-known facts and incidents relating to them . One such incident was Karim Lala had intervened to help Helen reclaim her house after she was thrown out by her husband Arora.
Helen’s – Behind her glamorous screen persona.
The actress who turned 87 this month was born in Rangoon in 1938, now called Myanmar. She had arrived in Bombay ( now Mumbai) to escape the wartime in Burma. Her family financial struggles led her to join films and she soon emerged as one of the most prolific dancers of the 1950’s and beyond. She acted in over 700 roles which included character roles, supporting roles and cabaret dancer in films.
Helen was at a vulnerable age when she was new in the film industry and she had entered into a relationship with a man much older than her. Arora whom she married had soon taken control of her finances and properties that she owned.
Helen who had got her first break in 1958 was just nineteen but she had started bagging good roles and had several films to her credit . However, her finances and the properties she built on her own working tirelessly in films was unfortunately in the hands of Arora who was a filmmaker but was not progressing as well in his career. He had started ill-treating her and she was suffering in silence, reads the book. Eventually the couple had parted ways after relationship had soured beyond control and the property that was rightfully hers was taken away by Arora and one day Helen was thrown out of her own home that she had built.
In a desperate situation with nobody to look up for help, she sought help from actor Dilip Kumar and writer Salim Khan , both who were her close friends in the film industry. Dilip Kumar tried to establish a contact with Karim Lala . When he was unable to reach him, he had sent a note addressed to him and asked Helen to take it to Lala herself.
Karim Lala , Bombay’s most feared crime boss
As a head of the Underworld gang, ‘Pathan Gang’, he controlled the liquor and gambling extortion rackets through the period 1960 to 1980 . He had a clout for his personal code but he was very particular about respecting women. When he came to his Darbar to attend to various issues, the gathering there who had come to meet him had recognized the distinguished woman waiting for him . Helen was a celebrity by then and Karim Lala was not a movie buff so when he read the note , he had summoned his aide to take her to his wife Fatima and he had joined the ladies after a while. Upon hearing her plight, he could sense she was not lying and was genuinely in trouble . He promised he would get her house back and asked her to reach her home after a couple of hours… says the book that Maria penned.
When she had reached her home after a couple of hours, she was in for a complete surprise. Arora had left her home leaving all her belongings and the keys with the guard. Karim Lala had done his work and as he calls it, ‘ matter pataana’, was an added to his portfolio besides his liquor dens, gambling clubs and drug narcotics.
Lala had died in 2002 which marked the end of an era in Mumbai’s crime history.
Actress Helen’s story is mentioned in the book that is officially launched in Mumbai by Penguin Random House India and is priced at Rs. 999.
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