Kalpana Mohan

Kalpana Mohan Biography

Kalpana Mohan was a heroine of Bollywood 1960’s. She is better known for her lead role opposite Shammi Kapoor in 1962 Super hit movie – Professor. Songs like E-Gulbadan, Aawaz Deke Humein Tum Bulao, Mein chali chali and Khuli Palak Mein Jhoota Gussa of the movie were huge chartbusters during the period. She appeared as one among the three heroines of Dev Anand’s classic – Teen deviyan and has also appeared in Shashi Kapoor super comedy movie, Pyar kiya jaa. Later she settled with family life and moved away from the industry. She was married to top Indian film writer, Sachin Bhowmick who wrote the stories for Aradhana, Golmaal, Karz, Karma, Caravan, Bhrahmachari, An evening in Paris etc and most recently, Koi mil gaya and Krish for Hritik. But their divorce let to her breakdown and later she lived alone in Kalyaninagar till she died in 2012, aged 65. She had been battling cancer for five years. She was also an accomplished Kathak dancer trained under Pandit Shambhu Maharaj.

Kalpana was born on 23 August 1946 in Srinagar. Kalpana had a brief but successful stint in Bollywood in the 60s and 70s starring opposite two top stars of the time – Dev Anand and Shammi Kapoor. Those movies were successful too. She has also acted in movies like - Naughty Boy, Saheli, Tasveer, Teesra kaun, Nawab Sirajuddaula and Biwi aur makaan. Her father, Avani Mohan, a freedom fighter, was close to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. As a trained Kathak dancer, she was often invited at Rashtrapati Bhavan by Nehru for giving dance performance. She was spotted by actor Balraj Sahani and Urdu writer Ismat Chughtai. When they encouraged her to come to Mumbai, she accepted and thus ‘Professor’ happened to her.

She married for the first time in 1967 to an army officer, but divorced in 1972. Later she married story writer, Sachin Bhowmick. But that marriage too, ended in a divorce. During the last phase of her life, she registered a cheating case against three persons over a plot of land in Mulshi, which they were alleged to have sold to Sahara City using forged documents. When she died, it was kept away from media’s eyes by her Preeti Mansukhani and son-in-law Harish as many were eyed on her property.

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Updated: January 18, 2014