About yesteryear dance Cuckoo/Cukoo
Shakes
I think she was fabulous. Esp. her dances in "Barsaat", "Andaz". She
was good looking and graceful.
Wiki doesn't give too much info except that she was an Anglo-Indian
and that she passed away in 1981.
Does anybody know her real name, her personal life etc. ?
thanks,
Shekar.
vrk
iirc cuckoo was instrumental in getting helen a break in aawaara. but
here is an article on cineplot website which suggests her real name
was cuckoo moray.
Cuckoo was perhaps the first of the most well known dancing queens of
Indian Cinema. Her predecessors were many, including a dancer called
Azurie, who it is said Cuckoo modeled herself on. But in terms of the
sheer body of work and its impact, Cuckoo would have to be the first
among Hindi cinema’s dancing queens. It was with her that “cabaret”
became an almost indispensable part of films made between the 1950s
and 1970s.
It was 1944. The talkies were already around for 15 years. Devika Rani
and Shobana Samarth had already established their glowing presence but
it was still a time when nice girls didn’t even become leading ladies,
let alone do roles where they had to wriggle their hips — however
tastefully — and bare flesh, which at the time meant shoulders and
maybe a bit of leg. At such a time, a pretty, fresh-faced Anglo-Indian
girl with eyes that danced as enchantingly as her feet appeared in two
films — “Pehli Nazar” (in which Mukesh made his debut with “Dil Jalta
hai toh jalne de”) and “Mujrim.” The girl’s name in the film’s credits
was listed simply as “Cuckoo.”
Like a lot of the history of early Hindi cinema, Cuckoo remains in the
shadows and little is known about her or even her real name. Except
that her always graceful, sometimes languorous, sometimes naughty, but
always seductive screen presence became a must that drew in the
audiences for almost 20 years. Her debut in 1944 was an instant hit
and in the space of just the next five years, she had appeared in an
incredible 49 films, including Mehboob Khan’s “Anokhi Ada” (1948), H.
S. Rawail’s “Patanga” (1949) and Devendra Goel’s “Aankhen” (1950). The
only major filmmaker of the time who did not feature Cuckoo in his
films was V. Shantaram. In a lot of her films, her role was just a
song but its impact was so electrifying that distributors considered
it almost as indispensable as the heroine. Like the Helen-Asha
combination later on, in many of these songs, Cuckoo’s screen `voice’
was Shamshad Begum. Together, they were responsible for some
unforgettable hits.
Mehboob Khan’s films proved to be the turning points in Cuckoo’s
career. Her dance numbers in his Anokhi Ada established her as the
leading dancer of the time; and Andaz, a romantic melodrama featuring
Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, and Nargis, gave the dancer an opportunity to
showcase her acting skills.
Cuckoo remained the top dancer of Hindi films till she was displaced
by Helen and such dancer-actresses as Vyjayanthimala. Ironically, it
was Cuckoo who had initiated a 13-year-old Helen into films as a
chorus dancer.
Cuckoo continued to dance until the beginning of the 1960s, the last
few years as part of the chorus.
Did you know?
It has been recently confirmed that Cuckoo’s real name was Cuckoo
Moray.
Cuckoo died a slow lingering death, penniless and unattended.
Sukesh
Cuckoo in Pardes (1950)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXaI5PySRtQ
Helen & Cuckoo together
Yahudi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buymSbVj2as
Chalti Ka Naam Gadi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Y2dCIY920
any more instances of the two dancing together!
Regards
Sukesh
Jay
Do not trust anyone saying anything or posting anything
bakwas...without unravelling. This includes me too. But, I have the
decency to tell it on the forum - thats the difference.
We used to reside at 14th Road, Khar (W) since birth from 1936 or so,
even when I was not born. On the 15th Road, the now famous Khar
Gymkhana used to be there - a huge playground where cricket used to be
played. Just opposite to our small one room+kitchen on the ground
floor there was one posh building, known as Kerawala House, of two
floors that used to be occupied by film stars mostly then during the
'50s. I was then just nine yrs old .
This building, I remember vividly; the top floor, was occupied by,
Producer/Director Harbans ( who had produced BETAB ('53); LAKEEREN
('54),etc and the flat adjacent to him was occupied by comedien:
Randhir and his family.. The ground floor was occupied dancer actress
Cuckoo, who mostly used to be dressed in long skirt and always a 555-
cigarette tinbox in her hand. Her brother, aged 22 or so was called
Babul - a rough character, an old mother and father also used to
occupy the entire ground floor. In those days, Producer/Director
B.Mitra was a regular visitor to her house even at midnight. He used
to sit , perched outside the window and carry on conversation with
Cuckoo for hours together till 4am.
But , I remember the entire family members used to speak only in
English only - guess they were Catholics
15/1
surjit singh
> But , I remember the entire family members used to speak only in
> English only - guess they were Catholics
>
> 15/1
Thanks. So did you ever find out her real name?
vrk
thanks for sharing this.
but what portion of the cineplot article are you challenging as
untrue. while i certainly am not privy to the length of cuckoo's skirt
or the roughness of her brother (who was named after her father (:)) -
i was unable to find anything in the post contrary to the facts given
on the cineplot site.
on a lighter note, it would certainly not be convenient to have a
husband called babul or a wife called anuja :(
Jay
I have seen Cuckoo from very close - mouth awfully smelling of
cigarettes. . As a youngster , I knew only that she used to act in
films.
Your question is asking for 'inputs' of her as a dancer. How do you
expect me to know about her dancing or acting at that young age. From
the present distance of TIME, your question is justifiable - but I
have no interest on their activities.
My subject is only Cine/Non-Cine Music .
15/1
Afzal A. Khan
I remember reading somewhere that she was actually Jewish.
Although principally a dancer, she had some credentials as
an actress too. I vaguely remember a film where she did a
role as a movie/stage actress who was actually bald and used
a wig. And in one scene, the wig comes off. And this was not
meant to evoke laughter, but a certain amount of pathos. The
role had psychological undertones. Perhaps Madhubala was the
leading lady in that film. But the memory is so hazy that I
could be completely wrong.
She had fallen upon very lean days after her career had come
to an end. She was afflicted with Cancer and died of this
dreaded disease. It is said that Premnath, who had appeared
with her in "Barsaat", helped her a great deal during her
terminal illness and last days.
Afzal
Sukesh
Any from the following?
Khazana
Rail Ka Dibba
Nishaan
Saqi
Nazneen
Regards
Sukesh
Abhay Jain
"vrk" wrote in message
news:15d32fa8-7654-41a1...@g26g2000vba.googlegroups.com...
> Cuckoo remained the top dancer of Hindi films till she was displaced
>by Helen and such dancer-actresses as Vyjayanthimala. Ironically, it
>was Cuckoo who had initiated a 13-year-old Helen into films as a
>chorus dancer.
Which film did she introduce Helen?
My understanding was that Helen was introduced in Mayur Pankh.
AJ
