Actor Helen looked back on her ‘humble beginnings’, and how she trekked for nine months across rugged terrain to enter India from her birth country Myanmar (then Burma). She said that the journey was arduous, and claimed the life of her sibling.
Helen was speaking to Arbaaz Khan for his new chat show The Invincibles on Bollywood Bubble. He asked her about her youth and struggle, and Helen said, “Arbaaz, all this credit goes to my mother. I don’t remember much. Little incidents, here and there, I do remember. This was during the Japanese invasion. About 300-350 people migrated. In my family, there was my mother, my little brother, myself. We were both little, and my mother was pregnant, too. And she lost my little sister there.”
She continued, “When we went to the Burma airport, to catch the last flight, the Japanese came and bombed that aircraft. I remember one incident, when the bombing was being done on the airport, she (our mother) just put herself on top of us to shield us. I remember that very vividly, but I don’t recall much of what happened after that… But my mother said we got together, and we started walking, out of Burma.” Helen said that the trek lasted nine months.
She said that even though she isn’t religious, she is a spiritual person. After crossing the border into India, they entered Assam, and from there, they went to Kolkata. Helen broke into the film industry as a chorus dancer, and began doing bit parts in movies. She later became known for her special dance numbers in films, often eclipsing the lead heroines. She is married to Salim Khan.