Bela Bose is a former Indian actress and dancer. While the date of her birth is unconfirmed, some sources place her at the age of 17 in 1962, while others at a few years older. At any rate, she began her career in the film industry from a very young age, while she was still studying. Her father’s death and the need for a family income were what motivated her to take this path.

Her first film was Ek Phool Char Kante (1960), in which she had a few lines of dialogue and some dance sequences. In her earlier projects, her primary status in films was as a group dancer, gradually moving on to solo performances and finally to acting roles. In 1962, she worked on what is often thought to be her first film, the Guru Dutt starrer Sautela Bhai (1962).

While Bela also acted on stage in Bengali theatre, it was her on-screen career that grew to be a prolific one, particularly until the year 1966. She worked on multiple projects at a time, becoming recognized for her dance and character acting. Some of her noteworthy appearances were for films like Hawa Mahal (1962), Professor (1962), Bandini (1963), Ziddi (1964), and Chitralekha (1964). It is suggested that she actually appeared in many more films than she has been popularly credited with.

In 1967, Bela got married to Ashish Kumar Sengupta, and though she continued to work in the film industry long after, the quantity of her work slowly declined. It was however, in these relatively less busy years that she appeared in some of her more memorable roles, including those in films like Dil Aur Mohabbat (1968), Jeene Ki Raah (1969), and Jai Santoshi Maa (1975). The last of these, in which she played a negative role – that of Durga – was perhaps one of her most substantial ones in terms of acting.

By the late seventies and early eighties, Bela’s film career had taken a definite back seat, and she soon stopped appearing in new releases altogether. She had, however, worked in close to a hundred and fifty films by this time, and had earned plenty of recognition for her talents and unique style.