Pakeezah Actress Geeta Kapoor, Abandoned by Son, Finds Help

Wednesday, 31 May 2017

Filmmakers line up to her aid

A few days ago, the sorry plight of Geeta Kapoor, a 58-year-old former actress who did a small role in the cult classic Pakeezah and several other films, made headlines. Geeta had been abandoned by her son who works as a choreographer. Apparently, the son had gotten her admitted to a hospital in Mumbai but left under the pretext of withdrawing money from the ATM and did not return. Her bills were unpaid while Geeta herself was drowning in depression after realising that her son had left her for good.
But now there is some hope to the story. After her condition was highlighted in the media, some filmmakers have come forward to help and take care of her bills. Filmmakers Ashoke Pandit and Ramesh Taurani are two among them who rushed to the hospital after hearing the news. A report in Indian Express says that her pending dues of INR 1.5 lakhs were taken care of by the filmmakers. However, there is another hurdle. They need to get an NOC (No Objection Certificate) from the son if she is to be transferred to an old age home.
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Unfortunately, her son has been missing and the police have yet not found him. Geeta, say reports, have been crying incessantly though her health condition has improved. Ashoke Pandit says that he wants to ensure that Geeta can live with dignity from hereon and he will try his best to get her admitted to one. “Geetaji is getting better but she continuously keeps crying and folds her hands when she sees people visiting her, as if she is telling them not to beat her up. Every time I see her like this I wonder if she was being tortured at home. I am just hoping that we get the NOC, so we can send her to a better place,” he has been quoted as saying.   
Geeta Kapoor has not just acted in Pakeezah but around 20-25 other films where she was a junior artiste. Her condition has once again highlighted the lack of security or a safety mechanism for senior actors, especially non A-listers, in Bollywood.