Farewell Shakila...

Devesh Sharma profiles yesteryear actress Shakila, who passed away recently

- Devesh Sharma

Whenever the songs of C.I.D. are played on radio, the fragile heroine featured in the number comes to mind. The porcelain beauty was Shakila, who passed away recently at the age of 82, due to a massive heart attack.

Shakila was the film's heroine but the focus, inadvertently, got shifted to producer Guru Dutt’s protégé Waheeda Rehman. Interestingly, the latter had a grey-shaded role in the thriller. Shakila went on to become a close friend and confidante of Waheeda later. In fact, her friendship with Waheeda, Nanda and Jabeen Jalil was well-known. It’s said that during their younger days, the foursome used to go out to eat and even visited theatres to watch films donning burkhas. The friendship continued down-the-years as well, with the comrades extending emotional support to each other in difficult times.