When the face is the fortune...

The face is the index of the mind. The face can say a million stories and also reflect what on the person's mind. Face readers could tell you that! There are some who would recognize that from day one and would either be proud of their beauty or work hard on the beautification process- try and try and try to look young and beautiful as long as they could. And for people from showbiz( read actors, models and the like) it's even more important. Well their face gets them the moolah, the fame etc.

Hence the face is the fortune, more so in the entertainment industry. But then one must always admit that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.And most importantly the concept of beauty has changed over the years. And it for sure varies from country to country. In the earlier days of cinema too, the concept of beauty was different. A more conventionally beautiful face was liked by audiences and people as a whole. There wasn't much talk about hot and sexy in those days. The women had fuller figures. They didn't care too much about proportion or a washboard tummy or strong shapely legs during those days!



Indian actress Sadhana(pictured above) was considered one of the most beautiful heroines of her time when she came into limelight. Her Audrey Hepburn inspired fringe came to be known as the Sadhana cut in the early sixties. She defined fashion at that time with her tight churidar kurtas. I'm sure there were many men during those times who drooled over her stunning beauty. But one stroke of bad luck changed it all. The fringe remained but things changed by the late sixties for the actress. Sadhana is said to have had a major thyroid problem and more so it affected her eyes which were considered the most beautiful features on her face. There's much talk about the problem even now as there were( and still are on some discussions boards and articles online) talks about her having protruding eyes and a bloated face on screen.

The misfortune has been credited to exophthalmic goitre (Thyroid related problem) by some who did the research on her condition. She had moved to Boston for eye treatment and when she came back, it's said she lost many offers. How hard it must have been for the once upon a time beauty! 'Inteqaam' in 1969, "Ek Phool Do Mali" in 1969, "Geeta Mera Naam" were some of her post thyroid films and the difference was clearly seen. By the end of it, only the fringe was there and the charm was gone. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the difference. After the film "Geeta Mera Naam" she stopped acting saying she wanted her fans to remember her as a beautiful young lady. She was barely seen in media circles after that. She went through miscarriages but remained with husband RK Nayyar as long as he lived.

Well, after a long sabbatical she recently got photographed by the media(that's around 35 years later, some two months back to watch her relative Kareena Kapoor's 'We are Family') with some of her old colleagues- Waheeda Rehman,Nanda, Helen and the late Raj Kapoor's wife Krishna Raj Kapoor. They all have gotten old but Sadhana the one time classic beauty has fared the worst. She's become almost unrecognizable( picture below, Sadhana is on extreme right alongside Nanda, Helen and Waheeda Rehman). Well, Sadhana's transformation has been almost complete. It happens to a lot of people and old age is inevitable, but time particularly is cruel to some even more.

We tend to talk about actors and models more often just because they are in the limelight most of the time. Talking of actors, even Sadhana's cousin Babita( Kareena's mother) hasn't aged gracefully. But in Babita's case all that happened after she quit the movies to marry into the Kapoor family and have her actress daughters Karisma and Kareena.

If it happens at the height of one's career, it's really very unfortunate and sad. That way,the few celebs that have aged gracefully are really lucky. It's Diwali( the festival of lights) time, time to remove ignorance(lighting up should actually signify that). I love the spirit of this festival and it's not just a religious time, but a time to light up and make your surroundings happy and beautiful too. And maybe I'm depressing you guys a little with some depressing talk.

But that's the reality of life and maybe we all need to talk about all that a bit. In Hollywood, the worst sufferer of something very unfortunate of that sort is my all time favorite classic actor Montgomery Clift.

Sometimes really terrible things happen to nice people. Monty Clift had a wonderfully chiseled face which captivated the hearts of millions. But one vcar crash one night in the mid 50s changed it all. It was a heart wrecking story and that coupled with some of his other psychological issues and social constraints of that time subsequently led to the sensitive actor's self destruction.



While driving back from very close friend Liz Taylor's home in the mid fifties, Clift's car hit a post and the front side crashed completely.Taylor had to take two of his teeth stuck in his throat to save his life and prevent him from choking. A long spell at the hospital did cure him but his handsome face changed forever.

And he took to drug and alcohol addiction after that to ease the pain from the accident. At that time he was shooting for 'Raintree County' and many went to see the film just to see the two different faces of Clift. It was only a downward spiral after that for the sensitive and talented method actor who was so dedicated to his art. The poor guy indeed went through a lot and my heart breaks to even talk about it.Life can be really cruel to very good people sometimes too.



Well, this video shows the transformation a bit too.



In modern times,there have been botched plastic surgeries wreaking havoc.

It's worst for a celeb. I remember when an Indian TV actress met with a terrible car crash some years back. Later she said how grateful she was that her face was saved.

She made quite a successful comeback but had grown older and had put on some weight by then and only ended up getting elderly roles from then on. Still she had reasons to be grateful.

An Indian starlet went through a major trauma just two years back when it appeared she had a botched nose job followed by a unnatural brow lift and lip work(made them look too big).

She found many detractors at that time( people can be really cruel when anyone is down and out) who called her plastic, an alien and the desi Michael Jackson. Thankfully with proper medical help she got over it all and is doing quite well with some international work too( though she doesn't look all that natural any more and there's something made up/ artificial about her face). But kudos to her bravery.

I remember when I was very young, one of our teachers, a nun had said," Don't be too proud of beauty. One bout of chicken pox and it would end. Instead try being a good person."

I recalled that almost all the time when I actually got it not too long ago and was terrified. A few others have reported feeling the same during an illness of that sort which temporarily disfigures one. Believe me, it's a disgusting feeling mixed with fear, apprehension and sadness.


Well, I always try to be a better person and value my good heart but valued my face too which brought me far in my life( in terms of work and betterment of life) though I never considered myself conventionally very beautiful. Others calling you pretty, sexy or beautiful is better than blowing your own trumpet.

One needs to be grateful to God, is they have some of that. Looking good helps to build one's overall personality too.

Thankfully the nightmare got over and I could look nice again.

In life nothing is permanent and the same goes for beauty. Many people have lost theirs with age.

So ego and arrogance over it makes no sense at all. In fact one should enjoy it gracefully as long as it lasts and maybe try to make it last( even by natural means) as long as they can. And then age gracefully for sure, physically, mentally and spiritually.

Well,only the truly wise have come to terms with and accepted this fact!