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There was a time when a handful of faces ruled Indian cinema—arriving like a storm, altering the landscape, and leaving behind echoes that refused to fade. Some stayed. Some disappeared. And then there were those who, even after stepping away, somehow remained. Kalpana Iyer belongs to that rare last category.
Decades after she set screens alight with songs like “Hari Om Hari”, “Rambha Ho”, and “Jab Chhaye Tera Jadoo”, she continues to live on in collective memory. And recently, when a spontaneous recreation of “Rambha Ho” at a family wedding went viral, it felt less like nostalgia and more like a reminder: some stars never really dim. They simply wait.
Yet, just when the world believed Kalpana Iyer was at the peak of her career, she felt unseen—and chose to walk away. Not just from the industry, but from the country itself.
A love story before the movies
Kalpana Iyer’s story begins even before she was born. Her parents—Tamil Iyers from Tamil Nadu—eloped to get married. Film lovers at heart, they named their firstborn after Dev Anand’s film Kalpana. What they couldn’t have known was that cinema would one day give their daughter a life far bigger than imagination—bringing her face-to-face with legends like Dilip Kumar, Vinod Khanna, and Dev Anand himself.
A child who became a provider
At just 12, Kalpana Iyer became the breadwinner of a family of six. Money was scarce, and survival demanded courage. With no formal training, she began dancing instinctively—guided not by technique, but by need.
“I started off as an untrained dancer,” she once said on a podcast with Simply Pankaj. “We didn’t have enough money to eat—forget dance classes. My dancing was instinctive, singing happened by chance, and acting was all trial and error.”
Kalpana Iyer. (Photo: Express Archive)
Her first payment? A packet of glucose. Then Rs 50. Then Rs 75.
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During a school annual function, a chief guest—showman Mukesh Sharma—noticed her spark and offered her a place in his shows. Soon, a teenage Kalpana found herself flying abroad—on the same flight as newlyweds Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan.
“My life changed,” she recalled simply.
Those international shows gave her more than money. They gave her belief. Confidence. A sense of possibility.
Borrowed clothes, unborrowed destiny
Someone soon suggested Kalpana enter a beauty contest. With borrowed clothes, borrowed shoes, and nothing truly hers except fair skin and long hair, she entered—and emerged runner-up to Navy Queen in 1975.
The next day, Femina’s editor—who would become a maternal figure—called her in. Her modelling career took off instantly. Fashion shows followed. So did films.
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Her first was Manokamana with Rajshri Films. Then came a dance number in Dev Anand’s Lootmaar—a decision many questioned.
Kalpana Iyer. (Photo Archive)
“There was a heroine in the film, and I was just a dancer. People were horrified,” she laughed, adding, “But I never planned any of this.”
That single song opened floodgates. On the same set, the very next day, she signed four films—Kudrat, Pyara Dushman, Bombay Ka Maharaja.
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She even worked on Dilip Kumar’s ambitious Kalinga, which sadly never released. But the experience, she says, taught her grace, dignity, and respect—lessons that stayed long after the cameras stopped rolling.
Reinvention, exhaustion, and a quiet exit
When film offers slowed, Kalpana Iyer did something unexpected—she moved to television. Shows like Kashish and Junoon became cult classics.
Then came Hum Saath Saath Hain. In 1999, she moved to Dubai, believing it would be a five-year break. It turned into 25 years.
Kalpana Iyer. (Photo: Express Archive)
“I was disappointed. Something felt off,” she later admitted in an interview with Times of India. “I had to remind people to pay me. I stopped enjoying my work. I was dragging myself to sets.”
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Dubai gave her something India no longer did at the time: peace, dignity, stability.
“This country gave me respect, security, love. For the first time, I owned a home,” she told Simply Pankaj. Her family joined her. Her mother passed away there. There, she worked for a friend in a catering unit.
A life lived differently
Kalpana Iyer never married. Instead, she found family in her nephew, whom she raised like her own child.
“I didn’t follow the normal course of life,” she said calmly. “But this child came into my life and takes care of me.”
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On love, she jokes: “I liked many men. Apparently, they liked me too. They confess now—years later. Fortunately, we’re all friends. They are all married to beautiful people.”
Kalpana Iyer. (Photo: Express Archive)
The one regret
If she has one regret, it’s this: “In my focus on earning, I lost time with my siblings. Today, it hurts.”
And yet, here she is—back in the spotlight, thanks to “Rambha Ho” finding a new generation through Dhurandhar. Now, Kalpana Iyer waits again. Not for fame—but for possibility.
“I am open to work,” she told on the podcast Know Time. “I have never said no. Just give me age-appropriate roles. Even a one-minute part—if it fits, why wouldn’t I do it?”
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She paused, then added quietly: “Ever since Hum Saath Saath Hain, I have been waiting. For one role. One elusive phone call.”
Her journey with cinema began with Rajshri Films—and, fittingly, it came to a close with the same production house. Reflecting on it years later, she told Know Time, “Life came full circle.”
