“I have never felt distanced from cinema,” says the legendary Helen, who shimmied a trail on the silver screen with her sassy and iconic dance moves for years. Boasting of a career that spans the 1950s to the 1980s, the elusive and gorgeous 83-year-old is all set to return to face the arc lights with Brown.

The Abhinay Deo-directorial, a neo-noir crime drama (based on the book City Of Death by Abheek Barua) which recently went on the floors, will also feature Karisma Kapoor. The yesteryear actress says, “Crime dramas are riveting to watch these days because each story is treated so differently. No two crime drama series are alike. Also, it is not a genre that I have dabbled in earlier, so, I am really looking forward to it. In fact, I am happy that I am being offered meaningful roles by brilliant filmmakers and creators. The character in Brown is truly me. I identified with the way she leads her life and it prompted me to agree immediately. Besides, Abhinay knows exactly what he wants from every actor and that put me at ease. I am truly enjoying being back on sets.”

Helen admits to feeling nervous about returning to the screen. She says, “My family and I live and breathe cinema. But I was nervous about the changes I’d find after returning on set after so many years. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the changes that have taken place have been good. In our time, table-reads, workshops, etc were things that only happened in Hollywood. All of these things had not reached us back then. Now it’s a fascinating way to work, where you come together and meet your co-actors. The energy in the room is enthralling.”

While her outings in Bollywood have been sporadic in recent times, she is still remembered for her cameo appearance as Salman Khan’s mother in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999). Ask her about her reasons for staying away from showbiz and she replies, “Nothing exciting came my way.” Is there any project on cards with Salman? “As of now, nothing,” she replies.

Helen is considered as one of Bollywood’s finest dancers and some of her songs are classics, even remixed several times over. This is evident even on current dance reality shows, where her songs are some of the most popular numbers among the contestants. What’s surprising is that she has never appeared as a celebrity judge on any of these shows. And she has no plans to change that even in the future, “I won’t be able to dedicate the time required by reality shows,” she explains.

However, the veteran actress is all praise for the new generation of dancers. “Times have changed. I see that the dancers today are a dedicated lot. They work really hard to make each dance a spectacle,” she says.