Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; September 22, 2017)

Hindi cinema actor from the '50s, Shakila passed away on Wednesday after suffering a heart attack. She was 82. Shakila had featured in hit films Hatim Tai (1956), Aar Paar (1954), CID (1956) and China Town (1962). Her nephew, actor Nasir Khan, told mid-day, "She wasn't keeping well and had been in and out of the hospital. She was diagnosed with a kidney ailment recently and was on dialysis, which led to further complications."

Khan is the son of late comedian Johnny Walker, who married Shakila's sister, Noor. "My father was fond of her (Shakila). She was a social person, full of life. She was always surrounded by people," he remembered.

Shakila is best remembered for the song Babuji Dheere Chalna. The late actor's close friend and veteran actor Asha Parekh said, "She was always there for others. She was by my side when my father passed away. Waheeda [Rehman], Nanda and Shakila were a gang. She was a soft-spoken and kind person, hardly ever raised her voice. Saira [Banu] was trying to get her admitted to a hospital and was with her yesterday."

Born Badshah Begum on January 1, 1935, Shakila had two younger sisters, Noor and Nasreen, who were also actors. She was introduced to the movies by filmmaker Abdul Rashid Kardar, who offered her a role in Dastaan (1950). She shot to fame with Guru Dutt's Aar Paar, in which she played the other woman in Dutt's life. Shakila starred in CID, a role overshadowed by Waheeda Rehman. She quit cinema after acting in close to 50 films.

Khalid Mohamed (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 21, 2017)

Shakila, yesteryear’s top heroine who featured in such cult movies as Wadia Movietone’s Hatim Tai (1956), Guru Dutt’s Aar Paar (1954) and CID (1956), opposite Raj Kapoor in Shriman Satyawadi (1960) and Shammi Kapoor in China Town (1962), passed away after a massive heart attack in the city on Wednesday afternoon. She was 82.

A resident of Bandra, the actress often described as ‘the fairy queen of Indian fantasies’ was sought to be rushed to a nearby well-known hospital. Her colleagues from the ’50s cinema said it was a pity that she could not find immediate admission and had to be taken to the Arogya Nidhi hospital in Juhu, at a further distance away.

Once, Shakila was a craze of the masses and used to stay in the famous art-deco building, Gobind Mahal, on Marine Drive. It is learnt that she moved to Bandra when her daughter, Meenaz, committed suicide at the famed South Bombay ocean front building. Shakila was married for some years to an NRI film distributor.

The charismatic actress’s sister, Noor, aspired towards stardom, too, but eventually quit acting to marry the widely-revered comedian Johnny Walker.

The friendship between Waheeda Rehman, Nanda, Jabeen Jalili and her was often cited as one-of-its-kind in Bollywood. Among those who she kept in regular touch in her later years were Saira Banu and Asha Parekh.

Shakila has frequently been remembered by film chroniclers for embodying the ethereal fairy to Hatim Tai, enacted by P Jairaj in the Wadia Movietone film, which is still a craze on the revival circuit.