Leela Naidu (1940-2009)

Leela Naidu was once voted among the top 10 most beautiful women in the world by Vogue. But her life was much more than that. She did few, but signifcant, films. In a way, her life represents the way you can creatively use the idea of beauty. People mistake beauty often because they don’t understand women.

Leela Naidu was once voted among the top 10 most beautiful women in the world by Vogue. But her life was much more than that. She did few, but signifcant, films. In a way, her life represents the way you can creatively use the idea of beauty. People mistake beauty often because they don’t understand women.

Leela was often seen as a recluse because she wasn’t acting. But the truth is, her beauty and brains were as malleable behind the camera as they were in front of it. She was a creative multi-tasker to the core.
She travelled all over the world with poet-husband Dom Moraes. Often, she edited his writing. She helped with Dom’s biography of Indira Gandhi. She was also an extremely involved person. When I helped her write her autobiography, I saw a person whose engagement with the world was total. She had time for anybody and everybody. If I passed by her house with a cousin, I could ring the bell and introduce my cousin. Her doors were always open.

Her father was the scientist Ramaiah Naidu. Her mother was of French and Irish origins. Leela spoke French fluently and learnt to write in Devanagari, when she wrote a part of Shyam Benegal’s Trikal. She dubbed for the many films from Hong Kong that came to India in the 1970s and 1980s and did background work for Kumar Shahani’s first documentary. She once even worked with the The Indian Express. Having trained with filmmaker Jean Renoir, Leela was also instrumental in bringing Louis Malle to India. And, she never let her beauty come in the way of her work.

Jerry Pinto is a writer who helped Leela Naidu author her autobiography

As told to Rahul Jayaram

About The Author

Jerry Pinto