During an outdoor shooting of a Bollywood movie, the crew had to spend a night in the wilderness as their vehicles ran short of fuel. The area located in Madhya Pradesh, literally called the heart of India, was then not only infested with wild animals but was also a hotbed of highway robbers.
The entire crew was inevitably taken by armed robbers who struck in the dead of the night. When the gang's kingpin discovered that the abductees were neither policemen nor members of their rival group, rather a film crew, he instantly made arrangements for a feast with music and dancing and a comfortable night’s stay for his special guests!
The next morning as the group was departing; the gang leader put a humble but shocking request before the heroin.
Author Vinod Mehta in his mesmeric autobiographic account of the said heroin narrates the incident,
From my heroine, he wanted a special favour. He sharpened his knife and took it to her. 'Please autograph my hand with this,' he requested.
The blenched heroin was not new to signing autographs but she had never attempted anything as ambitious as a knife.
Nervously, she wrote her name on this man's hand. He said he was grateful for this favour.
Once the unit arrived at the next town, they discovered that they had spent the night at the camp of Madhya Pradesh's renowned and dangerous dacoit – Amrit Lal.
The heroin was Meena Kumari, who along with the film director, her ex-husband Kamal Amrohi and other cast members was on the shooting of her magnum opus, Pakeezah. On which Mehta says,
Meena’s estranged husband made the film for her the way Shah Jahan made the Taj Mahal for his wife.
On August 1, 1932 Meena Kumari was born to Ali Bakhsh and Iqbal Begum in Bombay.
Her father did not have the money to pay the clinic where she was born and so, out of no choice and stringent poverty, he had to abandon her at a Muslim orphanage for few hours after her birth. She was named Mahjabeen Bano.
Like Madhubala, Mahjabeen was forced to earn the bread and butter for her poverty-stricken family at an age when her coevals were playing in the streets. Since her father was an artist, he pushed his seven-year-old daughter into the film industry, who protested, "I do not want to work in the movies; I want to go to school, and learn like other children."
But her resistance was in vain.
VIDEO | Song: Chalte Chalte | Film: Pakeezah [1972]
Also read: In remembrance of the Indian Venus
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Before embarking on a tumultuous film journey, she was rechristened as Baby Meena. Her film career began with Farzand-e-Watan aka 'Leather Face’ directed by Vijay Bhat for Prakash Studios. Shortly after, she became a popular child star.
It was Vijay Bhat who turned Baby Meena into Meena Kumari in his blockbuster film Baiju Bawra released in 1952. The film not only put Kumari on the path of fame but also established Naushad as one of India’s greatest musicians. The song, Bachpan ki mohabbat from the movie still proves to be a balm for many souls. The movie won Kumari her first FilmFare Award.
VIDEO | Song: Bachpan Ki Mohabbat | Film: Baiju Bawra [1952]
During a career spanning 33 years, Meena Kumari worked in 92 films with actors like Raj Kumar, Bharat Bhushan, Dilip Kumar, Dharmendra, Ashok Kumar, among others. However, oddly, most of her films like Dairah, Parneeta, Dil apna aur pareet parai, Kajal and Chitar Laikha were box-office flops.
With regards to the intricacies of acting, however, Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam and Pakeezah stand unmatched till today.
VIDEO | Song: Na Jao Saiyan | Film: Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam [1962]
In Guru Dutt's Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam, she masterly played the role of the Chotti Bahu who ruined her own life in a bid to win over her husband. Two songs from this film, Piya aiso jiya mein samaye gayo ray and Na jao saiyan chhurah kay baiyan sung by the immortal Geeta Dutt remain as potent as they were at the time of release. Her performance in the film came as an uncanny similarity to her real life which was also on an equivalent path of destruction. Emotionally and physically cloistered, she had become an alcoholic by that time.
She wrote in her diary,
Heaven knows why I take every stranger to be my friend. It's my nature and one cannot change their nature.
As far as my observation is concerned, nobody advances two steps without an ulterior motive. And yet, I accept such people into my life as my sympathisers.
It was on a film set that she met famous director Kamal Amrohi, who instantly fell for her. Kamal was not only 15 years her senior but also a married man with children. However, since love knows no bounds or social barriers, Kumari married Kamal in 1953, only to be divorced in 1964. During their happier years, Kamal set out to materialise an idea he had harboured for a long time: a film that would outshine Mughal-e-Azam.
VIDEO | Song: Chalo Dildar Chalo | Film: Pakeezah [1972]
Hence, he started work on Pakeezah. Meena Kumari was to play the key role but as the couple separated, the making of the film also suffered a severe blow and was eventually shelved.
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It is said that Kumari wanted to have children but Kamal did not. The separation added to Kumari's heartache, who turned to alcohol to drown her sorrows.
Many men came into her life later but according to Nargis Dutt, it was Dharmendra who truly shattered her.
For the time being then, she had returned to life in the company of Dharmendra but it is alleged that the latter proved to be disloyal.
Also read: In the name of the father
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Sunil and Nargis Dutt made a successful attempt at bringing Kamal and Kumari close once again and they were remarried in 1969. Thus, the shooting of Pakeezah resumed. However, Kumari's health by that time had deteriorated to quite an extent.
Pakeezah released in 1972 but failed to attract the audiences. After two months of its release, Kumari died and that’s when people thronged cinema houses to watch her, making it one of the most successful films of Hindi cinema. The film, which took 14 years to reach the silver screen, is Meena Kumari's swansong.
VIDEO | Pakeezah's immortal dialogue:
She was not only a great lover of Urdu literature but was a poetess herself. After her divorce, she wrote the following verse:
Talaaq toh day rahay ho, Nazar-e-qehar ke saath
Jawani bhi meri lauta doh Mehar ke saath
She is said to have had developed a friendship with writer and lyricist, Gulzar. In her will, she had asked that her unpublished poetry be handed over to him. And so, it was Gulzar who published her work.
Later, he himself wrote a collection of poems dedicated to Meena Kumari, which he titled, Janam.
It has often been stated that Meena Kumari might not have been as ravishing as her contemporary, Madhubala. But there has been no mistake made in recognising her as one of the most influential Hindi movie actresses of all time.
VIDEO | Song: Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh | Film: Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai [1960]
She died on March 31, 1972 at 40, in the prime of her youth from liver cirrhosis. Today marks her 42nd death anniversary of 'The Tragedy Queen'.