Today is the death anniversary of Meena Kumari, the popular, highly talented actress of her times.I still remember I heard the news of her death on a transistor set tuned in some household just above the road , when I was going to College in the morning that day in 1972 . Meena Kumari, due to penury and poverty was forced to act as a child artiste at the age of six. This also happened as a quirk of fate , as plain looking Mahazabeen Bano, as she was named then, was not considered worthy of entering the film line,even by her father .It was her mother who took her to some producer/ director As luck would have it , her talent was spotted and her career took off. From 1939 to 1945 she acted as a child artiste as Baby Meena.
Later she acted in many well known films , like Miss Mary,Baiju bawra, Phool Aur Pathar, Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam , Azaad ,Parineeta, Kohinoor,Aarti, Dil Ek Mandir , Foot Path, Bhabhi Ki Chooriyan, Sharda , Manjhali Didi, Dil Apna aur Preet Parayi, Mere Apne, Kaajal & many others , and last but not the least, Pakeezah which not only proved her swan song but also immortalized her.All the songs of the film became hits and continue to be so till today. .Perhaps this was the best that Kamal Amrohi , her separated husband and also Director of the film could have done for her.She had separated from her husband in 1964 . As frustration and loneliness proved too much for her she took to drinking .It is a grim and sad irony that, the actress arguably gifted with a unique and impressive voice, while shooting for Pakeezah, , was not able to speak due to illness and one Sadhana Khote had to dub for her.
A highly talented and versatile actress she epitomized the Bhartiya Nari on screen , like no other actress did . She was a four time winner of the Film Fare Award, the first coming her way in 1954 for the film Baiju Bawra. Subsequently she won it for Parineeta (1955), Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam( 1963) , and Kaajal ( 1966 ).
She was also a poet of not and wrote Urdu poetry.
She had become an alcoholic and suffered from Liver Cirrhosis which hastened her end as she died at the relatively young age of forty. If Dilip Kumar is the Tragedy King of Hindi cinema, the crown for Tragedy Queen would certainly go to Meena Kumari.
She was also a poet of not and wrote Urdu poetry.
She had become an alcoholic and suffered from Liver Cirrhosis which hastened her end as she died at the relatively young age of forty. If Dilip Kumar is the Tragedy King of Hindi cinema, the crown for Tragedy Queen would certainly go to Meena Kumari.
Our humble tributes to the great actress !
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