Meena Kumari, born Mahajabeen Bano, started acting at the age of 4 as Baby Meena and became a popular actress at the age of 19 with Baiju Bawra (1952) followed by Parineeta (1953), Chandni Chowk (1954) and Ek Hi Raasta (1956). Soon she was called the tragedy queen with emotional and critically acclaimed performances in Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai (1960), Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) among others. And then there was the unforgettable Sahibjan in Pakeezah (1972), the last film of her career and life, shortly after which she passed away at the age of 39 on 31st March 1972 😦
There were so many stories about her that were talked about perhaps as much as her films. As a child, I remember I would keep trying to see her left hand in her songs and movies! She had had an accident early in her career that left her left little finger permanently disfigured, something she covered up with her dupatta or saree in her movies thereafter. But there were other stories – struggles – like her turbulent marriage with Kamal Amrohi and her struggles with alcohol, the latter affecting her physically eventually leading to her death. Much was written about these stories and they continue to reappear now and then both offline and online. You can read some of these in the Scroll (Meena Kumari was a tragedy queen on the screen and in her poems), Outlook (an extract: Meena Kumar: The Classic Biography) and Masala! (Tajdeer Amrohi talks of his dad and choti ammi). Google too paid tribute to her through its doodle last year on her 85th birth anniversary.
While I knew of her and loved her movies while growing up, I only began to understand the life of Meena Kumari after I came across her poetry written under the pseudonym Naaz. After reading her poems like aagaz to hota hai anjaam nahin hota, I rediscovered Meena Kumari the poet-actress and watched her films again. Only this time, the heartbreak, the pain of the troubled soul, no longer felt like that of a character but of hers and hers alone.
Today let’s remember Meena Kumari – the heartache, the pain, the beauty, the performances – through a few of her songs that I love and maybe you do too.
First the haunting melodies of ajeeb dastan hai yeh sung by Lata with lyrics by Shailendra from Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai 1960, and
kabhi to milegi sung by Lata with lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri from Aarti 1962.
Then, of course, are the songs from movies that defined her as much as she did them. chalte chalte sung by Lata with lyrics by Kaifi Azmi from Pakeezah 1972, ( a film that took 16 years to complete!)
na jao saiyaan sung by Geeta Dutt with lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni from Guru Dutt’s Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam 1962, and
mohe bhool gaye sung by Lata with lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni from Baiju Bawra 1952 to name a few.
And finally, the poetry of Naaz from I write, I recite
aagaz to hota hai anjaam nahin hota (read the English translation here)
aagaaz to hota hai anjaam nahin hota jab meri kahaani mein woh naam nahin hota jab zulf ki kaalikh mein ghul jaaye koi raahi badnaam sahi lekin gumnaam nahin hota hans hans ke jawan dil ke ham kyon na chune tukade har shakhs ki kismat mein inaam nahin hota din doobe hain ya doobi baraat liye kashti sahil pe magar koi koharam nahin hota
You can hear this and other poems recited by Meena Kumari herself in a video series on YouTube or on Google Play.
When Meena Kumari passed away in 1972, Nargis wrote a piece on her death titled ‘Meena, maut mubarak ho!’ that was published in an Urdu Magazine, now available in English thanks to Yasir Abbasi’s efforts at Yeh Un Dinoñ Ki Baat Hai: Urdu Memoirs of Cinema Legends where she said Congratulations on your death I have neither heard nor said this earlier. Meena, today your baaji congratulates you on your death and asks you to never step into this world again. This place is not meant for people like you…
If you would like to know more about Meena Kumari, you could also read Meena Kumari: The Classic Biography by (late) Vinod Mehta who never met her but still tried to weave her story through interactions with those who knew her.
Shrimati 420 