Remembering Meena Kumari-one of the greatest actresses in Hindi cinema 1933-72

Meena Kumari (Mahjabeen Bano) born on 1 August 1933 is also known as The Tragedy Queen & often called the Cinderella of the Indian films. She also wrote poems  under the pseudonym "Naaz"

In 1952 she got married to Kamal Amrohi. The marriage was harmonious and resulted in joint movie ventures, namely 'Daera' and 'Pakeezah'. Neither knew that the latter would take over 14 years to complete.

A few years after the marriage, Kamal Sahab's regular interference in selecting Meena Kumari's movies created a lot of problems and finally Kamal Sahab's constant negligence to Meena Kumari and more concentration on his work widened their gap which ultimately gave way when one evening Kamal Sahab in a fit of rage slapped Meena Kumari and furiously uttered Talaq! Talaq!! Talaq!!! (Though later he repented.) At that very moment Meena Kumari abandoned Kamal Sahab's house not before lamenting .... Talaaq to day rahay ho Nazar-e-qehar ke saath, Jawani bhi meri lauta do Mehar ke saath'

After her rebellious outbreak from Kamal Sahab, Meena Kumari took to heavy drinking and poetry to solace herself. In Guru Dutt's SAHIB BIBI AUR GHULAM (1963) Meena Kumari made her loneliness hauntingly vivid with reel character of Chhoti Bahu, a beautiful, yet doomed wife, of an uncaring aristocratic feudal lord, who takes to alcohol. She poured out all her hidden emotions so convincingly that her evocative portrayal of the suffering women struck a responsive chord in millions of women. She went on to win the Filmfare Best Actress Award too.

'Pakeezah' was finally completed and released on 4 February 1972, but flopped at the box office. A few weeks later Meena was hospitalized in St. Elizabeth's Nursing Home, but passed away on March 31, 1972 due to liver problems.

Shortly after her passing, the public took a renewed interest in 'Pakeezah' and the film subsequently went on to become a hit.

Mahjabeen (later known as Meena Kumari) was born on August 1, 1932 in to a Muslim father, Ali Bux, and a Hindu mother, Iqbal Begum (Nee Prabhavati Tagore). Mahjabeen wanted to study in school but was compelled to act in Hindi movies as a child artiste, and ended up becoming the sole bread earner of the family.

Meena Kumar was actually discovered by Film legend Kamal Amrohi, who saw her when she was 7 years old and recommended her to film maker Sohrab Modi for his movie JAILOR (1939) as Baby Meena. Later during the making of DAERA (1953) which was produced and directed by Kamal Amrohi, the two fell in love. It's reported that Meena Kumari fell head over heel in love with the sensitive poet in Amrohi - so much that she not only ignored the vast age difference of 15 years between the two but also over looked her earlier two marriages and readily agreed to become his third wife.

Meena Kumari in comedy film Miss Mary,1957

Miss Mary is an Indian comedy film from 1957 directed by L.V. Prasad. The movie is an AVM production, written by Hargobind Duggal, and directed by L. V. Prasad. The original Missamma was directed in Telugu in 1955 and was remade as Missiamma in Tamil with Savitri playing the title role in the both films. It was remade in Hindi as Miss Mary in 1957 with Meena Kumari in the titular role, keeping Jamuna as the constant factor in all these films.

The film is a light-hearted comedy with Meena Kumari (who regularly played tragedienne roles) performing one of her rare comic acts. The story is about Arun (Gemini Ganeshan), an unemployed teacher who comes across an advertisement offering a job at the Lakshmi School with the proviso that only married couples need apply. He meets Miss Mary (Meena Kumari), a Christian girl who is badly in need of a job to pay off her parents’ debt. She agrees to pose as his wife. They hire Nakdu (Om Prakash), a beggar cum conman as a servant to keep up the pretense. The school owner couple (Rai Sahib and his wife), is looking for their long lost daughter Lakshmi (hence the Lakshmi School), who went missing sixteen years ago and the only thing tying her to them is a locket and an identification mark in the form of a mole on her left foot. They employ a detective Raju (Kishore Kumar) to find her. Raju is an orphan brought up as a nephew by the Rai Sahib. The old couple find a resemblance in Mary to their daughter and show her a photo of Lakshmi that looks like her. Mary tells them that she can’t be their daughter as she was brought up in a Christian environment by Christian parents.

Mary feels bad lying about her married status to the Rai Sahib and his wife. She and Arun start liking each other in spite of their constant bickering. The owner's other daughter Sitara (Jamuna) has a fondness for Arun which upsets Mary. There are several comic sequences involving Raju and his friend. The truth is revealed about Mary being the Rai Sahib's daughter when her foster parents arrive.

Cast included Meena Kumari as Miss Mary, Gemini Ganesan as Arun, Kishore Kumar as Raju, Jamuna as Sitara and Om Prakash as Nakdu

Meena Kumari went on to act in a total of 94 movies, in a career that spanned from 1939 through to 1972. She became a household name after her performances in 'Baiju Bawra', 'Parineeta', 'Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam', and ‘Kaajal’ as well as received 'Best Actress' awards for these titles.

Quoting from veteran journalist Vinod Mehta's biography of Meena Kumari, first published in 1972, Meena Kumari also thought of herself as  Marilyn Monroe, "unlucky and unloved," says Mehta, adding that "she drank because she wanted to get drunk, not because she enjoyed it."