Tag Archives: Meena Kumari

Amitabh Bachchan reveals Meena Kumari danced around fountains with real rose water in Kamal Amrohi’s Pakeezah

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UTTAR PRADESH / Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

Praising Kamal Amrohi’s iconic film Pakeezah, KBC host Amitabh Bachchan revealed that the filmmaker used rose water for the fountains in a scene that had Meena Kumari’s dance sequence.

Meena Kumari dances in a sequence from Pakeezah.(YouTube)
Meena Kumari dances in a sequence from Pakeezah.(YouTube)

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bacchan has revealed that legendary filmmaker Kamal Amrohi used real rose water in all the fountains installed on the sets of his iconic movie, Pakeezah. Amitabh was speaking on his popular game show, Kaun Banega Crorepati.

Contestant Afseen Naaz, an assistant professor at a Bilaspur university faced a question about the meaning of the Urdu word, Pakeezah. Host Amitabh fondly remembered the iconic film and praised the stars, as well as the filmmaker of the Meena Kumari-Raaj Kumar-starrer.

Talking about a scene that featured Meena’s dance in front of a fountain, similar to the fountain at the Taj Mahal, Amitabh revealed that Kamal wanted the scene in a certain way. And, to ensure it, he used rose water for the fountains.

According to Meghnad Desai’s book Pakeezah, Meena Kumari charged just a token amount of Re 1 for her role in the Kamal Amrohi-classic. It turned out to be her last film. She died battling liver cirrhosis just a few weeks after the film released.

Written, directed and produced by Kamal, Pakeezah released in 1972 and also featured Ashok Kumar and Nadira in lead roles. It took 16 years for the film to complete and remains a cult rromance to date.

Recently, Amitabh hit 45 million followers on Twitter and shared a throwback picture with his father Harivansh Rai Bachchan, thanking his fans. He wrote, “The caption informs of 45 million on Twitter .. thank you Jasmine, but the picture says a lot more… Its the moment I came home surviving death after the ‘Coolie’ accident ..Its the first time ever I saw my Father breaking down! A concerned little Abhishek looks on!”.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Entertainment> TV / by HT Entertainment Desk / January 12th, 2021

Rare memorabilia of Meena Kumari on display

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Meena Kumari
Meena Kumari

Iconic Bollywood actress Meena Kumari’s original publicity material and memorabilia, including paintings and portraits of her films, will be on the display at the Womanhood Festival here.

At the event, paintings of 1972 ‘Pakeezah’ and the 1953 classic ‘Daera’, co-starring Nasir Khan will be showcased. Portraits of Dilip Kumar-Meena Kumari starrer ‘Kohinoor’ and ‘Benazir’, co-starring Ashok Kumar and Shashi Kapoor, will be on the display at an event scheduled tomorrow at Osianama Liberty as part of the ongoing festival. Besides, posters of ‘Meena Kumari ki Amar Kahani’,  ‘Phool Aur Pathar’ and images of  ‘Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam’ will also be featured.

The actress’ films like ‘Pakeezah’, ‘Parineeta’ and ‘Daayra’ will also be screened at the event. “She is a true icon for Womanhood & Cinema, absorbing all, breaking all, in the search to be herself… Along with Nargis and Madhubala, she represents the feminine iconicity just as ‘Mother India’, ‘Mughal-E-Azam’ and ”Pakeezah’ represents a different trinity of Indian cinema,”Neville Tuli, chairman, Osian’s Group said in a statement. Meena Kumari aka Mahjabeen Bano, starred in over 90 films in her career spanning nearly 30 years.

Listen to the songs of Meena Kumari on gaana.com

http://gaana.com/album/meena-kumari-hits

WATCH: Chalte Chalte Yunhi Koi Mil Gaya Tha – Meena Kumari – Pakeezah – Ghulam Mohammed – Old Hindi Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=hbkg1qapQ68

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> Entertainment> Hindi> Bollywood / PTI / February 04th, 2016

‘We will recreate Meena Kumari’s last moments’

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 Kolkata, WEST BENGAL /  Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

Lucnow:

Did you know that the mother of prominent Bollywood actor ‘tragedy queen’ Meena Kumari had a Lucknow connection?

When her mother Ikbal Bano was a young woman, she left her hometown Kolkata and came to Lucknow with her mother in the 1920s to explore a career in the arts. Meena, though, never visited Lucknow.

Bano had come to Lucknow following her connection with Rabindranath Tagore’s family. She worked as a dancer here for some time before moving to Mumbai to try her luck in Bollywood. There she met Ali Baksh, a harmonium player, whom she married. Their daughter Meena Kumari is a name we know well.

Several such lesser known facts about the life and journey of Hindi cinema’s enduring actress Meena Kumari will be shown in a play called ‘Adhoore Khwaab’, to be staged in the city on Monday. Over 40 trained actors will portray various tangents of her life in an 80-minute show organized as part of the 27th International Literary Festival by the Hindi Urdu Sahitya Award Committee.

SN Lal, the writer of the play, said, “In this play, we have tried to bring to light a different side of her charismatic personality. For the first time, we have incorporated one of the verses of matam (mourning during Moharram) penned by her in a play,” explained Lal.

Despite being one of the most popular names in cinema, Meena faced several hardships, he added.

The last scene of the play has been kept identical to real incidents of her life. “While shooting a song for Pakeezah, she had fallen ill and after that, never returned to movies or shooting. She died following the long illness. We have tried to recreate those moments on stage,” said Middat Khan, the director of the play.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / Vidita Chandra / TNN / April 11th, 2016