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cinema

Kaali Kaali Aankhein

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Moesha Jain

Cinema has been one of the primary factors of what constitutes Indian culture for time immemorial. It’s one of the most beautiful forms of artistic expression and has remained consistent defining how to lead the ideal life, no short of the Indian dream. Whether it is the Karan Johar cinematic universe with designer clothing or the Sanjay Leela Bhansali architecture, separating fictitious beauty and fantasy from reality is often an alienated concept to the dreamy glints of the audience’s eyes but the magic starts to fade when we realize that cinema has been a breeding ground for plagues such as sexual objectification and harassment, here’s how-

Name some of the most popular Bollywood films- your guesses could’ve been ‘Dilwale dulhaniya le jaayenge’, ‘Maine Pyaar Kiya or ‘Devdas’, on thinking and analyzing you realize they follow a pattern- the woman in all these films have little to no authority or agency, they’re depicted as do-good-angels which isn’t necessarily wrong till it becomes a trope that the extensive audience of India consumes unapologetically.

The music industry too has a humungous unaddressed problem that is item-songs, the very term indicates it aims to talk about an object rather than a person. The issue is not even closely related to sexual expression rather it is catering to a specific gender for the film to better and completely demoralizing the other gender in the process.

These issues come under the umbrella topics of what is called the male gaze.

What is the male gaze?

Film theorist, Laura Mulvey, was the first to coin the term “male gaze” in her acclaimed essay- “Visual pleasure and narrative cinema”. The male gaze is a way of filmmaking that involves empowering the heterosexual man negatively by capturing women as mere sexual objects rather than complete people with their own personality traits. The male gaze in Hindi cinema does not restrict itself to item numbers, it’s also designing female characters that revolve around pleasing the man more often than having her own aspirations or even feelings in most cases. The classic damsel in distress being rescued by the hero is a defining trope born out of the male gaze and the need to make the male audience feel more in control of everything around them.

The conditioning is a two-way lane- as much as these films make the male audience more condescending, it also brainwashes women into being more submissive and less independent as their entire lives they’ve been led to believe that they need male validation in order to be sure of themselves and that without it they aren’t making enough impact.

The Female film revolution

The aspect of the male gaze has been pondered about by a variety of film theorists who do not limit themselves to a specific part of the globe. This process of thought-provoking articles and much-needed debates led to the discovery of the female gaze. The female gaze does not necessarily rob a woman of sexual expression rather it gives more justification to her actions, more thought to her decisions, and requires the writers to put in equal work for writing women characters.

More South-Asian directors such as Mira Nair, Alankrita Srivastava, and Iram Haq have created films nothing short of revolutions in themselves. Such is Alankrita Srivastava’s much-acclaimed film ‘Lipstick under my burkha’ that has opened the Indian film industry to a new spectrum with horizons beyond believing and is a must-watch for any person who believes they can be entertained whilst still being provoked to think.

Ultimately good art only requires one constituent which is provoking thought and as long as we as an audience don’t educate ourselves about the media we consume and unlearn what years of patriarchy have led us to believe entertainment is, it’s safe to say we are unlikely to grow.

08/12/2024 0 comments 40 views

The Big Fat Indian Wedding

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Moesha Jain

‘And They Lived Happily Ever After’

From a young age, women all over the world are embedded with the idea that true happiness for them, and the highest form of pride for their families, can only be achieved in one way- by getting married. With the cultural change, even in more educationally developed households, marriage is usually seen as an indisposable concept regardless of the individual’s wishes. Marriage transitioned quickly from being a concept about lifelong affection and partnership to a necessity that transitioned the way women were to imagine their lives ahead. The generic stereotypes of marriage are a whole new conversation, however, it’s frightening to see how the marital inequality starts long before marriage itself.

It’s not just the ethical and moral conundrums of gender roles in a marriage it’s also the preceding financials of the event itself. On average a marriage, excluding the life ahead, costs 8-10 lakhs in India and although the society as a whole feigns social equality, the bride’s parents are expected to pay for this event unless said otherwise.

Welcoming someone new to your family is not a minor event, however, it gets a little concerning when you’re willing to spend years of hard-earned money into getting a loan for this. Many families even prioritize their daughter’s marital finances over their potential educational needs.
But where does this need to spend extensively on marriages rise from?

Cinematic Propaganda

The 90’s witnessed a cultural change with the upcoming films portraying luxuriously spending on weddings as a sign of good family ethics and an absolute necessity, With films glorifying marriage and showing it in the light of something that needs to be extensive, bulky, and immensely expensive in order to be happy- people sought to keep up with the changing times with investing more and more of their finances into the scam.

On-screen and off-screen, celebrities involuntarily influence a generation of people to believe that their personal decisions are the best ones, perhaps in an attempt to adapt to this better way of living a huge amount of people go through the economic burdens of spending on a product that’s usually not better in terms of quality but marketing.

The Business

It all boils down to the simple constraint of capitalism wherein the profiting parties would have you believe that undesirable goals were a necessity.

Clothing designers, event managers, paid matchmakers – it’s a business that thrives on the news to establish your love for your children through grand financial gestures, even if it breaks down a healthy way of living. It’s 2021 and it’s about time we acknowledge how unreasonable the expenditure over marriage can be, it’s about time we invest those resources into more fruitful aspects of our lives.

Afterall a wedding is the celebration of a lifelong bond and if the happiness a person finds in their partner doesn’t exceed the happiness of the Sabyasachi lehenga, the concept is worth questioning.

08/12/2024 0 comments 46 views

A Spark That Became Fire- Tracing The Cultural Roots Of Kazakhstan Through Its New Wave Cinema

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

Arthita Banerjee

New Wave is essentially an art word that came to be defined by the French trailblazing directors who exploded in the film scene in the late 1950s. These young directors reshaped the cinematic narrative by rejecting the traditional linear fashion of storytelling and ultimately creating a whole new language of film. The movement had a vibrant influence on international cinema and it might just be responsible for bringing out the Kazakh film industry from obscurity to that of critical acclaim.

It might be interesting to look at the history of Soviet Russia and understand how Lenin was instrumental in bolstering the ‘Bolshevik Cinema’. According to the Bolshevik government’s first Commissar for Education, Anatoly Lunacharsky, Lenin remarked that, ‘Film for us is the most important of the arts’. He understood early on that possibilities of cinema as a means for propaganda, agitational and educational tool and went on to nationalize the film industry exercising complete control over the productions.

Moreover, Lenin and other Bolshevik leaders looked on the motion-picture medium as a means of unifying the huge, disparate nation. The young Soviet Union was faced with a large population made up of many nations and ethnicities. To top it off, most people were illiterate and the means of communication in the country was largely undeveloped. The Bolshevik leaders also faced the daunting task of explaining the revolution to the people. Therefore, the promise of the medium of film – although only a silent medium, at the time, held endless possibilities.

Post the revolution, Moscow exercised tremendous control over all of its Soviet citizens we’ll try and trace the complex history of Kazakhstani culture in a time when communism was permeating through the fabric of their native culture. In the late 20s the west and the rest of the world were on a steady diet of all American, Cowboy ‘Westerns’. It is interesting to note that during the same period the Kazakh filmmakers came up with their own brand of ‘Easterns’. It gloriously chronicled fights between The Red Army against the Basmachis, who are the Kazakh nomads and essentially were anti-communist units interested in the Old Islamic Order.

The films from that period were considered so scandalous in nature to the communist regime that when they were finally re-released 10, 20, even 30 years later the dialogues were completely redacted to the point of complete mutilation. Evgeny Lumpov, a documentary filmmaker, despite investing his personal fortune to the tunes of thousands, could not retrieve the original copy of ‘It happened in Shubla’, an iconic work of Kazakh Cinema.

In a limited amount of time, Kazakhstan managed to build its own cinematic world which was quite distinct from Uzbekistan, Georgia or Russia. The dominant component of their universe was a constant civilizational tension between the city and the countryside, Kazakh customs and Russian traditions. Kazakhstani cinematography is also worth paying attention to. The great camera men such as Akshat Ashrapov and Mikhail Aranyashev were responsible for creating the distinct visual peculiarities.

The Kazakh New Wave was a reaction to the very harsh and authoritarian censorship of the Soviet order. All artists were being railroaded into working within ideological guidelines and sometimes the whims of the State officials. Russian was the primary choice of language in most Kazakh films but The Needle was the first film to take the route of exploring the native language. The film was a thriller about a young man’s fight against the local drug Mafia, directed by Rachid Nugmanov. In a still, we witness a village elder trying to speak with the protagonist in native Kazakh but both of them fail to understand one another. The scene is an attempt at depicting the severed cultural connection between the country’s culture and its people. The film was rereleased in 2010 as Needle Remix with several additional scenes that had been previously cut from the film.

The renowned Kazakh director, Abai Karpykov’s film, The Little Fish in Love tries to portray the harsh realities of urban life in the USSR. The film mainly tracks down the wanderings of an aimless young man through an unnamed Kazakh city. There is an element of resilience to any kind of art that is made under circumstances of repression and the metaphorical qualities of the directors then reflect in the art work, which on the contrary can’t be said at a point blank.

Despite being in the thick of the regime, freedom did exist and the filmmakers were for the first time detailing out the societal problems through the medium. The movement was not an accidental explosion. Yermek Shinarbaev’s “Revenge,” is also a favorite among many cinephiles. The critics describe it as “violence versus the life of art and peace.”

Darezhan Omirbaev might be one of the few remaining directors from the New Wave era who is still working. Kazakh new wave burned out pretty quickly after exploding into the international scene. The movement breathed its last by the time the country gained its independence in 1991 and the Soviet collapsed. Though, there is no denying that the cinema of the region evolved owing to the paradigm established by the New Wave.

From early Soviet censorship days, to now exploring gender norms, immigration issues, and the brain drain that Russia is experiencing, the Kazakh Cinema has indeed come a long way. Aushakimova’s groundbreaking film, ‘Welcome to the USA’ follows 36-year-old woman – Aliya’s journey, who has just won the US Diversity Visa lottery, as she gets her affairs into order and prepares to immigrate. The film was named the Best International feature at New York’s NewFest LGBTQ Film Festival. It makes astute observations about feeling foreign in your own country.

08/12/2024 0 comments 30 views

Censorship And Cinematograph Act of India – Will The Hammer Stop?

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Kanika Bhatia

A very hardened rule of any right wing political government lives upto to the hammer analogy. If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail problem. The hammer, every strong armed government possesses is -censorship.

Unless you’re living under a rock, you have heard about the Cinematographer Amendment Bill, 2021. The new draft proposes to amend the Cinematograph Act of 1952 with provisions that will give the Centre “revisionary powers” and enable it to “re-examine” films already cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). It empowers the Centre to revoke a certificate granted to a film by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), if it is found to violate Section 5 B (1) of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, which discourages certifying a film that is “against the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or involves defamation or contempt of court or is likely to incite the commission of any offence. In layperson terms, it allows the State to revisit certification already guaranteed to a film, truncating its existence. It gives the state absolute control, especially after the abolition of Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal which was the last place of appeal for filmmakers.

Termed as “super censor” by filmmaker Adoor Gopalkrishnan, the proposed draft raised questions and understated fury amongst the film fraternity. Nearly every big wig took to Twitter, leveraging their fellow directors and actors to raise support against it. Of course, like any bill, there are parts of it which either draw no or milder reactions. The draft Bill also includes provisions to penalise film piracy with jail term and fine, and introduce age-based certification. Currently, films are certified into three categories — ‘U’ for unrestricted public exhibition; ‘U/A’ that requires parental guidance for children under 12; and ‘A’ for adult films. The new draft proposes to divide the categories into further age-based groups: U/A 7+, U/A 13+ and U/A 16+. Somehow this age classification mirrors the intent behind the new IT rules announced in February this year: infantilising of the citizenry.

Censorship works on a basic belief system of the state, viz. ‘we know what is best for you’. It’s the state managed form of age old patriarchy, if I may stretch a tad bit. It’s based on the belief that citizens have no premise on how to decide what to consume in data. Anything can stir emotions against the ruling regime (whichever it maybe), and hence censorship remains an ideal way to propagate ‘control’. A very interesting article by LiveMint from 2018, titled “100 years of film censorship in India” discusses how narratives were controlled in different time periods based on different ideologies that were ruling at varied times. Whether it was the British who were vary of nationalistic themes in Indian movies; Amrit Nahata’s ‘Kissa Kursi Ka’ which stirred sensitivity amongst Congress leaders who eventually publicly burnt reels of the same; or modern day Padmavat which made a particular community sore. India is a country where offence taking is synonymous to religious and political ideologies – i.e. if you have one. If you don’t, a right wing form of art might offend some liberals, you can never say. Post emergency, revival of stifled art of that period was hoped for by Janta Party that came to power. However, no such thing happened because censorship is any governments strongest weapon.

However, is democracy really under attack with this proposed bill? Shyam Benegal begs to differ. “If a film is given a certificate, does it mean that it is forever,” he said in an interview. He believes cinema needs to adapt to changing times, and some movies will be redundant when they don’t adhere. The bill also faced criticism as it bypassed a basic law regarding bills. Any bill proposed should offer thirty mandatory days for public consultation. A mere 14 days till July 2nd were offered on the same. This authoritarian discrepancy in basic protocols is also brought into question when consulting the abrupt censorship we have seen since 2014, in nearly every sphere. Recently, Italy removed its 108 year old law on censorship because they believed they have advanced as a society to accept that censorship goes against the basic tenets of Democracy.

Resonating thoughts of the industry at large, an open letter written by 1400 filmmakers, including the likes of Shabana Azmi, Anurag Kashyap, Farhan Akhtar and others, has been addressed to the government demanding a withdrawal of this bill. The fate of the Bill remains in question as of now.

To close, here’s where I think I would leave you. With questions, like any good citizen. What is the end goal and where does it end? Is our citizenry so incapable of self-regulating and deciphering art that State control becomes imperative? For a government that proclaims to be pro-democracy, where does censorship and control on art lie on the scale of zero to masked dictatorship? Will filmmakers bank on International film festivals and OTT platforms to release their work? Is candy floss films the future of India’s large movie bank? And lastly, is it possible, at all, that released and approved cinema ahead of this bill being passed, will gain more renown in India and abroad once it passes the baton of our cultural gatekeepers? Because to quote Federico Fellini, a renowned director from Italy, “Censorship is advertising paid by the government.”

Image Courtesy: Racolblegal

08/12/2024 0 comments 20 views

Top 10 Women-Oriented Hindi Movies That Gave A New Dimension To The Indian Cinema

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Intekhab Hassan

It is always said that Indian cinema is a male dominated industry where movies are made keeping in mind the role of male actors. They are considered as revenue grossers. To be brute honest I agree with this prevailing perception because ultimately cinema is made for the viewers and these viewers themselves come from the patriarchic society. These viewers are in general influenced by the politics, economic structure, the culture and the wide perception about the women in the society. But aforesaid facts or perception cannot undermine the contribution of women’s participation in the evolution of Indian cinema.

At a time when women working in the cinema was considered no less than a sin or taboo, actresses like Devika Rani, Shobhna Samarth, Zubaida in early 1930’s entered into movie business and changed its face forever. It was the legendary Devika Rani, co-founder of famous Bombay Talkies and a powerful actress herself who gave India’s own Marlon Brando to Bollywood in the form of Dilip Kumar. It may be unbelievable for some to know that she gave Hindi cinema’s first kissing scene way back in 1931. Zubaida the daughter of an affluent nawab family gave Hindi cinema its first talkative film “Alam Ara”. These actresses paved the way for young generation females to enter into the world of Cinema to showcase their powerhouse talent.

As a result new generation actresses like Meena Kumari, Suraiya, Madhubala, Waheeda Rahman, Nargis got an opportunity to redefine the Indian cinema by marking the importance of women in the movies. Time and again these actresses have seldom let down the audience, the society and the cinema industry whenever movies are made keeping in mind the women centric roles. After viewing many movies here is my pick of top 10 Hindi Movies where the leading actresses have set a benchmark for the otherwise male dominated film industry by their powerful performances and made these movies as forever Classics.

1) Mother India (1957) : This movie is no 1 in my list. Mother India is a path breaking classic film of Indian cinema coming from very early years of Bollywood. Nargis Dutt as Radha did an iconic performance that would be remembered by generations after generations. It’s a story of Radha’s sacrifice for integrity, her fight against all odds in the society, her firm believe in truth, justice and equity. Mother India was nominated for the Academy Award for best International film in 1958 thus becoming first Indian film to be nominated for Oscars.

2) Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) : Undoubtedly one of the best classic movie of Indian cinema. Expertly-crafted, aesthetically breath-taking and profoundly disturbing. It was way ahead of its time. The movie exposed the ugly reality, hypocrisy and degeneration prevalent in the patriarchic Zamindar Families of pre-independence Bengal. Mina kumari as an alcoholic ‘Choti Bahu’ has literally immortalized her role, which till today remains one of the best performances in the Indian Cinema. All that the lonely, sad choti bahu wants is to be loved and cherished which was against the set norms of patriarchal feudal society.

3) Bandini (1963) : Another classic movie by the legendary Bimal Roy. Like most of the Bimal Roy movies, Bandini is a women-centric, feminist one, based on a Bengali novel. Nutan as Kalyani is a jilted lover who murders her lover’s wife and is subsequently wracked with guilt, remorse and anger. With a broken heart, she gets ready to face any punishment to achieve atonement. Nutan dominates the film with her elegant, demure powerful performance. Bandini is the story of travesty of many shades of a suffering woman that can have resonance with most of the women in our Society.

4) Pakeezah ( 1972) : I call this movie a magnum-opus, a movie whose making started in mid 1950’s and was finally released in 1972. The legendary tragedy queen Meena Kumari has made this film an ever classic. There are some movies whose name instantly brings to mind just one actor of that movie who becomes synonym with it, and Meena Kumari in Pakeezah is among those league of extraordinary actors. The tragic story of a courtesen Mehjbeen has been immortalized by the Meena Kumari. Ironically just one month after the release of Pakeezah Meena Kumari died a tragic death.

5) Sujata (1959): Sujata is another classic master-piece by Bimal Roy along with Nutan. Nutan as Sujata is an un-touchable orphan brought up by an educated middle class Brahmin Family. While growing up Sujata falls in love with Aseer, a brahmin boy. Sujata depicts the prevailing rigid caste system in the society, B.R Ambedkar’s fight against untouchability and the social dogmas for an upper caste boy to love a lower caste girl. Nutan with her powerful performance has kept alive the character of Sujata still relevant in the Indian Society.

6) Aandhi (1975) : Loosely inspired from the life of India’s former prime minister Indira Gandhi, Aandhi is considered as a classic movie. Legendary bengali actress Suchitra Sen essayed the role of Aarti Devi a leading politician of the country. The plot of the movie is about love story of a hotel manager and the daughter of a prominent politician. They got married and later on they get separated due to their mutual differences. Years later they meet again when she is an established politician. The film looks at the life of Suchitra Sen as Aarti Devi a career minded women in the political arena, which is largely dominated by men.

7) Umrao Jaan (1981) : Just like Meena Kumari in Pakeezah, Rekha in Umarao Jaan is synonym to this movie. Rekha as Umarao Jaan personified the role and brought this movie into the list of classic cinema.

8) Arth (1982) : The Story of a husband, a wife and the ‘other woman’ have been explored earlier too in the Indian cinema but what sets Arth apart is the layered, complex characterisation of the three principal characters, Shabana Azmi as Pooja, Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Inder Malhotra and Smita Patil as Kavita. Both Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil are phenomenal in the movie but there’s one person who owns Arth and makes it the memorable picture it is today. Yes, it is Pooja as Shabana Azmi, who delivers one of the finest performances of the Indian cinema.

9) Mirch Masala ( 1987) : It tells the story of a beautiful confident woman – Sonbai played by Smita Patil who is sought after by a subedar, the tax collector. She continuously resists his advances and ends up hiding in a spice factory as the subedar doesn’t intend to take her rejection of him. Thematically, the film deals with resistance to colonial oppression, with the subedar serving as the symbol of British colonialism and Sonbai representing the ordinary Indian woman who has the courage to stand against the oppression. She is an inspiration for every women to fight against injustice and to save their modesty. On the centenary of Indian cinema in April 2013, Forbes included Smita Patil’s performance in the film on its list, “25 Greatest Acting Performances of Indian Cinema”.

10) Chandini Bar (2001) : The Story of Mumtaz, a bar dancer played by Tabbu depicts the lives of several women who either due to the poverty or other compulsions join this underbelly profession. The performance of Tabbu in the movie gives a reality check about the sufferings and apathy of women in the society. The acting of Tabu has set a benchmark for next generation of actresses.

It was very difficult for me to pick up top 10 out of several good movies. The list doesn’t end here. But these are my favourite movies where actresses have outshined all male actors with their sheer performance. With their excellent crafty acting these movies are among the league of Classical Cinema.

Writer is a lawyer by profession and an avid movie watcher by passion.

08/12/2024 0 comments 37 views

‘Sherni’ – Movie Review : The Story Of Every Woman

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Intekhab Hassan

Development has led to rapid urbanization and industrialization and has also resulted into diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes. This has led to shrinking of wildlife habitat which results in animals straying out of habitat in search of food, water or shelter bringing them into Humans versus Animals conflict. This poses a serious question to the society “Can Development and Environment go hand-in-hand?”

Coming to the movie “Sherni” – we are introduced to India’s wild spaces, which face seemingly unstoppable threats from poaching, deforestation and overgrazing. But simultaneously there are communities residing in forests as forests-dwellers for generations, who are dependent on minor-forest products for their livelihood.

As the movie name suggests, the movie has two “Sherni” in it; first the tigress T12 and second Vidya Balan as Vidya Vincent. The story revolves around the search and rehabilitation of T12, a tigress and than the politics, official apathy and lacklustre system involved in it.

It is very pertinent here to analyse and review the role of Vidya Balan because she is the second “Sherni” in the movie. Vidya Balan plays Divisional Forest Officer Vidya Vincent, in the film. Her story is the story of every Indian woman who indeed are Shernis’. A few of them are outspoken and extrovert while others are introvert just like Vidya Vincent. Not all shernis roar in real life, rather their work and action speaks louder than words. Vidya is a woman of few words but full of self-determination and decision making ability.

It’s not an easy thing to portray a role which is generally a male dominated one, both in real and reel world. But she has done it very convincingly and emphatically. Vidya, an upright officer is yarning the brutal barriers set by the patriarchal society for a married woman and lackadaisical attitude of people at her work place. The character of Vidya portrays the daily struggle, the fight, the fall and the rise of every woman.

Director Amit Masurkar had earlier made a simple yet hard-hitting 2017 film Newton – starring Rajkummar Rao. In ‘Sherni’ too the director has done a thorough microscopic research at ground level and presented it in a simple, subtle but thought provoking manner. From first scene to the last one he has a complete grip over the movie and that translates into a consumed audience.

Cinematography is very fine and made in a documentary-style realism on the ground and drone shots from above. It presents a romantic view of the dense, green jungles – sunshine, streams, buzzing of insects, rustling of leaves, distinct sounds of birds and animals.

The screenplay is meticulously detailed, giving an insight into not just the protagonist’s mind but also the workings of the department as well as how the village and the forest are intermingled in their existence.

If you are expecting regular bollywood dramatic twists and turns, melodrama, glamour of the jungle and forest officers’ lives than this movie is not for you. The movie has limited dialogues and no artificial thrill-adventure. The silence and the camera lenses speak in volume about the condition of forest, its conservation, human greed and hurdles for an upright officer.

The “Sherni” shows that women have achieved it all and done so while fighting societal prejudice and taboos. It’s an ode to the millions of the women who want to get rid of iron cage, want to fly, set up their own path and make an impact in the society, sometimes even without making any noise. If you belong to the genre of simple, realistic and message giving movie than this is a must watch.

I will give it 4/5 rating.

08/12/2024 0 comments 48 views

Remembering Meena Kumari On Her 49th Death Anniversary – Some Lesser Known Facts

by Avani Bansal 08/12/2024

written by Avani Bansal

Today is the 49th Anniversary of Meena Kumari, born Mahjabeen Bano – the legendary actress of Hindi cinema who has been described as a “historically incomparable” actress. Born on 1st August, 1933, Meena Kumari lived only for 38 years, passing away on 31st March, 1972. In a career span of 33 years, Meena Kumari featured in 92 films – including the legendary roles in Sahib, Biwi Aur Gulam, Pakeezah and Baiju Bawra amongst others.

She had a huge fan following, including amongst the industry’s veterans. Amitabh Bachchan is reported to have said – “No one, not any one, ever spoke dialogues the way Meena Kumari did .. no one .. not anyone to date.. and perhaps never will.” Satyajit Ray described Kumari as “undoubtedly an actress of the highest calibre”. Madhubala was also a fan of Meena Kumari and said: “She has the most unique voice. No other heroine has it.”

So, here are some lesser known facts about the legendary Meena Kumari :

1. Meena Kumari Hailed From Rabindranath Tagore’s Family

Meena Kumari’s grandmother, Hem Sundari Tagore was the daughter of Rabindranath Tagore’s younger brother.

2. She Was An Acclaimed Poet

Meena Kumari was an Urdu poet under the pseudonym Naaz. Tanha Chand (Lonely Moon), a collection of Meena Kumari’s poems, was compiled by Gulzar and published after her death in 1972. Meena Kumari, the Poet: A Life Beyond Cinema consisting of the late actress’s poems and nazms was also published in 2014.

3. She Married At The Age Of 18 Years

Meena Kumari married Kamal Amrohi, on 14 February 1952, when she was 18 years and Kamal Amrohi was 34 years, in a simple “Niqah” ceremony in the presence of a Qadi and Kumari’s younger sister, Mahliqa (Madhu). Kamal Amrohi was a director who made 5 films with 3 of them as superhits. He was already married when he did nikah with Meena Kumari, as they were reportedly in love. However the marriage did not end well, with reports of her being subjected to domestic violence.

4. She First Started Her Career As A Playback Singer

She sung as a child artist for films like Bahen till 1945. As a heroine, she rendered her voice to songs from films like Duniya Ek Sarai (1946), Piya Ghar Aaja (1948), Bichchade Balam (1948) and Pinjre Ke Panchhi (1966). She also sung for Pakeezah (1972), however, the song was not used in the film and was later released in the album Pakeezah-Rang Ba Rang (1977).

5. She Was Commemorated With A Doodle

On her 85th birth anniversary, Google devoted a special doodle in her memory. The doodle shows the actress’ beautiful face and expressive eyes.

6. Kumari made history at the 10th Filmfare Awards (1963), by receiving all three of the Best Actress nominations, and won for her performance in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam.

7. The Mother India fame Actress – Nargis, wrote a letter on the death of Meena Kumari which said – ‘Meena, Maut Mubarak Ho’?

Wondering why, read here : https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/why-nargis-said-meena-maut-mubarak-ho/articleshow/66898473.cms

8. Meena Kumari’s grave at Rehmatabad Cemetery, located at Narialwadi, Mazagaon, Bombay, as per her own wish, reads – “She ended life with a broken fiddle, with a broken song, with a broken heart, but not a single regret.”

08/12/2024 0 comments 62 views

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Kaali Kaali Aankhein

A Spark That Became Fire- Tracing The Cultural Roots Of Kazakhstan Through Its New Wave Cinema

Censorship And Cinematograph Act of India – Will The Hammer Stop?

Top 10 Women-Oriented Hindi Movies That Gave A New Dimension To The Indian Cinema

‘Sherni’ – Movie Review : The Story Of Every Woman

Remembering Meena Kumari On Her 49th Death Anniversary – Some Lesser Known Facts

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