Golden Era of Bollywood: Meena Kumari- The Ultimate in Acting

Meena Kumari(1st Aug 1933-31st March 1972)is best known as “The Tragedy Queen”, for her frequent portrayal of sorrowful and tragic roles in films and her real-life story. It was said then that audience smile when Madhubala smiled on screen and they cry when Meena Kumari cried on screen. She became an Icon of Typical Indian Middle-Class Woman of Bollywood.
During a career spanning 33 years starting as a child artist, she acted in more than ninety films such as Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Pakeezah, Mere Apne, Aarti, Baiju Bawra, Parineeta, Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai, Foot Path, Dil Ek Mandir and Kaajal. She won 4 Filmfare Awards for Best Actress and nominated for these awards 12 times which was eventually broken after 35 years by Madhuri Dixit in 2008.
Though Baiju Bawra in 1952 brought her fame and gave her first Filmfare Award, I consider Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam 1962 was her best film as an actress. Her performance as Chhoti Bahu, which is regarded as one of the best performances of Hindi cinema.
Interestingly, Meena Kumari had initially refused to work in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam when Guru Dutt first approached her in 1958. Dutt then offered the role to other actresses, but as fate would have it, he wasn’t able to put the right cast together. Then, around 1960-61, he went to her home and offered the role again. In fact, when Guru Dutt went to her home she was not there her elder sister Khursheed was at home, Guru Dutt handed over the script to her and asked her to persuade Meena Kumari to consider this film.
When Meena Kumari returned, she was shocked to find the script of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. She started reading it immediately and called Dutt at 2 a.m. to tell him that she would play the role of Chhoti Bahu.
She requested Guru Dutt that she wants the film to be shot in a linear way, as the story progresses so that she could map the changes in her character. This was the first time both of them had shot a film in this way, from start to finish.
In an interview, the director of the film Abrar Alvi said that She was so immersed in her role…that at some point the despair and depression of Chhoti Bahu must have affected her peace of mind”
It was 1964 she got the divorce from Kamal Amrohi in these four years she was living separately. She got addicted to alcohol. Heavy drinking badly damaged her liver, and in 1968 she went to London and Switzerland for treatment. Due to heavy drinking, she had increasingly lost her good looks and began mostly playing character roles in movies. Along with Vinod Khanna and Shatrughan Sinha, she played the lead role in writer-lyricist Gulzar’s directorial debut Mere Apne (1971).
Three weeks after the release of Pakeezah, Meena Kumari became seriously ill. On 28 March 1972, she was admitted to St Elizabeth's Nursing Home. She went into a coma two days later and died shortly afterwards on 31 March 1972. She was 38 years old. The cause of her death was determined to be liver cirrhosis.