The Most Exploited & Unlucky Woman-Meena Kumari

 

Veteran journalist Vinod Mehta wrote the biography of Meena Kumari in 1972. In this book, he wrote about the exploitation of Meena Kumari whoever came close to her. She was first exploited by her family. She started out as Baby Meena, a child artist and a breadwinner of the family. As a child, she wasn't interested in a film career, and would rather attend school. In spite of this, her parents started peddling four-year-old Mahjabeen(Real Name of Meena Kumari) to film studios for work opportunities so she was deprived of her childhood.

One of the major blows in Meena Kumari's life was the death of her mother. She was only 14 then. In the film Industry also she struggled initially, though she was getting work but paid poorly.It was only after Baiju Bawra in 1952 she got recognition.
On May 21, 1951, Meena Kumari was involved in a motor car accident while returning from Mahabaleshwar to Bombay. She was admitted to Sasoon Hospital in Poona, injured around the left hand. Kumari went through bouts of depression.This accident left Meena Kumari with a banded left pinky which remained banded throughout her life, and she used to cover her left hand with a dupatta or saree during shoots. During this time Kamal Amrohi used to visit her in the hospital. For four months this hospital affair continued and love blossomed.

She married at the age of 18 Kamal Amrohi at that time he was 34. It was his third marriage. After their marriage, Kamal Amrohi allowed Meena Kumari to continue her acting career, but on the condition that she should not remit anyone in her makeup room but her makeup artist and return home in her own car by 6:30 every evening. Meena Kumari agreed to all terms, but with passing time she kept breaking them.
Meena Kumari was a patient with chronic insomnia and was on sleeping pills for a long time.As an alternative to sleeping pills, she started drinking. She was interested in Urdu poetry, this brought her close to another poet Gulzar. Once she was slapped on the set of  Pinjre ke Panchhi,by Kamal Amrohi's assistant, Baqar when she allowed Gulzar to enter her makeup room. After this incident in 1964, they divorced.

Dharmendra was the next person in her life. He signed Purnima as her Hero, he was a fan of Meena kumari,it was his dream to act opposite Meenaji. When he was introduced to her, she was warm and friendly and welcomed him with kind encouragement. Coincidentally, at this particular moment of her life, Meena Kumari required a stable and devoted man: big and strong, someone on whom she could literally rest her head, and someone who was not too famous. 

Dharmendra was almost a daily visitor at Janki Kutir. Together they would open a bottle and spend a few hours. These were the good times. Meena Kumari insisted her Producers to take Dharmendra as his Hero, both of them worked in 7 films. Dharmendra established himself as a hero because of Meena Kumari. However, a much younger and already married Dharmendra had nothing to offer in terms of the love and security Meena was searching for. They were intimate for three years.
Meena Kumari had a strong love for children, she wanted her own child here too she was deprived by her husband Kamal Amrohi.

She died on 31st March 1972, On a Good Friday, Meena Kumari died, after a long and painful battle with cirrhosis of the liver. She had been admitted to St Elizabeth’s Nursing Home in Bombay on 28th March and died three days later surrounded by the people who had played an important part in her life, both personal and professional. Her sisters Khursheed and Madhu; her estranged husband Kamal Amrohi; and various luminaries of the film world, including Begum Para and Kammo, from whose house the Aab-e-Zamzam (holy water from Mecca) was fetched to be spooned into Meena Kumari’s mouth as she was dying.

Song from Baiju Bawra 1952

Song of Tamasha 1952

Song from Azaad 1955

Song from Yahudi 1958

Song from Dil Apna Preet Parai, 1960

do sitaron ka milan hai aaj ki raat from kohinoor

Song from Bhabhi Ki Chudiyan 1961

Song of Aarti (1962)

Song of  Dil Ek Mandir (1963)

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Sadhana - The Fashion Icon of the 60s

 Sadhana (2 September 1941 – 25 December 2015) belonged to an era when Hindi cinema was transitioning from the slow ’50s  to the more playful, romantic ’60s. Her first film as a heroine was Love In Shimla, released in 1960 which was a hit. She became a rage and her hairstyle became instantly popular with the girls. Her fringe haircut named "Sadhana Cut"

Sadhana is also credited for bringing into fashion tight churidar-kurta. She went with this concept of gracefully changing the traditional loose salwar kameez to her director Yash Chopra for 1965's film Waqt. Initially, Yash Chopra was not agreed for this change but Sadhana with the help of her fashion designer Bhanu Athaiya showed him a sample, which he liked. The trend lasted well in the 1970s and can be seen to be adopted by many actresses.

After Love In Shimla, her 2nd film Parakh was released. in this film she played the simple village girl, she had to stick her fringe back in order to match the simple village girl she played here. Even without that, she looked beautiful. Then came Hum Dono in 1962 The film stars Dev Anand in a double role and also has Nanda his co-heroine.The film was a big hit that established Sadhana as a leading actress. In the same year, Ek Musafir Ek Hasina and Asli Naqli were released, both were successful.at the Box Office.

In 1963, Sadhana played her first role in a technicolor film Mere Mehboob directed by H. S. Rawail. The film was the "blockbuster" of 1963.She now became the most sought-after heroine of Bollywood.

In 1964, she played a double role in the first of the suspense-thriller trilogy, Woh Kaun Thi? This white-sari-clad performance opposite Manoj Kumar earned her first Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. The film was a box office "Hit". Raj Khosla cast her in two more successful mystery films, Mera Saaya (1966) and Anita (1967) thus making her famous as the "Mystery girl". Mera Saaya, a box office "Super Hit".

Since then every year she was giving a hit throughout the 60s, In 1963; it was Rajkumar opposite Shammi Kapoor, Waqt, and Arzoo in 1965, Mera Saya in 66, Anita in 67 and Inteqam and Ek Phool Do Mali in 1969.

Sadhana had health issues due to her thyroid, which she got treated in Boston. She was doing limited films, earlier also she did 2 or 3 films in a year, most of her films were hit.In 1971 she had a hit Aap Aye Bahar Ayee, in 74 she acted and directed Geeta Mera Naam which was also a hit.

After her retirement from acting, she refused to be photographed, She suffered from eye problems due to hyperthyroidism. She had undergone an emergency surgery due to a bleeding oral lesion in December 2014 at the K J Somaiya Medical College.

Sadhana died on 25 December 2015 in Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai after being hospitalized with a high fever. She made a rare public appearance walking the ramp in a pink sari at a fashion show to support the cause for cancer and AIDS patients. She was escorted by her relative, actor Ranbir Kapoor in 2014

Song from Hum Dono

Song from Asli Naqli 1962

Song from Mere Mehboob 1963

Below are a few links to her most popular songs

https://youtu.be/5a7l2UzZ654

Songs of Parakh 1960

https://youtu.be/E5KJpGaXgwE

Songs of Hum Dono 1961

https://youtu.be/TFr6G5zveS8

Songs of Woh Kaun Thi 1964

https://youtu.be/S7-d-7EWMHU

Song of Rajkumar  1964

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Bobby Turns 64

 

Dimple Kapadia( Born on 8 June 1957) was launched by Raj Kapoor at age 16, playing the title role in his teen romance Bobby (1973). She became a sensation after the release of the film. Bobby established her as a "cult figure" She became the youth fashion icon of India. The mini skirts and polka-dotted dresses she wore were often referred to as "Bobby Print"

Before the release of Bobby, she has already married that too the heartthrob of the nation Rajesh Khanna. She didn't work in any film after the release of Bobby. She made her comeback after 12 years with Ramesh Sippy's Sagar in 1985. 

Despite long absences, Dimple Kapadia — who turns 64 today — has built an enviable body of work. In this blog we look into the roles she played in her career span of 48 years.

Bobby(1973)

The film became a trend-setter. It was wildly popular and widely imitated. It introduced to Bollywood the genre of teenage romance with a rich-versus-poor clash as a backdrop. Dimple played Bobby Braganza in this film. She was awarded The Best Heroine Award for this film. She acted with "natural ease and freshness". Rediff.com ranked her performance in Bobby as the fourth-best female debut of all-time in Hindi cinema: "An elfin little girl with big, lovely eyes, nobody quite portrayed innocence as memorably as Dimple in her first outing.

Sagar(1985)

It was a comeback film of Dimple after 12 years. It was a  romantic drama film directed by Ramesh Sippy. The film stars Rishi Kapoor, Kamal Haasan, and Dimple Kapadia. She played  Mona D'Silva who runs a small restaurant in Goa. She once again awarded The Best Actress for this film.

Kaash (1987)

The film written and directed by Mahesh Bhatt. Dimple Kapadia and Jackie Shroff starred as an estranged couple who, during a relentless legal battle over the custody of their only son, learn that the boy is suffering from brain tumour and reunite to spend the last months of his life as a family Dimple achieves the impossible. Bereft of her glitzy make-up, glamour and filmi mannerisms, she comes alive as never before: beautiful, sensitive and intense.

Lekin (1991)

 The film was loosely based on the 1895 short story Kshudhit Pashaan Hungry Stones by Rabindranath Tagore, and directed by Gulzar. It stars Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Amjad Khan, Alok Nath, and Beena Banerjee. Dimple has often cited this role as a personal favorite and the pinnacle of her career and wished she had more screen time in the film. Her performance in it earned her a third Filmfare nomination 

Rudali (1993)

The film is set in a small village in Rajasthan, India. It tells the story of a woman named Shanichari, who was abandoned by her mother shortly after her father's death. Bad fortune follows her throughout her life. The title is a reference to a custom in certain areas of Rajasthan where women of a lower caste are hired as professional mourners upon the death of upper-caste males. These women are referred to as a "rudaali" (roo-dah-lee), literally translated as "female weeper" or "weeping woman". Their job is to publicly express the grief of family members who are not permitted to display emotion due to social status. Dimple Kapadia won the National Film Award for Best Actress and the Filmfare Awards Best Performance Critics Award.

Dil Chahta Hai  (2001)

Dimple plays a middle-aged, alcoholic interior designer battling loneliness and pining to be with her daughter, she (along with Akshaye Khanna’s Siddharth Sinha) provides the much-needed gravitas and depth to Farhan Akhtar’s breezy coming-of-age directorial debut. Kapadia told Filmfare that making the film was an enriching experience, and called her part "a role to die for"

Song of Bobby 1973

Song of Sagar 1985

Song of Kaash 1987

Song of Lekin 1991

Song of Rudali 1993