50 Years of Pakeezah

 

Pakeezah took 16 years to reach the celluloid. The film started on July 16, 1956, and was released on February 4, 1972. It was a dream project of Kamal Amrohi, he wanted his wife Meena Kumari to be Sahibjaan of Pakeezah. The mujra 'Inhin logon ne' was shot on July 16, 1956, interestingly at that time the script was not ready, nor the star cast was decided, even the hero was not decided, the next several years went in scouting for locations, deciding on a leading man, writing and rewriting various bits of the film.

Meena Kumari gave her best performance in this film despite her worsening health condition. She attended the premiere of the film at Maratha Mandir. The film was received lukewarm at the Box Office but when the news of Meena Kumari admitting to the hospital spread, it gained momentum.it was Meena Kumari's untimely death on 31 March 1972 which acted as an ultimate push and made it one of the top grosser of that year. Pakeezah was house-full for 33 weeks and even celebrated its silver jubilee in many cinema halls all over the country.

This movie is one among the very few Indian movies, that would never fade away with the passage of time, nor would its spellbinding appeal ever diminish, even as the Indian cinema transforms into the abyss of artificially styled pop culture

The story is About Sahibjaan Who Was Brought Up By Brothel Madame Nawabjaan.... She Grows Up & Becomes Popular Dancer/Singer... Forest Ranger Salim is Enthralled By Her Beauty & Innocence, Convinces Her To Elope With Him But Trials And Tribulations Await As She is Recognized By Men Wherever She Goes With Salim... When He Renames Her Pakeezah (Pure) Takes Her To A Priest To Be Legally Married, She Refuses, Returns To The Brothel..The Story Moves Further...

 The music of the film was recorded by the end of 1959. It was composed by Gulam Muhammad. Kamal Amrohi wanted this film to be a musical so 15 songs were recorded earlier.The shooting of the film was halted in 1964 due to mutual differences between lead heroine Meena Kumari and her director-husband Amrohi. In 1968, the composer of the film passed away. So, when the film was revived in 1969, Naushad was roped in to complete the background music for the film. Many exhibitors suggested Kamal Amrohi change the music according to the then-popular trend and style. To this Amrohi said that he would have readily done this if only Ghulam Mohammed was still alive but now he cannot betray a man, who gave him such melodious songs, after his death. So he kept his music intact but used fewer songs as planned to keep up with the fast-changing trend.

The music and dancing are of the highest possible quality. You may notice in the first dance scene the director has all sorts of things occurring in the background: another girl dancing, a drunk falling downstairs.

Songs of Pakeezah 1972

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Pakeezah was Meena Kumari's Swan Song

 

Pakeezah took 16 years to reach the celluloid. The film started on July 16, 1956, and released on February 4, 1972. It was a dream project of Kamal Amrohi, he wanted his wife Meena Kumari to be Sahibjaan of Pakeezah.

Pakeezah was conceptualised in 1954 as a Black & White venture. The mujra 'Inhin logon ne' was shot on July 16, 1956 , interestingly at that time the script was not ready, nor the star cast was decided, even the hero was not decided,the next several years went in scouting for locations, deciding on a leading man, writing and rewriting various bits of the film. 

By 1964, the film had still not been completed, while Meena Kumari had become a superstar, with films like Kohinoor (1960), Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) and many others. That was also the year she and Kamal Amrohi separated, causing another blow to their already much-delayed dream production.

In the meantime, Meena Kumari got addicted to alcohol and her health got affected. She was not talking to Kamal Amrohi after her separation but she agreed to restart the shooting of this film after a gap of 5 years. It is said that Nargis and Sunil Dutt persuaded her to complete the film.

Kamal Amrohi, who was a poet also wrote 'Sochta hoon ek shahkaar banaoon/Ek insaan ko izraar banaoon', he initially naming it 'Daaman-e-Paak' (Pure entity), when Kamal Amrohi consulted a nujoomi (astrologer) at Unnao in UP, he suggested to give a name beginning with the PE letter of Urdu alphabet.

Pakeezah’s shooting commenced again in 1969. The first shot showed Meena Kumari in a shirt and a lungi walking along with a tent singing “Mausam Hai Ashiqana”. The shooting of the film kept getting delayed due to Meena Kumari’s painful illness. Her liver had bloated; she was unable to dance and found it difficult to even walk a few steps.

For the last song in the film –“Teer E Nazar Dekhenge”, Padma Khanna was appointed to act as her duplicate. Meena Kumari was not well those days but she wanted to complete the film. Padma Khanna in an interview that the fastidious Meena Kumari was fabulous in her attention to detail and that Meena Kumari had amazing directorial acumen. Meena Kumari had the final word on the sets even though the film was helmed by Kamal Amrohi. 

Meena Kumari gave her best performance in this film despite her worsening health condition. She attended the premiere of the film at Maratha Mandir. The film was received lukewarm at the Box Office but when the news of Meena Kumari admitting in the hospital spread, it gained momentum.

 it was Meena Kumari's untimely death on 31 March 1972 which acted as an ultimate push and made it one of the top grosser of that year. Pakeezah was house-full for 33 weeks and even celebrated its silver jubilee in many cinema halls all over the country.

Song of Pakeezah 1972

Story Behind the Song "Chalo Dildar Chalo"

This immortal song from Pakeezah(1972) was originally a solo sung by Lata Mangeshkar, intended for use as a dancing number, the fascinating solo version was cut from both the film and record released, later a romantic version, a duet was recorded. You may have noticed it or not, Rafi sab has sung but just a single line in it which is the Mukhda. Amazing how a single line sung by Rafi sab had made it an immortal Rafi song.
This was the only song in this film having a male voice. All the other songs were female solo. The music of this film was given by Ghulam Mohammad. He composed a total of 15 songs for the film out of which only six were used. The remaining songs were released in 1977 in an album called "Pakeezah Rang Barang". This album was released exclusively by Saregama in 1977.
This film took 16 years to complete. The mahurat of the film happened on July 16, 1956, and the film got released in Feb 1972. The music of the film was recorded by the end of 1959. Kamal Amrohi wanted this film to be a musical so 15 songs were recorded earlier.
The shooting of the film was halted in 1964 due to mutual differences between lead heroine Meena Kumari and her director-husband Amrohi. In 1968, the composer of the film passed away. So, when the film was revived in 1969, Naushad was roped in to complete the background music for the film. Many exhibitors suggested Kamal Amrohi change the music according to the then-popular trend and style. To this Amrohi said that he would have readily done this if only Ghulam Mohammed was still alive but now he cannot betray a man, who gave him such melodious songs, after his death. So he kept his music intact but used fewer songs as planned to keep up with the fast-changing trend.
In 1969 the shooting of the film resumed after a gap of five years. By this time Meena Kumari's health got deteriorated. She was suffering from Liver Cirrhosis. Few songs were yet to be picturized. Her condition became so bad that during the filming of the grueling emotional Mujraa “Teer-e Nazar,” Meena Kumari collapsed.  Keeping in mind her medical condition, a body double was brought. Actress Padma Khanna played her body double in this song as she was an adept Kathak dancer which was an urgent requirement of the song. Meena Kumari personally trained her for the scene, and the song was filmed with the majority of the dancing done under a veil in order to hide her face. 
Similarly in this song too Padma Khanna acted as Meena Kumari. Her face was actually never shown in the song.

Song of Pakeezah 1972

                    Chalo Dildar Chalo - Lata Solo version not in the film