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

The Swan Song of R D BURMAN

The swan song is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement.  Thenmavin Kombath, a Malayalam film by Priyadarshan was the last film R D Burman signed, but he died before he could score for the film.It was the song Ek Ladki Ko Dekha from 1942 A Love Story was the last song recorded before his death.But the real Swan Song is ‘Kuchh na kaho’.
R d Burman’s last recorded song is ‘Kuchh na kaho’ in Lata Mangeshkar’s voice. It was recorded soon after RD’s death in January 1994.

The late 80s and early 90s were not good for Pancham. The general perception was that he had lost his touch.  The songs that he did, generally failed to make a major impact on the public.  Where R.D. Burman had made a career from Western "inspired" songs, he found that he was repeatedly being outdone by Bappi Lahiri's Western "inspired" disco.  In 1988 at the age of 49, he suffered a heart attack.  He underwent surgery and continued to make music.  But his career limped into the 1990's with very lackluster commercial success.  

Many Producers and Directors who were working with Pancham earlier have now dropped Pancham from their future projects. Anand-Milind were picked over Pancham da for Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (QSQT), Subhash Ghai who signed Pancham earlier for his upcoming film Ram Lakhan also dropped him by replacing Laxmikant Pyare Lal.

It was Vidhu Vinod Chopra who worked with him in Parinda had faith on him repeated him in 1942 Love Story despite suggestions from his well wishers not to take him. 1942- A Love Story was one of Rahul Dev Burman’s last soundtracks and indeed he left the industry with a lot to remember.

Every song of this movie is a master piece “Kuch Na Kaho”, is featured twice, once by Kumar Sanu and the other by the illustrious Lata Mangeshkar. The slow tune is once again delightfully intertwined with the R.D. Burman touch in a violin.The teaser number, “Rooth Na Jana” brings us back to the golden era with its backdrop consisting essentially of the flute areas. The song is at times upbeat, sweet and Kumar Sanu once again emotes excellently.

“Ek Ladki Ko Dekha” the song sung by Kumar Sanu  was as whimsical and breezy as it is picturized. The light soft tune has a backdrop of a soft drum backdrop, which is complimented superbly by the sitar. The song being on of Sanu’s biggest hits cannot only be identified by the classes but the masses as well.

The film got all the 4  musical Awards,Best Music Director for R D Burman,Best Lyricist for Javed Akhtar,Best male Play back Singer for Kumar sanu and the Best female Singer to Kavita Krishnamurti.

Song from 1942 Love Story (1994)

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha

Rim Jhim Rim Jhim