Rumours are afloat that a Meena Kumari biopic is in the works. Every actor from Kiara Advani to Tripti Dimri has been associated with the film. Some of these rumours date back a year; others, even longer. But portraying a life as complex as Meena Kumari’s is not an easy feat. Nor even a simple one.
Born Mahjabeen, the Mumbaikar soon donned the stage name and persona of Meena Kumari. Much like her Hollywood counterpart, Marilyn Monroe, Meena Kumari’s life was not an easy one. Nicknamed India’s Tragedy Queen, Meena Kumari came to be known for her powerful, sorrowful characters.
First as a child actor and then as an adult, she quickly came to be regarded as one of India’s best actors. Meena Kumari died at 38 of liver cirrhosis and was nearly destitute. The actor who once ruled the silver screen struggled to pay her hospital bills toward the end. In fact, fellow actor Nargis, in an open letter, famously congratulated Meena Kumari upon her death.
“Maut Mubarak Ho Meena, Meena, today your baaji congratulates you on your death and asks you to never step into this world again. This place is not meant for people like you,” she wrote.
But that is only part of the story that Bollywood wishes to portray. Meena Kumari is more than the tragedy queen; she is even more than her complicated relationship with filmmaker Kamal Amrohi.
Her biopic should not be another opportunity for a Bollywood A-lister to cosplay as a 1950s heroine, but a chance to tell an untold story.
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Meet Meena
Meena, the actor, set standards with her performances. Her portrayal of Sahibjaan in Pakeezah (1972) is one for the history books. Kamal Amrohi’s magnum opus took 15 years to complete and was as much a testament to his relationship with Meena Kumari as anything else.
Although the film was released after her death, it cemented Meena Kumari’s legacy in Indian cinema.
Her previous films such as Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) and Kaajal (1966) had won her numerous accolades, but it was Pakeezah that iconised her.
Meena’s talents didn’t stop at the camera. She was also a talented singer and a poet.
But it was Meena, the designer, who quietly stole the show. As costume designer for Pakeezah, Meena Kumari took on the responsibility of personally curating and overseeing every last detail of the costume for the film set in 19th-century Lucknow. She even used several pieces from her own private jewellery collection for the film. The iconic emerald-green velvet anarkali and the silky red suit in ‘Chalte Chalte Yun Hi Koi’ were all her.
In fact, designer Manisha Malhotra once famously said that the film’s costume and set designs were his favourite. She set the standard for period drama costumes, but wasn’t even able to reap its benefits.
So reducing Meena Kumari to her marriage to Kamal Amrohi or simply being a tragedy queen diminishes all of her hard work. She was an entrepreneur before women were allowed to be one, especially female actors. Meena Kumari paved the way for modern Bollywood actors. While their off-screen contributions are now celebrated, Meena Kumari’s were brushed off or forgotten.
It is hard being a talented woman; it is harder still being remembered as one. That is the true dilemma of Meena Kumari. She is more than her love life. That is the story that Bollywood must portray. Her biopic must do justice to her life and struggles.
Views are personal.