Actors - Meena Kumari

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	Actors - Meena Kumari

Meena Kumari (August 1 1932 - 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress known as "The Tragedy Queen".

She was born as Mahjabeen Bano, in what was then Dr. Gadre's Clinic in Bombay as the third daughter in a row. She was the youngest amongst Khursheed, Madhu, and Mahjabeen-the name given to her. Ali Bux, her father, almost left her at a Muslim orphanage, but picked her up after a few hours. He was upset that his wife had given birth to another daughter. Her father, variously identified as a Sunni Muslim or a Parsi, was already a dabbler in cinema. A veteran of Parsi theater, he used to play the harmonium, wrote Urdu poetry and was a music teacher. He had done small roles in films like Id Ka Chand and had composed music for small films like Shahi Lutere. Her mother, Iqbal Begum, was apparently the second wife of Ali Bux. One tradition connects her to the Tagore family. Meena Kumari's grandmother, Hem Sundari Thakur (Tagore) was married into the Tagore family but after her husband, Rev Bill's death, she was compelled to give up the use of the family by the powerful Tagore clan. Her daughter, Prabhawati Devi was a stage actress and dancer with the stage name Kamini before meeting Ali Bux. When Meena was born, Ali Bux had hit upon hard times and was living near Rooptara Studios, where he had hopes of getting a role as an actor. Her therefore mastered his disinclination and, urged on by his wife, tried to get his daughter into films, despite her protestations of wanting to go to school. She was renamed Baby Meena and her first film as a child artist was Farzand-e-Watan or Leatherface (1939), directed by Vijay Bhatt for Prakash Studios. She was the sole bread-earner of the family as she was given roles in films all throughout the 1940s. Her early adult work consisted of mainly mythological films like Veer Ghatotkach (1949), Shri Ganesh Mahima (1950) and fantasies like Alladin and The Wonderful Lamp (1952). She hit the big time with her mentor Vijay Bhatt's Baiju Bawra (1952).

With Baiju Bawra, the suffering Indian woman found a new face in Meena Kumari (For the film she adopted the name Meena Kumari). The heroine in the film is ever ready to negate herself for the material and spiritual advancement of the man she loves and is even willing to annihilate herself to provide him the experience of pain so that his music would be enriched. It was a strong performance and fetched her the inaugural Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1953. With Daera (1953), Ek Hi Raasta (1956), Sharda (1957) and Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi (1960), Meena went from strength to strength playing the suffering woman, the martyr to prefection. It is a pity that Meena was known for her tragic roles and she too chose more such roles to cultivate her image of being the great tragidienne because in the few light-hearted films she did in-between like Azaad (1955), Miss Mary (1957), Shararat (1959), and Kohinoor (1960) she displayed an unhibitedness that was refreshing to say at least. In these films, her physical moments are free and unrestrained and her dialogue delivery absolutely normal, a stark contrast to the studied mannerisms and passive postures of her tragic roles.

However, it was tragedy that saw Meena Kumari's greatest performance and immortalized her. The film was Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962). Produced by Guru Dutt, it was perhaps the greatest performance ever on the Indian screen. The sequence where Choti Bahu dresses for her husband singing is a poignant exploration of a woman's expectations and sexual desire. But Meena was on the road to gradual ruin. She began drinking heavily (like her character Choti Bahu) to a point of no return, but carried on. That year, Meena Kumari made history as she garnered all three Best Actress nominations for the Filmfare Award-For Aarti (1962), Main Chup Rahoongi (1962), and of course Shaib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962)-for which she won the award. However, the common factors between the actress's life and Choti Bahu are too dramatic to be merely coincidental-the estranged marital relationship, the taking of alcohol, younger male company, the craving to be understood and loved-all elements in Meena Kumari's own life. Elements which were mythicized in the film world in the 1960s. While on the professional front, the emphatic success of Dil Ek Mandir (1963), Kajal (1965), and Phool Aur Pathar (1966) kept her a top star.

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