- Date of Birth: 01 August, 1932
- Place of Birth: Bombay, Bombay Presidency , British India
Biography
Mahjabeen Bano , commonly known as Meena Kumari, was a prominent Indian movie actress.
In 1952, on the sets of one of her films, Meena Kumari fell in love with --and then married-- film director Kamal Amrohi, who was 15 years senior to her and was already married. She wrote about Amrohi: Dil saa jab saathi paya Bechain bhi woh saath le aaya Soon after marriage, Kamal Amrohi and Meena Kumari made a movie named Daera (1953), which was based on their love story. They also planned another movie, Pakeezah. However, it took 16 years (1956 to 1972) before Pakeezah reached the silver screen. (The scenes in Pakeezah's popular song, Inhi logo ne, were originally filmed in black and white, and were later reshot in color.) It is said that Amrohi did not want children with Meena Kumari because she was not a Sayyed. They raised Kamal Amrohi's son, Taajdaar, who was highly attached to his chhoti ammi (younger mother), Meena Kumari. Because of their strong personalities, Meena Kumari and Kamal Amrohi started, however, to develop conflicts, both professionally and in their married life. Their conflicts, separation, and ultimate divorce in 1964 highly impacted Meena Kumari, who, once a happy woman, became depressed and took to heavy drinking. She expressed her sorrows prominently in her poetry. About Kamal Amrohi she wrote: Tum kya karoge sunkar mujhse meri kahani Belutf zindagi ke kisse hain pheeke pheeke At the time of the divorce, she wrote: Talaak to de rahe ho Nazare kahar ke saath Jawani bhi mere lauta do Mehar ke saath
When Mahjabeen was born, Ali Bakhshi aspired to get roles as an actor in Rooptara Studios. At the urging of his wife, he got Mahjabeen too into movies despite her protestations of wanting to go to school. Young Mahjabeen is said to have said, "I do not want to work in movies; I want to go to school, and learn like other children." As Mahjabeen embarked on her acting career at the age of 7, she was renamed Baby Meena. Farzand-e-Watan or Leatherface (1939) was her first movie, which was directed for Prakash Studios by Vijay Bhatt. She became practically the sole breadwinner of her family during the 1940s. Her early adult acting, under the name Meena Kumari, was mainly in mythological movies like Veer Ghatotkach (1949), Shri Ganesh Mahima (1950), and fantasy movies like Alladin and The Wonderful Lamp (1952).
In 1952, on the sets of one of her films, Meena Kumari fell in love with --and then married-- film director Kamal Amrohi, who was 15 years senior to her and was already married. She wrote about Amrohi: Dil saa jab saathi paya Bechain bhi woh saath le aaya Soon after marriage, Kamal Amrohi and Meena Kumari made a movie named Daera (1953), which was based on their love story. They also planned another movie, Pakeezah. However, it took 16 years (1956 to 1972) before Pakeezah reached the silver screen. (The scenes in Pakeezah's popular song, Inhi logo ne, were originally filmed in black and white, and were later reshot in color.) It is said that Amrohi did not want children with Meena Kumari because she was not a Sayyed. They raised Kamal Amrohi's son, Taajdaar, who was highly attached to his chhoti ammi (younger mother), Meena Kumari. Because of their strong personalities, Meena Kumari and Kamal Amrohi started, however, to develop conflicts, both professionally and in their married life. Their conflicts, separation, and ultimate divorce in 1964 highly impacted Meena Kumari, who, once a happy woman, became depressed and took to heavy drinking. She expressed her sorrows prominently in her poetry. About Kamal Amrohi she wrote: Tum kya karoge sunkar mujhse meri kahani Belutf zindagi ke kisse hain pheeke pheeke At the time of the divorce, she wrote: Talaak to de rahe ho Nazare kahar ke saath Jawani bhi mere lauta do Mehar ke saath
When Mahjabeen was born, Ali Bakhshi aspired to get roles as an actor in Rooptara Studios. At the urging of his wife, he got Mahjabeen too into movies despite her protestations of wanting to go to school. Young Mahjabeen is said to have said, "I do not want to work in movies; I want to go to school, and learn like other children." As Mahjabeen embarked on her acting career at the age of 7, she was renamed Baby Meena. Farzand-e-Watan or Leatherface (1939) was her first movie, which was directed for Prakash Studios by Vijay Bhatt. She became practically the sole breadwinner of her family during the 1940s. Her early adult acting, under the name Meena Kumari, was mainly in mythological movies like Veer Ghatotkach (1949), Shri Ganesh Mahima (1950), and fantasy movies like Alladin and The Wonderful Lamp (1952).