Meena Kumari : A free spirit who got deception in the name of love
Meena Kumari was no less than a mystery. In her biographer, Vinod Mehtaâs words:âShe had several dimensions, she read poetry, had literary friends, aspired to the upper life associated and was an alcoholicâ.From her father who made a money making machine out of her, to the elderly husband with whom she had generation gap, to Dharmendra who didn't take her seriously, to Gulzar whom she gave the diary of her poems, Meena brought prosperity to all the men in her life.
Birth of the Tragedy queen
Meena Kumari had 2 sisters and her father wanted a son this time but Meena was born. Her father didnât had enough money which made him leave new born Meena at the door of an orphanage. However, subsequent to being isolated from the child, Meena's mother couldn't stop crying and was in a terrible condition. After which Meena's father came back to bring the infant and to his stun, discovered ants slithering creepily everywhere on over her body.
Examining that eerie childhood occurrence, Vinod Mehta who wrote âMeena Kumari: The Classic Biographyâ observed, âI believe that moment remained in her subconscious mind. Here was a traumatised soul. She was unable to have been a happy individual. Life had concluded that she will endure. She was blessed that this despondency was acknowledged in her roles. She comprehended this feeling so well.'
Born on 1 August 1933 in Bombay as Mahjabeen Bano, Meena Kumari experienced childhood in a family of poor theatre artists. Her father Ali Bux had moved from Bhera (Now in Sargodha District of Punjab Province in Pakistan). Her mother Iqbal Beghum was a Bengali Christian who changed over to Islam.
Meena Kumari's grandmother, Hem Sundari Thakur (Tagore) was the little girl of the Rabindranath Tagore's younger brother. Mahjabeen's father was a struggler in Bollywood yet never got a significant break, however he acted in Parsi theater, played harmonium, taught music and also wrote Urdu poetry . He additionally assumed small roles in a few movies.
Meena (Mahjabeen) never wished to become an actress. On her father's gluttony, she started her career as a child artist at the age of 7. Mehjabeen Naaz made her first silver screen appearance as a child actor in Vijay Bhatt's Farzand-e-Watan. She had to become the breadwinner of the family. She grew up in Dadar-east locality of Bombay (British India).
Baby Mehjabeen worked for Vijay Bhatt Productions' Leatherface-1939, Pooja-1940, Bahen-1941, Nai Roshni-1941, Kasauti-1941 and Garib-1942. Mahjabeen Bano was named as Baby Meena on the sets of Ek Hi Bhool in 1940. Given her promising beginning, she had no proper education except for later from Meena's earned cash her father kept a master to teach her reading and writing. Soon Meena was fluent in Hindi, Urdu, English and became a voracious reader.
