Meena Kumari was infamously tagged as the ‘tragedy queen’ of Hindi cinema. Despite being a terrific actress of her generation, and an equally established poetess, her professional and personal life has been filled with a lot of setbacks. After facing rejection right after her birth, she went onto gradually built a powerful acting career, marked with incomparable stardom. Her films such as Pakeezah, Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam, Parineeta, Kohinoor are still hailed as some of the most iconic films. However, amid all the professional successes she got, it was her disastrous personal life with her husband, Kamal Amrohi which impacted her to such an extent, that she drowned herself to alcoholism and died at the age of 38.
Meena Kumar’s troubled and under-surveillance marriage with Kamal Amrohi has been a tale that has been a part of gossip columns for a long time now. Even after so many years after the actress’ death, several anecdotes surface about her life. For instance, in an earlier interview with Filmfare, Meena’s step son, Tajdar Amrohi opened up about the actress, whom he referred to as his choti ammi. He mentioned that upon his return from abroad after completing his studies, he found Meena Kumari at her last stage of life. He mentioned that she, at that time, was curing herself, and in deep morose, regretting all the downfalls of her career. Moreover, Tajdar revealed Meena Kumari’s last words, wherein she asserted that God won’t forgive all those who wronged her.
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On March 31, 1972, barely a month after the release of her film, Pakeezah, Meena Kumari passed away, after a prolonged illness caused by excessive alcohol intake. Sadly, so weak were the finances of her family at that time, that they could'nt even afford Rs. 3500 to pay to the hospital, in order to release her dead body. Talking more about the same, filmmaker, Bimal Roy's daughter, Rinky Roy Bhattacharya, in a previous interview with Rediff, said:
“When this actress of high calibre, the reigning Goddess of cinema breathed her last on the afternoon of March 31, 1972, at 3:25 pm in St Elizabeth’s nursing home, she did not have Rs 3,500 required to release her body.”
Earlier, in an interaction with Pinkvilla, Tajdar Amrohi narrated another interesting anecdote about his equation with his step-mother, Meena Kumari. He admitted being a huge admirer of his choti ammi, and recalled a time when he candidly told the actress that he would’ve married her if they were of the same age. Sharing both his parents’ reaction on such a comment, he said:
“Choti Ammi (Meena Kumari) enjoyed having paan with kimam. She looked pyaari when she laughed, her lips red with colour. Once as a kid I innocently remarked, 'Choti Ammi, kaash mein itna chota nahin hota. Phir main aapse shaadi kar leta’. Baba (Kamal Amrohi), who heard this, couldn't help smiling."
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Some time back, several reports suggested that fashion designer, Manish Malhotra was in plans of making a biopic on the late tragedy queen, Meena Kumari. Reportedly, Kriti Sanon was even chosen as the lead for the film. However, Meena’s stepson, Tajdar, expressed dissent on the same. While speaking with Bollywood Bubble, he mentioned being dissatisfied over the matter, since it carried the possibility of tarnishing his parents’ image.
What do you think about Meena Kumari’s last words? Let us know.
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