It is said that Meena Kumari never traveled to outdoor locations without her books and writing pad. After pack up, she spent all her time either reading or jotting her thoughts on paper. Sometimes, late evening she came down for a stroll in the hotel garden because she loved watching the moon.

Undekh’e Qadam

Na jaane chand nikle kitne din huye?

Dekho na

Kamsin chandni ne

Samundar par ek rahguzar bana rakhi hai

Jis par

Koi rahrau nazar nhi aata

Magar

Qadamon ki chap sunai de rahi hai

Beshumar

Un dekhe qadamon ki chap

To be continued

In A Life Beyond Cinema published by Roli Books many moons ago, author Noorul Hasan translates Meena Kumari’s select Urdu poems into English and describes the actor as a ‘chameleon poet’.

Duwaon ki Raat

Duwaon ki rat

Aaaji ki raat

Bahut raaton ke baad aayee hai

Aisi safaidosposh raat

Aisi siah bakht raat

Kahin kahi milti hai

Kissi kissi sajeele din ke naseeb mein hoti hai

Ye maut ki raat

Ye paidaish ki raat

To be continued

Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano; 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress and poet, who worked in Hindi films. Popularly known as The Tragedy Queen, she was active between 1939 and 1972. Kumari is widely considered one of the greatest actresses of Indian cinema.

There are innumerable stories of her warmth and her generosity, her love for children, which is why every time she worked with kids, she got attached to them. Daisy and Honey Irani have wonderful memories associated with Ek Hi Raasta and many decades later, Sachin and Sarika were her favourite co-stars during the shooting of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Majhli Didi.

Sarika shares that Meena Kumari often took her home after shooting and played her dolls with her and when Sarika’s mother arrived next morning to fetch her, pleaded with her to stay an extra day.  Those close to Meena Kumari reveal that she maintained a regular diary that featured her poems.

Unfortunately, while the world celebrated her as an actor, very few got a glimpse into the heart of a poetess.

Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker had bombed miserably and Manoj Kumar was confused how a gifted filmmaker like Kapoor can go wrong. So, he watched the film in back-to-back shows in the theatre to analyse why.  When he finally got to the crux of the problem, he phoned RK to send him the footage and re-edited part 3 and sent it to Kapoor. Kapoor agreed with his minor changes but the die was cast and it was too late to turn the wheel!

But it was a learning lesson. Interestingly, all Manoj Kumar’s directors and heroines agreed that Kumar had a super story sense and whenever he recommended a change in the climax it was always for the betterment of the film. In the seventies Manoj Kumar was in demand both as an actor and as a filmmaker. He was working with all generations of heroines like Nutan, Babita and Hema Malini in Sanyasi, Dus Numbari, Yaadgar, Pehchaan, Beimaan and Shirdi Ke Sai Baba.

By now he had expanded into production and directed three films Roti Kapda aur Makan, Shor and Purab aur Paschim. The eighties were a time of the multi-starrers and Kumar released his ambitious Kranti with his idol Dilip Kumar, a dream come true for the actor-filmmaker.  It is the law of nature that the best and the biggest success stories have to fade eventually and so, Kalyug Ki Ramayan, Clerk, Bharat Ka Beta and later, Deshwasi, Maidan- E- Jung in the nineties finally put a lid on the actor’s glorious career.

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During the sixties, Manoj Kumar featured in 27 films, some romantic like Dr Vidya, Do Badan, Sawan Ki Ghata, Pathar Ke Sanam and Aadmi with top heroines like Asha Parekh, Sharmila Tagore, Waheeda Rehman. Some social films, like Himalay Ki God Mein with Mala Sinha and some thrillers like Woh Kaun Thi, Gumnam and Anita with Sadhna and Nanda.

In 1965 Kumar featured in his first patriotic film, Shaheed-E- Bhagat that changed his life and career. It is said that late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri requested Manoj Kumar to make a film on the slogan of Jai Jawan Jai Kisan and Kumar consented even though he had no experience in either writing or direction.

In the olden days everyone escaped to Mahabaleshwar to write their films but Manoj Kumar booked himself on a Rajdhani train and wrote the first half of Upkaar Bombay to Delhi and the second half traveling from Delhi to Bombay. Upkaar was a super success but the man, Lal Bahadur Shastri for whom Manoj Kumar made the film, never saw it because Shastriji died on his Tashkent trip in 1966. It is something Manoj Kumar has always regretted.

To be continued

It is not very clear how Manoj Kumar landed from Delhi to Bombay. There are stories that he was accompanying some friends on a mission to the dream city and fantasized that it would be wonderful f he could somehow make 3 lakhs in a project because that would be sufficient for his family to live comfortably ever after. The universe heard him because he literally strolled inside a film studio one day and asked a stranger for work.

The production department was looking for assistants and engaged him to carry the lights on the sets. Slowly, one thing led to another and Hari Kishen was now assigned assistant duty on the sets. One day, the filmmaker made him stand in the frame to check the lighting and liked what he saw from behind the camera.

Hari Kishen Goswami was only 20 years old when he was introduced in Fashion and in the coming few years, Manoj Kumar had eight films (Panchayat, Sahara, Chand, Honeymoon, Suhaag Sindoor, Kaanch ki Gudiya and Reshmi Rumal) in pipeline. All these films were heroine-oriented films and mostly unsuccessful, until Vijay Bhatt re-introduced him with a new name Manoj Kumar in Hariyali Aur Raasta.

To be continued

Actor, filmmaker Manoj Kumar started as a romantic hero and gradually moved to family and social dramas, eventually recognized as a patriotic hero. On 24 July Kumar will turn 86and it is time to revisit his illustrious career.

Born in 1937 Kumar was named Harikishen Girr Goswami by his parents. In the film fraternity he was referred to as Panditji and the media addressed him as Mr Bharat. Kumar. He is his parents’ oldest child and it is said that when his mother visited the hospital with her two-month -old baby, ten-year-old Manoj Kumar accompanied her to look after her and his kid sibling. The year was 1947 and when the riots broke out suddenly, the hospital staff deserted the patients and fled to save their lives. It was a traumatic moment for Manoj Kumar as he watched his baby brother collapse in his mother’s arms.

She was frail and inconsolable but there was no time to mourn the loss because they had to flee to save their lives. The family migrated immediately and for the longest time parked in Delhi’s refugee camp. It was from here that his younger siblings went to school and Manoj Kumar completed his graduation.

To be continued

Another decade passed by. In 2004 one of the first digitally coloured films to release was Mughl-E-Azam and as editor Screen we celebrated the milestone at our annual awards. Vilasrao Deshmukh, then chief minister Maharashtra did the honours and now it was the thespian’s turn to speak. This was the beginning of his Alzheimer’s but not many were aware at that time, including us. Dilip Kumar started his speech but got lost mid-sentence. It was an awkward moment for all and I had no choice but to appear on stage and intervene. I collected the trophy from his hand and stood behind him. He sensed my presence, turned around and in his typical style quipped, “Kaun hain bhai” I requested to speak a few words and Kumar was for relieved to thrust the microphone in my hands!

As I write this piece, I think of our first meeting forty plus years ago. Can something so candid and precious ever occur in present times? I don’t think so, not in the times of all the security and the bouncers that follow our dream merchants. The older stars despite all their glory, yearned for a slice of life unlike the current crop, who battle their demons all alone in their ivory towers.  Sab time time ki baatein hain…

Concluded