The count-down has begun for Pooja Entertainment’s espionage thriller Bell Bottom to be released in theatres and to make certain that the audience don’t quit the cinema halls, the producer is releasing the film in 2D and 3D formats. A promotional video of Akshat Kumar seated on an arm chair wearing 3D glasses has gone viral.

So has actor Rasika Dugal’s memory of shooting Lootcase in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. Lootcase was the first feature to digitally stream on the OTT platform and Rasika shares that it was a relief to play the character after all those intense roles “I even got to do a lip-sync in the film and I thought I would never get to experience a song picturisation in my career”.

Meena Kumar’s dear ones reveal that she shared her poetry via long letters to her writer friends seeking their feedback and they responded with equally long letters and sometimes, a surprise visit to her locations. Those were days of trunk-calls and telegrams and outdoor locations were restricted the nearest hill stations Lonavala and Khandala and if the producer was rich then Kashmir.

Nazm

Sach

Yeh Tulsi kaisi shan’t hai

Aur Kashmeer ki Jheel’n

Ki skis tarha uthal-puthal ho jaati hain

Aur Allah

Mai’n!

In the early days, Meena Kumari lived in the picturesque Janki Kutir, comprising a row of cottages festooned with trees overlooking the sea in Juhu. She loved the sound of the sea and when she was not shooting, looked forward to impromptu poetry session with poets Kaifi Azmi and Vishwamitra Adil who lived in the neighborhood. It was Azmi and Adil who encouraged Meena Kumari to pen her thoughts and participate in mushairas.

Not all poets were as supportive and dismissed her presence at prestigious gatherings as nothing but a glamorous star. Meena Kumari was aware of the dismissal but unmindful of their cynicism because she truly enjoyed being in the company of the learned.

It is said that  Meena Kumari never traveled to outdoor locations without her books and paper. 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…

Sarika recalls that Meena Kumari often took her home after shooting and fed her food and gave her dolls to play on her bed and when her mother came to get her back the next day, pleaded with her to let her stay back one more night.

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

On 01 August was Meena Kumari’s 88th birth anniversary and while the world remembers her as the greatest performer on celluloid, I will pay tribute to the unsung poetess behind the actress none of us knew and some who did, deliberately misinterpreted her.

But before that a little about Meena Kumari the person.

In my long career as a journalist, I have heard many wonderful stories about the actor, her compassion, her generosity, her love for children, whenever she featured in a film engaging children, she invariably got emotionally attached to them, it was child star Daisy Irani and her younger sister Honey Irani during the making of Ek Hi Raasta in the fifties and in later years, Sachin and Sarika while shooting for Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Majhli Didi.

Sarika has wonderful memories of shooting a song where Meena Kumari asks riddles and the children search for answers. She recalls Meena Kumari forever writing. In A Life Beyond Cinema published by Roli Books many moons ago, author Noorul Hasan translates Meena Kumari’s Urdu poems into English and describes the actor as a ‘chameleon poet’.

To be continued…

It is said that Mirza Ghalib would sit up all night by a flickering lamp, humming his thoughts, when he was satisfied with a verse, he tied a knot in a cloth as a reminder to write the poem the following morning.

Daem parha hue tere dar, par nahi hoon main

Khak aisi zindagi pe ke pathhar nahin hoon main.

In the morning, Ghalib would sit at his favorite spot and sing and pen the new verses and when satisfied with his writing, he would untangle the various knots, a rather unusual way of documenting work in progress, but then nothing about Mirza Ghalib was ordinary.

Ya Rab,zamana mujhe mitata hai kis liye

Loh –ejahan pe harfe mukarar nahin hoon main

Mirza Ghalib had the most extraordinary sense of humor. He had the extra-ordinary knack of narrating tragedies with cheer and this reflected in his poetry.

Once a stranger watching him drink said, ‘Don’t you know that Lord does not accept prayers of a man who consumes alcohol?’ to which Ghalib answered ‘My dear, a man who gets his quota of drink has very little to pray for!’ He was a true fakir, free spirit treading new pastures for fodder every day till he lived.

Kave kave sakht jaani, haetanhai na poochh

There is a story about when he was invited to Delhi by Tomson for the annual poetry recitation; Ghalib arrived at the venue as usual in a palki. When Tomson did not come out to receive him, he turned the palki around and returned home. Later, he commented that he had agreed to the invitation to add prestige to the occasion, but that was not possible when his host did not show basic courtesy towards his guest. Tomson called it arrogance; Ghalib said it was a natural response. His talent did not permit compromise.

To be continued…

Mirza Ghalib lost everyone he loved, his father in childhood, his brother in adolescence. He was a proud father of seven sons but none of them survived. Ghalib adopted a child, but he too died in his youth. These successive tragedies broke his spirit and his heart and he detached himself with life, found solace in poetry. He wrote and sang every waking moment of his life.

Kuch iss tarha maine zindagi ko aasan kar diya

Kissi se maafi maang li to kissi ko maaf kar diya

It is said that during the 1857 riots when Ghalib was arrested by the British and questioned about his religion, the unpredictable poet answered ‘I am an incomplete Muslim’. The officer was flustered and Ghalib was forced to explain his definition of incomplete Muslim as he consumed alcohol (not permitted by Islam) and did not eat meat (permitted by Islam).