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…
Till date I have not been able to spot any female actor having the level of talent as that of Meena Kumari ji. Her matchless performance many time surpassed the level of acting prowess of her co-stars and actors. All the other female actors are far behind her.