Profile of Meena Kumari on Famous Like Me

Meena Kumari (August 1, 1932 - 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress known as "The Tragedy Queen".

She was born as Mahajabeen Bano, in what was then Dr. Gadre's Clinic in Bombay. Ali Bux, her father almost left her at a Muslim orphange, but picked her up after a few hours. He was upset that his wife had given birth to another daughter. Her father, variously identified as a Sunni Muslim or a Parsi, was already a dabbler in cinema. a veteran of Parsi theatre, he used to play the harmonium and wrote Urdu poetry. He had done bit roles in films like Id Ka Chan and had composed music for small films like Shahi Lutere. Her mother, Iqbal Begam, was apparently the second wife of Ali Bux. One tradition connects her to the Tagore family. Meena Kumari's grandmother, Hema Sundari (Tagore) was married into the Tagore family but after her husband's death, she was compelled to give up the use of the family by the powerful Tagore clan. Her daughter, Prabhawati was a stage actress and dancer before meeting Ali Bux.

When Meena was born, Ali Bux had hit upon hard times and was living near Rooptara Studios. Her therefore mastered his disinclination and urged on by his wife tried to get his daughter into films, despite her protestations of wanting to go to school. She was renamed Baby Meena and her first film as a child artist was Farzand-e-Watan or Leatherface (1939), directed by Vijay Bhatt for Prakash Studios. Her first scene didn't have any lines. Her early adult work was mostly mythologicals in the late 1940s and early 1950s. She hit the big time with Baiju Bawra (1952).

(To Be Continued and checked)

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