INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Meena Kumari, the yesteryear actress remembered as the "tragedy queen"
Meena Kumari was born on August 1, 1933, to Ali Baksh and Iqbal Begum, as Mahjabeen Bano
Born in a family of theatre artistes, she faced a poverty-stricken childhood
She was just six years old when she made her debut in "the Leather Face", produced and directed by Vijay Bhatt.The iconic actress has
inspired generations with her memorable performances in movies like "Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam", "Pakeezah", "Baiju Bawra", "Yahudi", "Bahu
In her career spanning 30 years, she acted in over 90 movies
She symbolised love and loneliness on screen.Meena Kumari was not just a talented actress but a poetess too
She wrote under the pseudonym "Naaz"
"Tanha Chand", a collection of her poems was published after her death in 1972
The book was compiled by famous writer Gulzar.In the album "I write, I recite", one can listen to Meena Kumari recite her
poems.Interestingly, Meena Kumari is the only Indian actress to have won three Filmfare nominations for the "Best Actress" category in the
This was in the year 1963 when she was nominated for her performances in "Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam", "Main Chup Rahoongi" and "Aarti".Meena
Kumari was just 38 when she died of liver failure, weeks after the release of the movie "Pakeezah"
