#kamal amrohi

[inmyworldblr]

Pakeezah (1972) | dir. Kamal Amrohi

[masalafilmsrevival]

Pakeezah (1970)

[bollywoodirect]

Remembering Kamal Amrohi on his birth anniversary (17/01).

In these photos, He is with #MeenaKumari, Charlotte Wirsching, and Helen on the sets of ‘Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai’ during a break of song “Itni Badi Mehfil” (1959).

[ppsychlone]

Pakeezah (1972) by Kamal Amrohi

[aboutanancientenquiry]

Meena Kumari in “Chalte chalte yunhi koi” (“Pakeezah”, 1972)

Meena Kumari (1933-1972), one of the greatest Indian actresses of the last century, in an iconic scene and song from the classic Indian movie Pakeezah (The Pure One-1972, written, directed, and produced by Kamal Amrohi). 

Meena Kumari plays in this movie Sahibjaan, a tawaif. The tawaifs were courtesans who catered to the nobility of the Indian Subcontinent in the Mughal and post-Mughal eras and were trained in music, danse, theater, and Urdu literature. An orphan, Sahibjaan lives since her childhood in a kotha (brothel), but she wants to escape from her fate.

According to the website of the University of Iowa ( https://indiancinema.sites.uiowa.edu/pakeezah ):

““I’ve seen your feet; they’re very lovely. Don’t set them down on the earth—they’ll get soiled.” This metaphorical warning-note, penned by a romantic stranger and left between the toes of a sleeping woman in a railway compartment, forms a much-underscored motif in this classic courtesan film—the final collaboration between the great actress and dancer Meena Kumari and her former husband, actor and director Kamal Amrohi. Like MOTHER INDIA, this film coexists with its own legend involving the offscreen lives of the director and star, who planned it together in the late 1950s but whose marriage broke up around the time that filming began in 1964. Kumari (who was also a talented Urdu poet under the pen name Naaz) then purportedly became an alcoholic, but eventually came back to complete the film shortly before her premature death in 1972; aficionados may try their luck at identifying—from Kumari’s pained and sometimes mask-like face—which scenes were shot when. The central theme of the film is the struggle for respectability of a tawai’if, an Indo-Islamic courtesan trained in poetry, music, and dance—a glamorous “public woman” whose career was to be an elegant companion (and potential lover) to affluent men, but for whom a “respectable” marriage and home was out of the question. Her beautiful feet—apart from being an erotic fetish—represent her mastery of the art of North Indian classical dance or Kathak, which tawai’if’s preserved and nurtured for several centuries. The “earth” that such feet must perforce touch, however, is ruled by patriarchal society with its crippling double-standards, which decreed that respectable women (who lived in parda or seclusion) could seldom be interesting to men, and that interesting women were seldom respectable. All courtesan fiction struggles with this divide, which forms a principal theme of one of the earliest and most famous Urdu novels, Mirza Mohammed Hadi Ruswa’s UMRAO JAN ADA (1905; itself later filmed several times; see notes on UMRAO JAAN). PAKEEZAH offers another variation on the theme.”

See also about Pakeezah the paper of Richard Allen and Ira Brashkar Pakeezah: Dreamscape of Desire, on https://www.academia.edu/36264030/Pakeezah_Dreamscape_of_Desire

In the iconic scene of this video Sahibjaan/Meena Kumari sings and dances for the “villain” of the movie, an aristocrat (Nawab) named Zafar Ali Khan (played by Kamal Kapoor), who wishes to own her. The ambiguities and dynamics of the situation and of the relationship between the two are depicted in excellent way in this scene, which takes place at the Gulabi Mahal (Pink Palace) of Luchnow. According to the paper of Allen and Brashkar:

“The Gulabi Mahal (the Pink Palace) at Lucknow evokes a more rarified atmosphere. In Amrohi’s imagination, the space of the kotha is here fused with the idea of a Greek temple where the central colonnaded performance space doubles as a space of worship to the divine feminine, and discrete spaces are orchestrated in a theatrical hierarchy from the outer court with its fountains at the entrance to the inner sanctum sanctorum, which houses the bedroom of the courtesan, essentially off limits to all but the chosen client, and separated from the main performance space by a lighted causeway between reflecting pools of water.The Pink Palace is a sublime temple of femininity, whose fountains, atriums, reflecting pools form a microcosm of artifice that rivals that of the natural world. Indeed, even the moon appears artful in this landscape and the saturated deep blue sky, a studied backcloth to the whole.”

But, as the same article continues a bit further, the Pink Palace is also a prison for Sahibjaan:

“Meanwhile, for Sahibjaan whose desire for self-fulfillment has been awakened, the Pink Palace becomes a prison. In a metaphor that recurs in the film, and echoes throughout the genre, she is likened to a bird in a gilded cage from which she yearns to escape...

...The quality and texture of her performances for him [the Nawab] are now markedly different from her earlier ones. Gone is the vivacity and vibrancy of an Inhin logon ne or a Thade rahiyo as she mournfully sings the haunting Chalte Chalte, which articulates her desire for freedom and happiness.Yet it also returns us to the pathos of her entrapment in a manner that evokes the equation of the courtesan and the flickering flame that opens the film. At the conclusion of the performance, as she sings Yeh chiraag bujh rahein hain / Mere saath jalte jalte (These lamps are fading / As they burn with me), she hears the screech of a train whistle. It is impossible initially to discern whether it is somewhere physically off-screen or within her mind.The camera cranes upward from the floor to the red chandelier, recalling the red aalta of her feet.The lights darken as the escalating screech of the train whistle resounds through the performance space, taking over the song and abruptly bringing the dance to an end. When the camera cranes down again, the dancers have disappeared from the floor.The camera then tracks forward towards the fountains that abruptly stop playing as the whistling ends. It is as if the space in which she dwells, her erstwhile tomb, is now cut to the measure of her desire. She rushes to the balcony to see the train she has seen before, but this time it is motionless, silhouetted against the sky, almost as if waiting for her to come to her balcony before it can leave.Though real, the train appears as if in a vision, so detached is the spectacle from the space she inhabits.What is finally required for Sahibjaan to escape her sealed world is a transformation of environment and character of a magnitude that challenges the tone in which the film has hitherto been cast.”

The lyrics of Chalte chalte yuhni koi were written by the Urdu poet Kaifi Azmi (1919-2002) and its music was composed years before the release of Pakeezah by Ghulam Mohammed (1903-1968). Although Meena Kumari was also a singer, the voice in the song is of the great Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar (1929-2022).

Unfortunately I couldn’t do anything with the advertisements at the end of the video.

I have found on the net the following transliteration and translation of the lyrics of Chalte chalte yuhni koi:

Chalte chalte, chalte chalte    While walking, while walking

Yun hi koi mil gaya tha    I met someone by chance

Yun hi koi mil gaya tha  I met someone by chance

Sare raah chalte chalte   Walking around the path

Sare raah chalte chalte    Walking around the path

Wahin thamke reh gayi hai  Right there it stood still

Wahin thamke reh gayi hai   Right there it stood still

Meri raat dhalte dhalte    This night of mine, which is fading away

Meri raat dhalte dhalte     This night of mine, which is fading away

Joh kahi gayi na mujhse      What I was unable to say

Joh kahi gayi na mujhse     What I was unable to say

Woh zamaana keh raha hai      The world is saying that

Woh zamaana keh raha hai    The world is saying that

Ke fasana                                A story

Ke fasana ban gayi hai     A story has been created

Ke fasana ban gayi hai      A story has been created

Meri baat chalte chalte      From those words of mine

Meri baat chalte chalte   From those words of mine

Yun hi koi mil gaya tha    I met someone by chance

Yun hi koi mil gaya tha    I met someone by chance

Sare raah chalte chalte      Walking around the path

Sare raah chalte chalte      Walking around the path

Yun hi koi mil gaya tha    I met someone by chance

Sare raah                               Around the path

Chalte chalte, chalte chalte     While walking, while walking

Sare raah                                Around the path

Chalte chalte, chalte chalte       While walking, while walking

Chalte chalte, chalte chalte          While walking, while walking

Yun hi koi mil gaya tha            I met someone by chance

Yun hi koi mil gaya tha            I met someone by chance

Shab-e-intezaar aakhir             The night of waiting

Shab-e-intezaar aakhir              The night of waiting

Kabhi hogi mukhtasar bhi            Will after all shorten soon

Kabhi hogi mukhtasar bhi           Will after all shorten soon

Yeh chirag                                    These lamps

Yeh chirag bujh rahe hai              These lamps are dying

Yeh chirag bujh rahe hai               These lamps are dying

Mere saath jalte jalte                 As they burn alongside me

Mere saath jalte jalte                 As they burn alongside me

Yeh chirag bujh rahe hai              These lamps are dying

Yeh chirag bujh rahe hai                These lamps are dying

Yeh chirag bujh rahe hai               These lamps are dying

Yeh chirag bujh rahe hai                These lamps are dying

Yeh chirag bujh rahe hai                 These lamps are dying

Yeh chirag bujh rahe hai               These lamps are dying

Mere saath jalte jalte                   As they burn alongside me

Mere saath jalte jalte                  As they burn alongside me

Yun hi koi mil gaya tha                   I met someone by chance

Yun hi koi mil gaya tha                I met someone by chance

Sare raah chalte chalte                Walking around the path

[suchananewsblog]

Throwback: The eternal music in Kamal Amrohi’s films - Times of India

Before Kamal Amrohi made Pakeezah with its immortal songs, there was Mahal in 1949 which featured the eternally popular Aayega Aanewala composed by Khemchand Prakash, said to be a turning point in both Lata Mangeshkar and Madhubala’s fledgling careers.Mahal also had Lataji’s two other memorabilia Mushqil Hai Bahot Mushqil and Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya. But they were eclipsed by Aaayega…

[rajeevpradhan]

[indiesole]

THE 236 GREATEST PERSONALITIES IN THE ENTIRE KNOWN HISTORY/COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THIS WORLD! (@INDIES)

i.e. THE 236 GREATEST PERSONALITIES IN WORLD HISTORY! (@INDIES)

Rajesh Khanna

Lionel Messi

Leonardo Da Vinci

Muhammad Ali

Joan of Arc

William Shakespeare

Vincent Van Gogh

Online Indie

J. K. Rowling

David Lean

Nadia Comaneci

Diego Maradona

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Meena Kumari

Julius Caesar

Harrison Ford

Ludwig Van Beethoven

William W. Cargill

Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche

Samuel Curtis Johnson

Sam Walton

John D. Rockefeller

Andrew Carnegie

Roy Thomson

Tim Berners-Lee

Marie Curie

James J. Hill

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Roman Polanski

Samuel Slater

J. P. Morgan

Cary Grant

Dmitri Mendeleev

John Harvard

Alain Delon

Ramakrishna Paramhansa (Official God)

The Lumiere Brothers, Auguste & Louis

Carl Friedrich Benz

Michelangelo

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Ramana Maharishi

Mark Twain

Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri

Bruce Lee

Bhagwan Krishna (Official God)

Charlemagne

Rene Descartes

John F. Kennedy

Bhagwan Ganesha (Official God)

Walt Disney

Albert Einstein

Nikola Tesla

Alfred Hitchcock

Pythagoras

William Randolph Hearst

Cosimo de’ Medici

Johann Sebastian Bach

Alec Guinness

Nostradamus

Christopher Plummer

Archimedes

Jackie Chan

Guru Dutt

Amma Karunamayi/ Mata Parvati (Official God)

Peter Sellers

Gerard Depardieu

Joseph Safra

Robert Morris

Sean Connery

Petr Kellner

Aristotle Onassis

Usain Bolt

Jack Welch

Alfredo di Stefano

Elizabeth Taylor

Michael Jordan

Paul Muni

Steven Spielberg

Louis Pasteur

Ingrid Bergman

Norma Shearer

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

Ayn Rand

Jesus Christ (Official God)

Luciano Pavarotti

Alain Resnais

Frank Sinatra

Allah (Official God)

Richard Nixon

Charlie Chaplin

Thomas Alva Edison

Alexander Graham Bell

Wright Brothers

Arjun (of Bhagwan Krishna’s Gita)

Jim Simons

George Lucas

Swami Sri Lahiri Mahasaya

Carl Lewis

Brett Favre

Helen Keller

Bernard Mannes Baruch

Buddha (Official God)

Hugh Grant

K. L. Saigal

Roger Federer

Rash Behari Bose

Tiger Woods

William Blake

Jesse Owens

Claude Miller

Bernardo Bertolucci

Subhash Chandra Bose

Satyajit Ray

Hippocrates

Chiang Kai-Shek

John Logie Baird

Geeta Dutt

Raphael (painter)

Bhagwan Shiva (Official God)

Radha (Ancient Krishna devotee)

George Orwell

Jorge Paulo Lemann

Catherine Deneuve

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Bill Gates

Bhagwan Ram (Official God)

Michael Phelps

Michael Faraday

Audrey Hepburn

Dalai Lama

Grace Kelly

Mikhail Gorbachev

Vladimir Putin

Galileo Galilei

Gary Cooper

Roger Moore

John Huston

Blaise Pascal

Humphrey Bogart

Rudyard Kipling

Samuel Morse

Wayne Gretzky

Yogi Berra

Barry Levinson

Patrice Chereau (director)

Jerry Lewis

Louis Daguerre

James Watt

Henri Rousseau

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Elia Kazan

Alexander Fleming

David Selznick

Frank Marshall

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Swami Vivekananda

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Victor Hugo

Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba (Official God)

Steve Jobs

Srinivasa Ramanujam

Lord Hanuman

Stanley Kubrick

Giotto

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Diego Velazquez

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Michael Douglas

Kirk Douglas

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Confucius

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Titian aka Tiziano Vecelli

El Greco

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Jim Carrey

Mohammad Rafi

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Pele

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Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi

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Aryabhatta

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Patanjali

Leo Tolstoy

Tansen

Henry Fonda

Albrecht Durer

Benazir Bhutto

Cal Ripken Jr

Samuel Goldwyn

Mumtaz (actress)

Panini

Nicolaus Copernicus

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George Clooney

Olivia de Havilland

Prem Chand

Imran Khan

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Meerabai (16th c. Krishna devotee)

Queen Elizabeth II

Pope John Paul II

James Cameron

Jack Ma

Warren Buffett

Romy Schneider

C. V. Raman

Aung San Suu Kyi

Benjamin Netanyahu

Frank Capra

Michael Schumacher

Steve Forbes

Paramhansa Yogananda

Tom Hanks

Kamal Amrohi

Hans Holbein

Shammi Kapoor

Gerardus Mercator

Edith Piaf

Bhagwan Shirdi Sai Baba (Official God)

[theincomparablemeenakumari]

Stars At Home featuring Meena Kumari!🤍✨🌜

Presenting here a pictorial article of Meena ji at her Pali Hill residence, where she lived with Kamal Amrohi for over a decade. This article has a special corner in my heart, as it provides an overview of the place where my heroine spent the glorious and peak years of her career. She looks absolutely ravishing in these photographs.

Circa

24 August, 1955

[indiejones]

PAKEEZAH - A UNENDING LEGACY!

Friends, dya know which Bollywood film holds the inglorious record, of taking by far the longest time in making?? A. Pakeezah (1972) err or perhaps equally truthfully told, Pakeezah (1957) ... a masterpiece of a film, that as destiny had it, took 16 yrs in shooting, that's leaving all post-production & release time aside ! For as records show, the film was started & to the point of half shot, in mid-1950s or hereabouts, with a very young Meena Kumari in her early 20s. And the remaining half shot, as above mentioned, ~15 yrs later, with a 37-38 yr old Meena Kumari (if observe the film closely, find how all interior scenes, 50% of film, bear a much younger almost teenage looking Meena Kumari, while all outdoor scenes showcase visibly much older Meena..yet a glaring disparity overlooked by fans, connoisseurs & historians alike, for simple & undeniable reason, that 'Pakeezah' till today stands as the greatest or among top 2-3 greatest directed Hindi films ever, a perfect example of remarkable all-encompassing collection of high sensitivities coupled with phenomenal attention to detail!) Reasons being manifold. When initially started, color cinema was nowhere near fruition in India, but by time half-shot, was in vogue, tempting Mr. Amrohi to give his magnum opus vision the fullest justice it deserved in color. And so b & w portions were scrapped & new color portions re-shot. But since that took very long too, a new shooting technique with Cinemascope lens became movie-making trend in India, & so Mr. Director decides to scrap colored portions as well, & re-shoot entirely. (Details on which portions were re-shot in Cinemascope & which plainly re-colored, are fuzzy till today). But important details skipped- The director & his wife separate in the interim, leaving project thus in cold storage for very long, till close family friends Sunil Dutt & Nargis chance upon raw footage of the film from yrs back, & amazed at how such a masterpiece-in-making could be left incomplete, get Meena & Kamal together, for the film. Now didya know who hero was in late 50s? Ashok Kumar! But by late 60s, heartthrob of times, Dharmendra was roped in. But with portions re-shot, husband in Mr. Amrohi getting affected by gossip mags spinning tales around Meena & Dharam, had him thrown out in angst! And a mini-revolt from Meena Kumari, against these silly antics, then furthering delaying matters. Also leaving prodn in quandary to which hero to cajole as replacement on a running set. That's when Amrohi took favors of another hero, he had great time with in interim of this long-delayed film, Raj Kumar, from his 'Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai', also a good friend of Meena Kumari. Getting an ever-in-making masterpiece, finally made! PS. Btw this is the only film, a unrelated actor, Pran, refused his Filmfare for,in protest over injustice meted to its music! A music album, today competing to be the greatest Bollywood Album ever @ Indies! Find out Soon!

[inmyworldblr]

Pakeezah (1972) | dir. Kamal Amrohi

[masalafilmsrevival]

Pakeezah (1972)

[bollywoodirect]

Remembering #KamalAmrohi on his 31st death anniversary (11/02/93).

As a director, he developed a style that combined a stylised direction with minimalist performances. This style was different from the one with expressive acting that was common in the Indian cinema of his period.

Kamal Amrohi was born in Amroha, which was part of British India and is now in Uttar Pradesh, India. He changed his name to Kamal Amrohi later. He was related to two Pakistani writers, Jaun Elia and Rais Amrohvi, as their first cousin. In 1938, Kamal left his hometown to study in Lahore, which is now in Pakistan. There, a singer named K. L. Saigal found him and brought him to Mumbai to work in films. He started his film career at Sohrab Modi's film company, Minerva Movietone, and worked on movies like "Jailor," "Pukar," and "Bharosa."

Kamal Amrohi became a film director in 1949 with his first movie "Mahal," which had famous actors Madhubala and Ashok Kumar. This movie was known for its music. He directed only four movies in total, including "Daaera" with Meena Kumari and Nasir Khan, and "Pakeezah," which took a long time to make and was released in 1972. "Pakeezah" is considered a special movie in India, even though it had some flaws. Meena Kumari, who was a famous actress and Kamal's wife, praised "Pakeezah" as Kamal's tribute to her. His last movie was "Razia Sultan" in 1983. He also started making a film called "Majnoon" but it was never finished.

Kamal Amrohi also wrote scripts for other directors and was one of the writers for the famous movie "Mughal-e-Azam" in 1960, which won him an award. His style of directing was known for being different and unique, focusing more on the visual style and less on dramatic acting.

In 1958, he opened a studio named Kamaal Studios, but it closed after three years. He had planned to make another movie called "Aakhri Mughal" but it was never made. Film maker J P Dutta wanted to make this movie in the late 1990s and again in 2007, but it didn't happen. Kamal Amrohi died on February 11, 1993, in Mumbai, 21 years after his wife, Meena Kumari, passed away. He was buried next to her in Mumbai.

Six days after he died, a newspaper in the UK called The Independent wrote about him, saying he was a big figure in the Hindi film industry for over 50 years.

[starbiopic]

The Rise and Fall of Razia Sultan: Bollywood’s Costliest Flop That Nearly Bankrupted an Industry

The history of Bollywood is filled with grand films and ambitious projects, but few have had the seismic impact of Razia Sultan, Kamal Amrohi’s 1983 period drama. What was intended as a cinematic masterpiece on par with Mughal-e-Azam ended up as one of Bollywood’s biggest disasters. The film not only marked the end of Amrohi’s career but also left lasting scars on the industry, plunging half of…

[marwahstudios]

Sandeep Marwah Special Guest at Exhibition of Cinematic Heritage

New Delhi: The Visual Art Gallery at India Habitat Centre, Lodi Road, became a hub of cultural nostalgia as it hosted an extraordinary exhibition showcasing rare photographs and posters from the glorious history of Indian cinema. The event was graced by the esteemed presence of Dr. Sandeep Marwah, President of Marwah Studios and Chancellor of AAFT University, who expressed his admiration for the rich cinematic legacy on display.

“This exhibition is a remarkable tribute to the strength and diversity of Indian cinema. Standing here, you can journey back over a century and witness the evolution of our film industry through these timeless visuals,” said Dr. Marwah. He commended the exhibition for its meticulous curation of iconic moments from Indian cinema, offering a rare glimpse into the past that continues to shape the present.

The exhibition, designed and prepared by the Neville Tuli Research Centre for India Studies, featured an impressive array of posters and photographs that capture the essence of Indian cinema’s golden era. The event also included an insightful conversation led by Rinki Roy, daughter of legendary filmmaker Bimal Roy, and Tajdar Amrohi, son of cinematic icon Kamal Amrohi. They shared personal anecdotes and discussed the indelible impact of their parents on Indian cinema, offering attendees a unique perspective on the lives and works of these celebrated figures. This segment, initiated by Neville Tuli, further enriched the cultural significance of the event.

In his remarks to the press, Dr. Marwah emphasized the importance of such exhibitions in fostering a vibrant film culture in the city. “These kinds of exhibitions and conversations are crucial for keeping the spirit of cinema alive. Delhi has always been a city that embraces art, and this event has undoubtedly injected a new wave of excitement into its cultural landscape. It is essential that we remember and celebrate the works of these giant filmmakers, such as Kamal Amrohi and Bimal Roy, who have left an indelible mark on the history of Indian cinema.”

The exhibition serves as a poignant reminder of the rich heritage of Indian cinema and the visionary artists who have shaped it. As attendees explored the gallery, they were not only witnesses to the past but also participants in a dialogue that continues to influence the future of filmmaking.

[scottandrewhutchins]

Film Review: महल/Mahal/Palace (Kamal Amrohi, 1949)

महल/Mahal/Palace [the other title shown is in Urdu] (Kamal Amrohi, 1949) is an excellent film. It needs a restoration. Maybe The Criterion Collection or Kino Lorber could get interested. It’s kind of a horror film, but the horrific elements (apart from a scene where Rajni is terrified by a python and some bats, the latter of which kill the former) are revealed to be a hoax playing into belief in…