FINISHING TOUCH
Interesting
encounter
Lal Bahadur Shastri Vs
actress Meena Kumari
At a function in a Mumbai
film studio where
"Pakeezah" was being
shot, the then Home Minister Lal
Bahadur Shastri failed to recognise
Meena Kumari when she garlanded
him and asked journalist Kuldip
Nayar sitting near him who the
woman was.
Meena Kumari was at the height
of her success as an actress when
this incident took place.
Shastri was invited to the
shooting of "Pakeezah", in which
Meena Kumari was the heroine.
This interesting account of Meena
Kumari's encounter with Shastri
on the film sets finds mention in
Nayar's book "On Leaders and
Icons: From Jinnah to Modi", which
he finished only weeks before he
passed away in August 2018.
The function was attended by
leading personalities from the
cinema world.
“Many top actors were present.
Meena Kumari garlanded Shastri.
Amidst loud applause, Shastri asked
me in his soft voice who the lady was.
Meena Kumari, I said in amazement.
Shastri expressed his ignorance. Yet
never did I expect him to admit this
in public,” Nayar wrote.
Shastri made a brief speech on
the occasion. “He began his speech
with the remark, ‘Meena Kumariji,
mujhe maaf karna, maine aapka
naam pahle dafa suna hai' (Meena
Kumariji, please forgive me, I have
heard your name for the first time).
The legendary beauty of Hindi
cinema, the darling of millions
across the nation, was a figure of
embarrassment and sat impassively
in the front row,” the book said.
Shastri was given a tour of the
film studio. For him, it was like
going through a routine exercise.
Shastri's speech made no comment
about the sets or the film itself,
Nayar wrote.
In the iconic movie directed
by Kamal Amrohi and released in
1972, Meena Kumari played the lead
role of a golden-hearted nautch girl
from Lucknow.
He also mentions about Faiz
Ahmed Faiz's flawless recitation of
his poetry even after consuming a
full bottle of Black Dog whiskey.
50 February 2020 | www.smartgovernance.in