As per reports, fashion designer Manish Malhotra is all set to direct his first film. It is expected to be based on Bollywood’s legendary actress Meena Kumari, where Kriti Sanon is likely to play the titular role
Meena Kumari’s biopic seems to have courted trouble even before any official announcement. As per reports, Meena Kumari and her late husband filmmaker Kamal Amrohi’s son Tajdar Amrohi is threatening to sue Kriti Sanon and Manish Malhotra over violation of privacy
Meena Kumari is often dubbed as Bollywood’s ‘Tragedy Queen’. This moniker is not just because of the melodramatic roles she played in films such as Ghazal and Parineeta but also because of the hardships she faced in her own life
As per reports, Meena Kumari was born as Mahjabeen to Ali Bux and Iqbal Begum. However, her father wanted a son and left her at an orphanage only to bring her back home after a few hours. Mahjabeen started acting in Bollywood films when she was just four years old and soon became her family’s breadwinner
Mahjabeen’s first film Leatherface was released in 1939. She went on to act in multiple Vijay Bhatt productions such as Adhuri Kahani (1939), Pooja (1940) and Ek Hi Bhool (1940). She was re-christened as Meena by Vijay Bhatt, which went on to become her screen name
Meena Kumari lost her mother at a very young age, which caused a major setback in her career. After a few years, she acted in Vijay Bhatt's musical Baiju Bawra, which established her as a successful actress. She won the inaugural Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the film. For her role in Parineeti, she won her second Filmfare Award for Best Actress
As per reports, during the shooting of Daaera, Meena fell in love with director Kamal Amrohi but her father disapproved of this relationship and she was thrown out of her house. She later married Kamal but was subjected to strict rules such as returning home by 6:30 pm. During this time, Meena Kumari was also linked to lyricist Gulzar, Dharmendra and Sawan Kumar Tak, though these were all as per unverified reports
Meena Kumari was at the height of her career when she fell victim to alcoholism. Due to her tough working schedule, Meena experienced sleeplessness and was advised to consume brandy. This soon turned into a severe addiction. She was later diagnosed with liver cirrhosis
Meena Kumari and her husband Kamal Amrohi started working on Pakeezah. The film’s production began in 1956 but soon after the two got separated. After many years, the film’s shooting resumed in 1968 and Pakeezah was finally released in 1972. As per reports, it took around 14 years for the film to be produced
A month after the release of Pakeezah, Meena Kumari passed away at the age of 38. According to an estimate by Box Office India, Pakeezah was the highest-grossing film in 1972, earning Rs 60 million
As per reports, Meena Kumari has an unusual feat of garnering all nominations in the Best Actress category in 1963 as no other actress was nominated that year. She also won several other Filmfare Awards for Best Actress for Parineeti, Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam, and Kaajal
Over 50 years after Meena Kumari’s death, Manish Malhotra is expected to revisit her life in the form of his debut movie as a director. Bhushan Kumar is reportedly producing the movie
Kriti Sanon, who will reportedly portray Bollywood’s ‘Tragedy Queen’, will be seen in Ganpath: Part 1 along with Tiger Shroff and The Crew alongside Kareena Kapoor Khan, Tabu, and Diljit Dosanjh. Kriti also announced her debut production project, the Netflix film 'Do Patti', where she will star alongside Kajol