Vinod Mehta wrote Meena Kumari's biography in 1972, the year in which Meena Kumari died. So this book is very close to the era she lived in than any other biography. I accidentally stumbled upon it in a nearby book store while looking for a good biography, apart from innovators, Bollywood stars have always been my favourite reads when it comes to biography.
So when I saw this book, I somehow knew I had to read it. Why? Because I was curious. I practically knew nothing about this legend apart from the fact that she was once known as the tragedy queen of Bollywood. The first half of the book is about Meena Kumari, her rise and fall and most importantly her death. The book begins with Meena Kumari's childhood and is beautifully written. Sometimes biographies are hard to read, more because you know a few things about the person, almost always it becomes boring after a few pages. But this one is more than entertaining, it has some amazing life lessons embedded in it. Through the mistakes and learnings of the actress herself, the author has tried to put on his thoughts forward. Brilliant piece of writing. Her two films Saheb Biwi aur Ghulam and Pakeezah her last film find special mentions in the book and a lot of behind the scenes details about these films are included in the book which is an added treat.
Her equation with her husband Kamal Amrohi which is infamous till date has been investigated in detail. Her relatives, her sisters and everyone around her stand in front of your eyes when you read about them, mind it their physical descriptions are not mentioned and still you will not forget them and not forgive many of them after you put down the book. The author Vinod Mehta was a die hard fan of the actress as he himself has mentioned in the book and the shocking fact is that he never met her personally. The second half of the book thus is all about how the author got the details and how the book was written.
I have to confess that I really felt very sad when the first half of the book ended as I just couldn't phantom the things that happened to the legendary actress Meena Kumari in her last days. It was not just tragic but deeply sadenning. This is where the author Vinod Mehta wins hands down, he makes you feel like you had a chance to meet this actress up close one last time and then she abruptly leaves you.
Vinod Mehta passed away in 2015 and he had written only 2 books in his lifetime. This is one of the best biographies you will ever read, so there is no doubt you have to read this one.
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