Rekha wept when Meena Kumari was in her death bed
Yes. Rekha, the stunning diva of Bollywood burst into tears when she came to know that Meena Kumari was dying.
Infact, Rekha and Meena Kumari were renowned actresses, and both crossed briefly but memorably.
In the opening years of the 1970s, Meena Kumari was seriously ill and her film career was drawing to a close.
Rekha, on the other hand, had just made a major splash with her debut hit Sawan Bhadon. Still a teenager, she was boisterous and eager to experience life.
Yet, an unlikely bond was forged. Rekha speaks on Meena Kumari.
Her first impression of Meena Kumari is of Amma. When she was a child, Rekha felt Meena Kumari looked no different from my mother or her chhoti mummy (movie legend Savitri) whom she adored.
She couldn’t differentiate between any of their movies because they had the same round face, similar eyes and even their look was identical — wavy long hair, a load of bangles and a huge red bindi. And they all wore a lot of white which is why subconsciously I got very influenced by them.
She first met Meena Kumari in 1970 and was totally distracted then, one wild kid. With Yogeeta Bali in tow, I would drop in very often at her Landmark residence.
She was bedridden.
There was a lot of ghusphus about her drinking.
Incidentally, she had heard rumours that her chhoti mummy also went that way because she had fashioned her life totally on Meena Kumari. Interestingly, Meena Kumari did the Hindi version of Miss Mary with Rekha’s dad (Gemini Ganesan) as her leading man, while Savitri ma did the Telugu and Tamil versions.
Her mother had told her a great deal about Meena Kumari and how she could make a tear drop at the right moment.
A legend who was in total control.
But when she finally met her, she saw a frail, shrivelled and petite woman — just a bag of bones.
Very tiny. She was dying.
She was in bed all the time.
Meena Kumari had long hair, patli si choti banati thi, just like Lata bai.
She remembered her room very clearly.
Lakdi ka furniture hua karta tha — a coffee table, a bed, a dressing table, all in off-white.
Behind the bed-stead, there was a major collection of stones, shells, and an album with dried leaves from different locations.
Rekha could identify with her because surprisingly the only possession she was proud of were the shells she had collected.
Once she told Rekha ‘Yogeeta Bali bahut meethi hai par tum namkeen ho. Aur namkeen jyada khaaya jaata hai.’
I always saw her scribbling into her diary, in her shaky handwriting. She would recite this high funda Urdu shaiyri and it used to go full toss over my head.
I would plead with her, ‘Jaane bhi deejiye, let me go to the kitchen and eat bhajiyas and jalebis.’
I was this real fat baby in those days.
But subconsciously, I did get influenced.
Her words, ‘There’s no friend like your shaiyri,’ still echo in my ears.
She also said, ‘A woman — and not just a man — is only known by her craft.’
She believed, ‘Zindagi mein akela chalna padta hai.’
Three years after her death, I realised the worth of her words during the recording of the Do Anjaane song, Koi mere saath chale ya na chale, mujhe koi saathi mile ya na mile, mujhe jaana hai zaroor.
This song went on to become the story of my life.
Rekha remembers when she died, she became hysterical. Her mind recalled her trembling voice reciting a sher to her and she became uncontrollable. Rekha wept copiously and let out a long piercing shriek. (Those days she
used to shriek a lot).
She remembers she was making a racket in the passage of the hospital.
Nadiraji popped a few tranquillizers into my mouth.
In this drugged state, she was taken to Meena Kumari’s .
building, Landmark, and
by the time she woke up, there was only a garlanded photograph left. Rekha cancelled two days of shooting. In those days, it was unheard of.
Meena was just 39-40 when she died. Unbelievable.
But she looked older due to her illness.
Despite all her flaws (she looked plump at times and often ran amok with her eyeliner), you connected to her on screen. If she was even naakhun ke barabar to her, she would consider herself privileged.
Rekha. would love to do Meena Kumari’s role in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. Guru Dutt’s role can be played either by Aamir Khan or Shah Rukh Khan.
Meena Kumari’s role of an ideal Indian woman’s predicament is the greatest challenge for an actress. One of the best roles ever written for a woman.
News Edit KV Raman
