85th Birth Anniversary Of Meena Kumari: 5 Memorable Performances That Makes Her The Cinderella Of Indian Films

While we have the likes of Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, ruling the B-town right now. Around 60 years ago Bollywood only knew Meena Kumari who was popular for her pitch-perfect dialogue delivery while her strong screen presence along with the ability to portray emotions was extraordinary.

Popularly known as Cinderella of Indian films, she starred in about 92 films in a career spanning 33 years before she passed away at a young age of 38.

Born as Mahjabeen Bano on August 1, 1933, Meena Kumari is often referred as the ‘Female Guru Dutt’ of Hindi films.

On her 85th birth anniversary, even Google has honored her with a special doodle. Taking this as an opportunity, we share with you 5 of the most memorable performances of hers, Check it out:

Baiju Bawra

Directed by Vijay Bhatt, Baiju Bawra starred Meena Kumari who played the role of Gauri opposite Bharat Bhushan. Produced by Prakash Pictures, the movie was a major box-office hit owing to its massive-hit music which had a mighty run of hundred weeks in the theatres. Also, Meena even bagged the Filmfare Best actress award for her role in the movie.

Parineeta

Based upon the 1914 Bengali novel of the same name, Parineeta starred Ashok Kumar who played the male lead opposite Meena. Directed by Bimal Roy, Meena had won millions of hearts with her performance. Once again she won the Filmfare Best actress award for her outstanding performance.

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Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam

While Director Abrar Alvi’s Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam flopped at the box-office, Meena Kumari’s role as Chhoti Bahu was praised by the critics. Further, she surprised everyone after winning the Filmfare Best actress award for her mind-blowing act in the movie.

Azaad

Who would have thought that Meena Kumari’s and Dilip Kumar’s pair in the movie Azaad would be so much loved by the audience that the movie would turn out to be the top grossing Hindi film in the year of its release also it will become the biggest Hindi film hits in the decade.

Pakeezah

Pakeezah was the last movie of the Tragedy Queen and as per the reports she was ill throughout the filming and died only a few weeks after it was finally released. Meanwhile, Kumari’s performance as a golden-hearted Lucknow nautch-girl was loved by the audience.