Gulzar fasted during Ramzan for an ailing Meena Kumari: ‘Not because I had a crush’

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Meena Kumari died at the age of 38. (Photo: Express ARchives)

In the years after this, Meena Kumari became known as the ‘Tragedy Queen’ of Hindi cinema after delivering some remarkable performances in films like Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Aarti and Main Chup Rahungi, but the gossip around her personal life started becoming almost as popular as her movies. Her marriage with Kamal Amrohi saw phases of camaraderie, but then there were also long periods of adversity and separation. Through this time, rumours of her affairs with other men in the film industry started becoming popular. Meena maintained grace, and largely stayed mum. It was in this phase that her name was also linked to Gulzar as they worked together in his debut directorial Mere Apne, and much like her, he too maintained the grace and respect of their friendship.

Meena was critically ill during Gulzar’s film

Gulzar got his first chance to direct with Mere Apne in the year 1971. The film was the remake of the Bengali film Apanjan. When Gulzar narrated his script to the producer NC Sippy, he was asked who he wanted to cast in the role of the old woman Anandi Devi. He first said Chhaya Devi, as she had played the same part in the original film, but Sippy wasn’t keen on that. Gulzar then suggested Meena Kumari’s name. “Not because I had a crush on her,” he told Nasreen Munni Kabir with a laugh.

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Meena was just in her mid-30s at the time, but was severely ill while shooting for Mere Apne. She was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver that started because of her alcoholism. But despite her health issues, her commitment to her craft did not decrease. She would ask Gulzar to sit by her side and read the scenes, while she closed her eyes and listened with complete focus. “It felt as though she was internalising the tone of the scene,” he said.

But, he was fully aware that she was “grievously ill” at the time. During the filming, they had planned to shoot a song with her, which was a lullaby, but since her health kept deteriorating, the shoot was delayed many times over. “Meena Kumari fell critically ill and we could not picturise it on her. We kept waiting and hoping she would get better,” he said.

Meena Kumari and Gulzar shared a warm friendship. (Photo: Express Archives)

Gulzar he started fasting during Ramzan for Meena Kumari

Meena was starting to get more ill with every passing day and towards the end, it was almost impossible for her to fast during Ramzan as she was required to take her medicines. She was insistent upon fasting when Gulzar told her that he would fast in her place, and made her take her medicine. For years after Meena’s death as well, Gulzar continued with his fasts as he had promised Meena.

“It began because Meenaji was very unwell and had to have her medicine, so she was unable to fast. I told her, ‘You must have your medicine and I will fast in your place. We will share the “sawaab” [blessings].’ That is how I began fasting during Ramzan,” he said.

Meena Kumari left her diaries, poems with Gulzar

A year after Mere Apne released, she passed away, and left her most prized possession in Gulzar’s care – her poetry and her personal diaries.

Meena wrote under the name ‘Naaz’ and was quite fond of expressing herself through her poems. During her lifetime, a few of her poems were published. Gulzar believed that Meena liked to write free verse, but her husband, Kamal Amrohi, believed that poems must have metre and rhyme. Gulzar believed that even her poems, towards the end, weren’t completely her own, and had “moved away from her personal expression.”

Many believe that her personal diary had all the scandalous details about her personal life but Gulzar, who has saved it like a precious memory, shared that they did not have anything sensational. “Some day I intend to publish a small book of her notes so we can see the beauty and depth of her thoughts. Her notes are poetic but are not written in the form of a poem. I have her diary as well. People imagine there’s something scandalous in it, but there is nothing of the sort,” he said.

Meena Kumari passed away on March 31, 1972, and Gulzar was one of her many admirers who stood, swallowed in grief, at her funeral.