Tragedy Queen’s Curtain Call

An Urdu-Hindi drama titled Mehajabeen- Safar Meena Kumari Ka highlights the poetic skills of the yesteryear actor

Zindagi aankh se tapka hua berang katra, Tere daaman ki panaah paata toh aansoo hota

Five years ago, when Pune-based theatreperson Yogini Pophale read these lines written by Meena Kumari, she became curious. She wanted to read other works penned by her. Pophale ended up reading every single book written on her or by her and managed to meet people who helped her understand Meena Kumari's poetry. After a lot of reserach, Pophale discovered various unknown facets of Kumari's life and was determined to share it with others. She is now ready with Mehajabeen - Safar Meena Kumari Ka, an Urdu-Hindi drama, that represents Meena Kumari's personal and professional journey with a special emphasis on her interest in writing. The drama also includes some of the immortal songs from her films and narratives accompanied with dance sequences. However, the highlight of the event is Meena Kumari's rare ghazals and poems in her own voice, which will be a part of the play.

"Originally named Mehajabeen, Meena Kumari was always an enigma. The fact that she was a great actor is something that everybody knows, but when it comes to her personal life, people mostly talk about her drinking. Not many people know that she was immensely interested in writing poetry, ghazals and nazms," says Pophale, who then met Aurangabad-based Urdu poet Bashar Nawaz, with whom Meena Kumari shared a great association owing to their common interest in writing.

The play revolves around four characters — Kamal Amrohi (her husband), Khursheed Aapa (her sister), Baby Meena Kumari and Taazdaar (Amrohi's son from his first wife). Interestingly, no one is playing Kumari's role. "I don't think anyone could do justice to her. However, her soul's presence will be there throughout the play and that's the suspense in the production," says Pophale, adding that the theme, sets and costumes have been painstakingly designed and customised to take the audience to the era of her magic.

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