Pakeezah (1972)

The story of a prostitute, with a pure heart (PAKEEZAH), and grand dreams...

Director:

Kamal Amrohi

Writers:

Aman, Kamal Amrohi

Stars:

Ashok Kumar, Meena Kumari, Raaj Kumar

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ashok Kumar	...	Shahabuddin
Meena Kumari	...	Nargis / Sahibjaan
Raaj Kumar	...	Salim Ahmed Khan
Veena	...	Nawabjaan
D.K. Sapru	...	Hakim Saab (as Sapru)
Kamal Kapoor	...	Nawab Zafar Ali Khan
Vijay Laxmi
Jagdish Kanwal
Nadira	...	Madame Gauhar Jaan
Pratima Devi	...	Salim's Badi Amma
Prakash Gill	...	Hashim Khan- Horse Rider
Altaf
Praveen Paul	...	(as Parveen Paul)
Lotan
Chanda	...	(as Chanda Bai)

Storyline

Pakeezah is the story of a beautiful courtesan named Sahibjaan who is unable to break away from the cycle of prostitution until a young forest ranger named Salim falls in love with her enthralling beauty and innocence. Unfortunately, his wealthy parents are against their union.

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Plot Keywords:

brothel | train | prostitute | forbidden love | river | 

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Genres:

Musical | Romance | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Kamal Amrohi acquired a Cinemascope lens from MGM on a royalty basis for shooting the film. However, he detected a focusing error in the rush prints that had been missed by the cameraman and even the UK lab team that processed the film. On hearing of this, MGM instructed its Indian subsidiary chief not to collect any more royalty and gave the lens to Amrohi as a gift.

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Quotes

Salim Ahmed Khan: [in a note to Sahibjaan] Aapke paon dekhe, bahut haseen hai. / Inhe zameen par mat utariyega, maile ho jayenge.
[Saw your feet; they are very beautiful. / Don't place them on the ground, they will get dirty]

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Connections

Referenced in Gunday (2014)

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Soundtracks

Chalte Chalte
Sung by Lata Mangeshkar
Composed by Ghulam Mohammed
Lyrics by Kaifi Azmi

User Reviews

a great movie

This film opened to poor showings in the first few weeks. Then Meena Kumari died and it just brought the crowds rolling in. Songs on All India Radio, especially Inhi LogoN ne were played so often that I was sick of them at the time, despite recognising their beauty!

Yes, it did take all those years to make. This was because the marriage was a very unhappy one and Kamal Amrohi also had difficulty finding the money to make the film; looking at the sumptous sets and costumes, not surprising!! Not only does Meena Kumari age and fall ill but listen carefully to Lata's voice. Inhi logoN ne has her 50's younger voice while songs that were re-recorded like Chalo dildar chalo show clear development. I only wish someone would find the Ghulam Mohammad songs that weren't included in the film, because of changing fashions that called for fewer though slightly songs and publish them. Lata in a recent interview (2007) rated Ghulam Mohammad as one of the best composers she had ever worked with, apart from Madan Mohan (a great personal friend). Notice also that you hardly see the actors at all in the Chalo dildar songs, very unusual. There is only a brief shot of Raj Kumar from the middle distance and you only see the back of the supposed Meena Kumari. Kamal Amrohi made a virtue out of necessity and focused on the stars and moon. Any other film, this song would have had close-ups of both of them.

As for this being the finest film ever, I would beg to differ. It means you have missed a lot of Indian cinema, in no particular order, films like Barsaat (old), Devdas (older versions), Bandini, Do Bigha Zameen, Garam Hava, Dastak, Guddi, Aan, Pyasa, Kagaz ke Phool, Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam, Kabuliwallah, Abhimaan, Guide, Sujatha, Bombay ka Babu, Daag, Parineeta (old), Umrao Jaan, etc. etc. And if you valued music more than story the list would simply grow with beautiful scores from Barsat Ki Raat to Naya Daur, Teesri Manzil, Mahal, Aag, Jugnu, Anand, Mera Naam Joker: the list is really endless!

So enjoy Pakeezah but don't miss out on any of the above...

Details

Country:

India

Language:

Urdu

Release Date:

4 February 1972 (India)

Also Known As:

Pure Heart

Filming Locations:

Kamal Amrohi Studios, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mahal Pictures Pvt. Ltd., Sangeeta Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

147 min 126 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1