Beautifully stood the test of time, plagued with problems, gave a view to Kamal Amrohi’s vision, Pakeezah is undoubtedly the well-crafted gem of the industry. It is that one diamond of Bollywood industry which continues to shine on the global stage even after 50 years of its release. "Aapke paon dekhe hain, bahut haseen hain. Inhein zameen par mat utariyega... maile ho jaayenge" this dialogue of Raj Kumar is enough to serve the essence of the movie. On the 50th anniversary of Pakeezah, here we bring you the top 10 interesting facts about Bollywood’s iconic movie.
1. Took 16 years to complete: Yes you heard it right, the cult classic of the industry, took 16 years to complete. The movie commenced with the muhurat shot on July 16, 1956 and then finally hit the screen on February 4, 1972.
2. Pakeezah was shot in both Black and White and cinemascope: The other reason why this movie took such a long time to release was, first it was shot in black and white and then it was shot in Cinemascope. So much time had passed between planning and release that the movie's budget, naturally, swelled.
3. Amrohi made Pakeezah for Meena Kumari: just like Shah Jahan made Taj Mahal for his wife, Kamal Amrohi produced Pakeezah for his wife in order to boost her professional career.
4. Amrohi and Meena Kumari parted away in the middle: Amrohi produced Pakeezah for his wife but in the middle of the filming thing went wrong between the couple and they were forced to part away. It was the star couple Sunil Dutt and Nargis that convinced Kumari to complete the movie.
5. The tsunami of tragedies: From 1957 to 1972, the film underwent dual tragedies as two key members of the crew passed away. Music composer Ghulam Mohammed died on 17 March 1968. The National Award-winner for Mirza Ghalib (1954), Mohammed had composed one of the best soundtracks of his career.
6. Pran turned down the award: 1972, Pran, won the best supporting actor Filmfare award for his performance in Pakeezah but he turned down the award saying, he believed the music for Pakeezah deserved the Best Music Director award. Shankar-Jaikishan picked the award instead for Be-imaan.
7. Inhi Logon Ne is not original: Sahibjaan's famous introduction number 'Inhi Logon Ne' sung by Lata Mangeshkar wasn't an original composition. It was previously used in RK Shorey's Himmat (1941) and sung by none other than Shamshad Begum. The music was composed by Gobind Ram.
8. Meena Kumari passed away after the release: Meena Kumari gave her best to the movie but she was not able to see the success of the movie. Kumari passed away soon after the release of the movie. She used to stay ill during the filming process.
9. Meena Kumari got a body double in the movie: Not much of a dancer , Meena Kumari was too frail to even stand straight for the climactic song and dance in Pakeezah(Aaj hum apne duawon ka asar dekhenge). Kamal Amrohi had to get a body-double Padma Khanna to dance for Meena Kumari.
10. The movie won just one Filmfare for the technical work: Only art director NB Kulkarni was honoured with a technical award by Filmfare for his lavish and impressive sets from Pakeezah. The film was nominated in four other categories: Best Music Director, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Film.
