Pakeezah: Bilal Amrohi traces back the heartbreak behind the magnum opus

Updated On: 10 February, 2023 08:20 AM IST | Mumbai | Upala KBR

After announcing series based on Pakeezah’s making, Amrohi’s grandson undecided on format; says it will tell Meena Kumari-director’s love story

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A still from the film

Pakeezah (1972) may be a grand, sweeping romantic drama that caught the country’s attention on its release. But the making of the classic is a far richer story. Filmmaker Kamal Amrohi dedicated 16 years to make his labour of love that, in one of fate’s cruel twists, became his actor-wife Meena Kumari’s swansong. In early 2022, Amrohi’s grandson Bilal had announced a web series that would trace the making of the Kumari, Ashok Kumar and Raaj Kumar-starrer. A year on, as the team is neck-deep in research, we hear Bilal and Yoodlee Films are now contemplating turning the material into a feature film.

Bilal Amrohi