When Nargis Dutt Congratulated Meena Kumari On Her Death & Urged The Tragedy Queen “Never Step Into This World Again” ( Photo Credit – Wikipedia ; IMDb )
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Mahjabeen Bano, a.k.a. Meena Kumari, is one of the most iconic actresses in Hindi cinema. She had starred in about 92 films in a career spanning 33 years. While she is a celebrated actress, her life often made headlines during her era. In a letter, her close friend Nargis Dutt also opened up about her controversial life.
The legendary actress was in the headlines for her unhappy marriage with filmmaker Kamal Amrohi and failed romance with Dharmendra. On March 31, 1972, Meena Kumari passed away at 38 after two days of coma.
During her final rites, Nargis Dutt had come to pay her respects to her friend and said, “Meena Kumari, Maut Mubarak ho!” The legendary actress revealed why she had said this to her great friend in her article published in an Urdu magazine, as reported by Indian Express.
“‘Congratulations on your death’ I have never said this earlier. Meena, today your baaji (elder sister) congratulates you on your death and asks you to never step into this world again. This place is not meant for people like you,” she wrote. Going further in her column, the actress had recalled the incident that had turned them from industry mates to great friends. She had revealed, “During the shooting of Main Chup Rahungi, my husband (Sunil Dutt) invited me on sets with the kids. There Meena and I became great friends. When I went for dinner with Dutt saab, Meena voluntarily took care of Sanjay and Namrata, changing their clothes to making their milk.”
Then Nargis Dutt recalled, “One night, I saw her panting in the garden, I told her, why don’t you rest, you look very tired. She said, “Baaji, resting is not in my destiny. I will rest just one time.” That night there was the noise of violence from her room. The next day, I saw her eyes were swollen. I caught hold of Kamal Amrohi’s secretary Baqar and spoke to him in direct terms, “Why do you people want to kill Meena? She has worked enough for your sake, For how long is she going to feed you?” He said, when the right time comes, we will rest her.”
Concluding her article, Nargis revealed that Meena had divorced Kamal Amrohi after that incident but had dipped deeply into an addiction to alcohol, which resulted in her getting admitted to the hospital. Recalling the incident, Nargis concluded, “After some time, I heard she had walked out of Kamal saheb’s home. She had a huge fight with Baqar, and then she did not step into Kamal Amrohi’s house again… Soon enough, excessive consumption of alcohol weakened her liver. When I visited her in the nursing home, I asked her, “You are free, but of what use is such freedom when you are bent upon killing yourself?” She replied, “Baaji, my patience has a limit. How dare Kamal Saheb’s secretary raise his hand on me? When I complained, Kamal Saab did nothing. Now I have decided not to go back to him.”
After this, Dharmendra entered Meena Kumari’s life, and that gave her some form of happiness for a while.
