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Meena Kumari (book)
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| File:Meena Kumari (book) cover.jpg | |
| Author | Vinod Mehta |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Meena Kumari |
| Published | October 1972 |
| Publisher | Jaico Publishing House |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 187 |
| OCLC | 586134668 |
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Meena Kumari is a 1972 biography that was written by the journalist Vinod Mehta, chronicling the life and career of the Indian actress-cum-poet Meena Kumari. It details her birth in 1933 in Dadar, her 33-year-long acting and poetic career, her marriage to the filmmaker Kamal Amrohi, and her death by cirrhosis in 1972. The book was published by Jaico Publishing House in October 1972, and was later re-published by HarperCollins under the title of Meena Kumari: The Classic Biography on 10 July 2013.
Development and writing
After his book Bombay: A Private View (1971) was completed, Vinod Mehta was asked by Jaico Publishing House's Luis Vaz to write a biography of the Indian actress and poet Meena Kumari, who died in March 1972 after suffering from cirrhosis.[1] He was paid an advance of ₹500 (equivalent to ₹18,000 or US$250 in 2019), and finished the draft in six months. The filmmaker Guru Dutt's youngest brother Devi helped him with information related to the Hindi film industry. Mehta interviewed people who knew or collaborated with Kumari, including her husband Kamal Amrohi, her sisters, and the actors Nargis, Ashok Kumar, and Rajinder Kumar.[2]
Release and reception
By October 1972, Mehta had finished the manuscript and sent it to Jaico Publishing House who published it as a paperback book that cost ₹5 (equivalent to ₹180 or US$2.50 in 2019) the same month in Bombay (present-day Mumbai), India. The book was received positively by critics,[3] including Khwaja Ahmad Abbas from Blitz magazine who wrote, "Even if more books are published about Meena Kumari... Vinod Mehta's Meena Kumari is likely to remain the most objective, the most sympathetic, the most comprehensively researched, and the most readable book on the enigmatic subject that will continue to intrigue and fascinate millions of her fans for many years to come..."[4]
The book's second edition—titled Meena Kumari: The Classic Biography—was published by HarperCollins on 10 July 2013 on Amazon Kindle and on 13 August in paperback.[5][6] Jai Arjun Singh noted it has many grammatical mistakes,[7] and Rasheeda Bhagat of Business Line added: "... a poor caricature of the actress whom Mehta keeps calling, to my great irritation, 'my heroine', through the entire book. What somewhat redeems this atrocious narrative, in which he largely appears cocky at best and flippant and ignorant at worst, is the shy at honesty in the introduction to the new edition."[8]
The Mumbai Mirror's Chandrima Pal believed it "is as relevant today as it was at that time".[9] Baradwaj Rangan saw Mehta's writing is influenced by that in New Journalism "which ... placed the author at the core of his narrative",[10] with Ziya Us Salam praising the writer for "[bringing] alive memories of an actress and her illustrious career".[11] A writer of The Hindu newspaper called it a "riveting account" about Kumari.[12] Frontline concluded, "Meena Kumari's life was both complex and complicated. It will need ... Billy Wilder's talent and perception to make a memorable film on her. Mehta's book has suggested a possibility of how it might be done."[13]
Publication history
| Region | Release date | Format | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | October 1972 | Paperback | [14] |
| 10 July 2013 | Amazon Kindle | [5] | |
| 13 August 2013 | Paperback | [6] |
References
- ↑ Mohamed 2016.
- ↑ Mehta 2011, p. 76.
- ↑ Mehta 2013a, p. vi.
- ↑ Abbas 1972, p. 9.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Mehta 2013a.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mehta 2013b.
- ↑ Singh 2013.
- ↑ Bhagat 2013.
- ↑ Pal 2013.
- ↑ Rangan 2013.
- ↑ Salam 2013.
- ↑ The Hindu 2013.
- ↑ Frontline 2013.
- ↑ Mehta 1972.
Sources
- Abbas, Khwaja Ahmad (December 1972). "Meena Kumari by Vinod Mehta". Indian Book Industry. Vol. 7, no. 3. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
- Bhagat, Rasheeda (17 October 2013). "Finding Meena... and failing". Business Line. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- Mehta, Vinod (October 1972). Meena Kumari. Bombay, India: Jaico Publishing House. OCLC 586134668.
- Mehta, Vinod (9 November 2011). Lucknow Boy: A Memoir. New Delhi, India: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-06-70085-29-3. OCLC 783522585.
- Mehta, Vinod (10 July 2013). Meena Kumari: The Classic Biography. HarperCollins. ASIN B00E9Y3RX0.
- Mehta, Vinod (13 August 2013). Meena Kumari: The Classic Biography. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-93-50296-25-7.
- Mohamed, Khalid (25 March 2016). "Remembering the Tragedy Queen Meena Kumari". Khaleej Times. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
- Pal, Chandrima (15 August 2013). "Men who loved and left Meena Kumari". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- "Printpick". The Hindu. Thiruvananthapuram, India. 28 August 2013. Archived from the original on 31 August 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
- Rangan, Baradwaj (3 December 2013). "An admirer's account of Meena Kumari". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- Salam, Ziya Us (16 August 2013). "After Mahjabeen turned Meena". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
- Singh, Jai Arjun (14 August 2013). "Death and the heroine: Vinod Mehta does Meena Kumari". Jabberwock. Archived from the original on 12 June 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- "Two legends". Frontline. 15 November 2013. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.