1971
A rich man and a courtesan fall in love. The man's family rejects her and she dies while giving birth to a daughter. The daughter too grows up to be a dancer and falls in love with her father's nephew. History repeats itself. The nephew's family rejects her. Until they stumble upon her paternity.
Sepia
The film starts production in 1964 and is completed in 1971, by which time Meena Kumari and her husband, director Kamal Amrohi, are divorced. By the end of the shooting, Meena Kumari is drinking heavily. She dies soon after Pakeezah is released.
Uncut
Amrohi almost casts himself in Pakeezah. But the delay in schedules and his bitterness with his wife does not allow it. Despite ill health, Meena Kumari is an accomplished poetess and writes under the pen name, Naaz. Her poems are later compiled into a book by writer-director Gulzar, Tanha Chand.
Meena Kumari and Raaj Kumar
