This movie is about the tawaif Sahibjaan, [Meena Kumari], who is born to a blonde courtesan, Nargis [also Meena Kumari]. After being spurned by her lover Shahabuddins [Ashok Kumar] family, Nargis is driven to a graveyard where she gives birth to Sahibjaan secretly. Nargis dies during childbirth, and her sister, Nawabjaan, takes the child as her own. Sahibjaan was brought up by brothel madame Nawabjaan [Veena]. Unable to break away from the vicious circle, Sahibjaan grows up and becomes a beautiful and popular dancer/singer. Forest ranger Salim Ahmed Khan [Raaj Kumar] is enthralled by Sahibjaans beauty and innocence, and eventually convinces her to elope with him, which she does. But trials and tribulations await Sahibjaan as she is recognized by men wherever she goes in the company of Salim. When Salim re-names her "Pakeezah" [pure of heart] and takes her to a priest to be legally married, she refuses, and returns to the brothel. Salim eventually decides to marry someone else, and invites Sahibjaan to dance at his wedding; Sahibjaan agrees to this. During this event, the story reveals an exciting turn: Nawab recognises Shahabuddin, and calls him to witness the irony of the situation. His own daughter employed to dance and entertain his own family without his knowing.

Production

Pakeezah took nearly 14 years to shoot because of a change in relationship between Meena Kumari and the director. Meena Kumari and Kamal Amrohi were married when Pakeezah was first conceived. Ashok Kumar was to have played the part of Salim, but the part was later played by Raaj Kumar. The character was changed from a businessman to a forest ranger to suit Raaj Kumars more muscular physique. Both the films composer Ghulam Mohammed and cinematographer Josef Wirsching died during the period. Later, composer Naushad stepped in and composed the films background music as well as its title track. Over a dozen of Bombays top cinematographers pitched in when they had time; they however managed to maintain its uniform look. Due to a variety of different factors, Meena Kumari and Kamal Amrohi parted ways and the film remained incomplete. It was only when Nargis and Sunil Dutt saw the rushes of the film that they convinced Meena Kumari to complete it. It was mostly shot in Kamal Amrohi Studios, Mumbai. Meena Kumari was very ill when filming resumed and can be seen lying down in most of her scenes. For the dance sequences, Padma Khanna was used as a body double and can be seen in the long-shots. Meena Kumari died weeks after the film was released. The film, which had been declared a flop when first released, became a success and achieved cult status. Pakeezah made news during the Filmfare Awards in 1971 when Pran refused to accept his award for Be-Imaan because he felt that Ghulam Mohammed deserved a posthumous Filmfare award for his songs in Pakeezah.

Soundtrack

[http://www.planetbollywood.com/displayReview.php?id=m062709031722 link] Certification = Chronology = Ghulam Mohammed Last album = "Shama"[1961] This album = "Pakeezah"[1972] Next album = Misc = }} The soundtrack for the film was composed by Ghulam Mohammed and Naushad with lyrics by Kaifi Azmi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kamal Amrohi and Kaif Bhopali. Due to the demise of the composer before the completion of the film, Naushad Ali was signed to compose the background score for the film. He also composed the songs, Nazaria Ki Maari, Title Music - Alap, Mora Saajan Sauten Ghar Jaye and Kaun Gali Gayo Shyam. These renderings are presented in the voices of the veteran singer Rajkumari, Parveen Sultana, Vani Jairam and Naseem Bano Chopra. bgcolor="#CCCCCF" align="center"

Track #	Song	Singer[s]	Lyrics	Composer
1	Chalo Dildar Chalo	Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar	Kaif Bhopali	Ghulam Muhammad
2	Chalte Chalte	Lata Mangeshkar	Kaifi Azmi	Ghulam Muhammad
3	Inhi Logon Ne	Lata Mangeshkar	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Ghulam Muhammad
4	Mausam Hai Aashiqana	Lata Mangeshkar	Kamal Amrohi	Ghulam Muhammad
5	Nazariya Ki Mari	Rajkumari	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Naushad
6	Teer-E-Nazar	Lata Mangeshkar	Kaif Bhopali	Ghulam Muhammad
7	Thare Rahiyo	Lata Mangeshkar	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Ghulam Muhammad
8	Mora Saajan Sauten Ghar Jaye	Vani Jairam	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Naushad
9	Kaun Gali Gayo Shyam	Parveen Sultana	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Naushad
10	Pi Ke Chale	Lata Mangeshkar	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Ghulam Muhammad
11	Title Music - Alap	Lata Mangeshkar	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Naushad

Awards

* 1973: Filmfare Best Art Direction Award: N.B. Kulkarni

Also see

* Hindi dance songs

Details

* Screenplay: Kamal Amrohi * Art direction: N.B. Kulkarni * Set Design : Kamal Amrohi * Costume Design : Meena Kumari * Director of Photography : Josef Wirsching * Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi, Kaif Bhopali, Kamal Amrohi * Music: Ghulam Mohammed, Naushad - Background Score, Title Music * Singers: Lata Mangeshkar; Mohd. Rafi; Mehdi Hassan