There’s ‘classic’ stamped all over Pakeezah alright - a film that has achieved iconic status over the decades for its lavish treatment of a courtesan’s turbulent story, its awe-inspiring splendour, haunting songs, tragic imagery, pathos-dripping dialogue and the diamond in the diadem, Meena Kumari, playing out her tragedienne role to heart-wrenching perfection. It was to be her last and her finest. The film released on February 4, 1972 and it was on March 31 that she succumbed to the alcoholism that had hounded her for years. The film went on to become a huge hit. “But make no mistake, it was in the 9th week of the film’s run that she passed away,” interjects Tajdar Amrohi, son of legendary filmmaker, Kamal Amrohi. “The film was already drawing in audiences for no less than four shows at the 1400-capacity Maratha Mandir theatre. If Pakeezah, as a film, had no strength it wouldn’t have survived the first week. And how does one explain the fact that the three movies which came after her death - Gulzar’s Mere Apne, Sohrab Modi’s Meena Kumari Ki Amar Kahani and Saawan Kumar Tak’s Gomti Ke Kinare - all fared miserably at the box office? It’s a myth that Pakeezah succeeded due to Meena Kumari’s death.” Perhaps it is, but it’s equally true that with Pakeezah the destinies of the Muse and the Maker, who also happened to be wife and husband, came together in this one last paen to romanticism, never to be repeated again. The actual realisation of this grand dream of Kamal Amrohi’s was ironically an exercise in bitter reality. Amrohi had begun writing the film in the mid ’50s around the time he and Meena Kumari were married…but it was close to 18 years later that the film finally saw the light of day. After filming a few reels in black and white in 35mm Amrohi realised the age of colour had arrived and had the portions re-shot in colour. Then in 1961 realisation dawned that the vastness of the subject demanded that the film be shot in CinemaScope and it was back to shooting from scratch. Filming ground to a rude halt when the differences between Amrohi and Meena Kumari reached a head and the couple separated in 1964. The project remained dormant until 1969 when a reconciliation of sorts was affected and shooting resumed. More tragedy lay in store: music director Ghulam Mohammed, who had recorded all the songs before shooting could commence, passed away suddenly. It was the late Naushad, who had worked under Mohammed, who scored the background music. Even more catastrophic was the death of ace cameraman Josef Wirsching.