THE FAMILY
Meena Kumari, was the youngest among the three sisters, Khurshid
Madhuri and Mahzabeen. Khurshid and Madhuri later on married. After teh
death of her mother at an early age, Meena Kumari was almost alone as
Khurshid and Madhuri had married and setled in their families. Meena
Kumari's father later on ended up being her manager when she became
very popular in films. However, she was the main bread earner for the
family since as early as 1939, the age of six.
Her mother was Iqbal Negum and her father, Ali Bux. Ali Bux
Very few people know that Meena Kumari was connected to the grand
Rabindranath Tagore family. Meena Kumari's grandmother, Hem Sundari
Thakur (Tagore) was married into the Tagore family but after she lost
her husband Rev Bill, she was compelled to give up all her rights to
the family name or property by her in-laws.
Hem's daughter Prabhawati was Meena Kumari's mother. Prabhawati too was
a stage actress and a dancer. Her stage name was Kaamni. Prabhawati
later got married to a Pathan called Ali Bux. He was a Sunni Muslim. He
played the harmonium and wrote Urdu poetry. He was already married when
he met Prabhawati. He composed music for small films like Shahi
Lutere and also did some bit roles in films like Idd Ka Chand.
Once while returning from Mahableshwar in their Plymouth, Meena and her
family met with a serious accident. And though three of them suffered
injuries, Meena's were the worst. Her left hand was seriously injured,
and doctors weren't sure if she would be able to use it again. No one
knows how much damage was caused to her hand and how it looked after
the surgery. Being very image conscious, Meena always hid her hand in
her sari pallu, and viewers often tried spotting it. This only
added to her charm.