It's Meena Kumari aka Mahjabeen Bano's death anniversary today. The first thing that comes to one's mind when you remember the tragedy queen is her wonderful and inspiring job in classic hit numbers 'Chalte Chalte', 'Inhi Logon Ne'! In her remembrance, we look at films that cashed in on the age-old dance form 'mujra' and portrayed our actresses in the role of a courtesan or 'nautch girl'.
Updated On: 2013-11-14 09:59 AM IST
Pakeezah (1972): 'Inhi logon ne' showed tragedy queen Meena Kumari at her best while 'Chalte chalte' became one of the unforgettable numbers in the genre.
Umrao Jaan (1981): In the original 'Umrao Jaan' (1981), critics and audiences both surrendered to Rekha in the songs 'Dil cheez kya hai' and 'In aakhon ki masti'.
Muqaddar ka Sikandar (1978): Rekha stole hearts with her graceful rendition in the song 'Salaam-e-ishq'.
Mughal-e-Azam (1960): Madhubala's 'Anarkali' act in the classic 'Mughal-e-Azam' set new standards with her dancing to 'Pyaar kiya to darna kya'.
Devdas (1986): Vyjayanthimala set the ball rolling with her courtesan act in Bimal Roy's 'Devdas' (1956), especially with 'Ab aage teri marzi'.
Devdas (2002): In the role of Chandramukhi, the Kathak maestro 'dhak dhak girl' Madhuri Dixit took to the floor in the song 'Maar Daala'.
Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005): Rani Mukerji managed to bring her own charm to the screen in the song 'Tumhari adaaon pe main vaari vaari'.
Umrao Jaan (2006): Emulating Rekha in a remake sounded like a mighty task, but Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made sure she held her own in this otherwise commercial dud in the song 'Salaam'.
Rajjo (2013): In this film based on the life of a prostitute, Kangana Ranaut does a classical 'mujra' in the song 'Kaleja hai haazir'.
Gulaal (2009): Mahie Gill was in severe distress due to a back injury during the shoot of this song 'Ranaji'. Regardless, she still shot for the sequence with a smile on her face and apparently wrapped up the shoot in eight hours flat.
Some modern-day versions of the 'mujra'...
Ram Leela: Priyanka Chopra redefined the dance form in her cameo number 'Ram chahe leela' in the romantic drama, starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone.
Agent Vinod: Bebo teamed up with Maryam Zakaria for this mujra-themed song in this spy thriller. Though the dance steps were far removed from the graceful moves in this song 'Dil mera muft ka', the overall setup passed it off as a tribute to the royal old days of mehfils and kothas.
Ishaqzaade: Gauahar Khan who played a prostitute in the film, starring Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra, did a fair job in the song 'Jhalla wallah' from this love saga.
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani: Considered as Madhuri's comeback dance number to Bollywood, the song 'Ghagra' became an instant hit with the masses.
Bunty Aur Babli: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan took a million breaths away when she shared the screen with Abhishek and Amitabh Bachchan in the song 'Kajra re'.
Dedh Ishqiya: Madhuri Dixit Nene who plays Begum Para in this film performed another 'mujra' number in the film. After mesmerising audiences with 'Maar Dala' in Devdas in 2002, Madhuri cast her spell with a 'mujra' number in director Abhishek Chaubey's film in 'Apke Karar Mein' composed by filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, also the producer of the film.
