{"id":317806,"date":"2023-11-14T06:26:09","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T06:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/popularindinews.com\/?p=317806"},"modified":"2023-11-14T06:26:09","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T06:26:09","slug":"why-mala-sinha-almost-said-no-to-pyaasa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/popularindinews.com\/tv-movies\/why-mala-sinha-almost-said-no-to-pyaasa\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Mala Sinha Almost Said No To Pyaasa"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘My character Meena seemed like a selfish, cold, heartless woman, who abandons her lover because he is moneyless.’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mala Sinha, who turned 86 on November 11, is the most under-rated actress of Hindi cinema. Her repertoire is staggering, but she is not acknowledged among the all-time greats.<\/p>\n

Take Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa<\/em>.<\/p>\n

While Waheeda Rehman’s performance is rightly celebrated, Mala Sinha’s far more complex character has largely been ignored.<\/p>\n

At first, Guru Dutt made effervescent films like Mr & Mrs 55<\/em>, Aar Paar<\/em> and Baazi<\/em>. As a deep melancholy set into his soul, Guru Dutt’s cinema grew deep, dark, retrospective and brooding.<\/p>\n

Pyaasa<\/em> was a homage to a manic pessimism.<\/p>\n

Long before depression became clinically certifiable, Guru Dutt made this film on the unbearable darkness of being.<\/p>\n

It inspired a whole brood of film-makers, including Manoj Kumar in whose under-rated Roti Kapda Aur Makaan<\/em>, Zeenat Aman’s character was discernibly modelled on Mala Sinha in Pyaasa<\/em>. Instead of Jaane Woh Kaise Log The<\/em> from Pyaasa<\/em>, Manoj Kumar sang Aur Nahin Bas Aur Nahin Gham Ke Pyale Aur Nahin<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We have grown up adoring the Fallen Woman, the filmi<\/em> tawaif<\/em> with a heart of gold, who gives herself in love selflessly. From Meena Kumari in Pakeezah<\/em> to Sharmila Tagore in Amar Prem<\/em> to Madhuri Dixit in Devdas<\/em>, they have all risen to great heights of sublimity by playing fallen women.<\/p>\n

Waheeda Rehman’s Gulabo in Pyaasa<\/em> has always been the most empathetic among the celluloid sex workers. She is the impish, impulsive, all-giving child-woman, offering her love, prayer-like, unconditionally to the emotionally and spiritually bereft poet-hero Vijay (Guru Dutt).<\/p>\n

Quite a glaring contrast to to the film’s other female protagonist Meena (Mala Sinha), who dumps her boyfriend Vijay when she sees he is incapable of giving her the life she desires.<\/p>\n

In other words, Meena sacrifices ‘love’ (as represented by the Fallen Woman’s unconditional decision to ‘go away’ with her man at the end) for a good life. No wonder Mala Sinha never got applauded for her performance in Pyaasa<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Which critical analysis of Pyaasa<\/em> has ever done justice to Mala Sinha’s character and performance?<\/p>\n

Meena is seen as the crass gold digger. The kind of material girl who marries for money and sulks in the shadows for the rest of her life.<\/p>\n

No major heroine wanted to touch Meena.<\/p>\n

Mala Sinha was always a daring diva. In Yash Chopra’s Dhool Ka Phool,<\/em> she was the first unwed mother of post-Independence Hindi cinema. In B R Chopra’s Gumrah<\/em>, she plays a wife who secretly carries on a relationship with the man she loved before marriage.<\/p>\n

Speaking proudly about Pyaasa<\/em>, Mala Sinha says, “My first instinct was to say no to Pyaasa<\/em>. My character Meena seemed like a selfish, cold, heartless woman, who abandons her lover because he is moneyless. But look the girls today. They are as practical as my Meena was in Pyaasa<\/em> so many years ago. Sirf pyar-mohabbat se zindagi nahin chalti<\/em> (Life can’t be lived on love alone<\/em>)”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mala Sinha’s Meena in Pyaasa<\/em> is one of the most complex female protagonists in Hindi cinema.<\/p>\n

She loves the poor underdog but would rather marry the affluent publisher (Rehman) because she knows what women of today accepts: Love on its own is of no use unless it’s validated by a solid income.<\/p>\n

In Hindi mainstream cinema, virtuous heroines don’t repudiate love for practical reasons the way Mala Sinha did 66 years ago. For being so ahead of her times, Mala Sinha paid a heavy price. She is not regarded among the screen greats of the golden era.<\/p>\n

“I had a negative role in the film,” she says.<\/p>\n

“I desert my beloved to marry money. I was seen as a vamp. When Mahesh Bhatt had come to sign me for Smita Patil’s role in Arth<\/em>, he had praised me for Pyaasa<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

Mala Sinha is all praise for her co-star Waheeda Rehman: “Waheeda is fantastic in the song Jaane Kya Tuney Kahi<\/em>. There was no rivalry between us. We loved each other and always praised each other’s works.”<\/p>\n

“When Waheeda saw me in Sanjog<\/em> (which starred then newcomer Amitabh Bachchan), Waheeda wanted to know how I had done a particular dramatic scene. When Guide<\/em> released, I called up Waheeda and said, ‘Tuney woh<\/em> scene with Kishore Sahuji kaise kiya?<\/em> Heroines in my times encouraged one another. Do you now how I got Jahanara<\/em>? Meena Kumariji<\/em> sent the actor-turned-producer Om Prakash to me. We didn’t snatch one another’s roles.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘My character Meena seemed like a selfish, cold, heartless woman, who abandons her lover because he is moneyless.’ Mala Sinha,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":317805,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Mala Sinha Almost Said No To Pyaasa - Popular Indi News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/popularindinews.com\/tv-movies\/why-mala-sinha-almost-said-no-to-pyaasa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Mala Sinha Almost Said No To Pyaasa - Popular Indi News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"‘My character Meena seemed like a selfish, cold, heartless woman, who abandons her lover because he is moneyless.’ Mala Sinha,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/popularindinews.com\/tv-movies\/why-mala-sinha-almost-said-no-to-pyaasa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Popular Indi News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-14T06:26:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ernie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/popularindinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Why-Mala-Sinha-Almost-Said-No-To-Pyaasa.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ernie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/popularindinews.com\/tv-movies\/why-mala-sinha-almost-said-no-to-pyaasa\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/popularindinews.com\/tv-movies\/why-mala-sinha-almost-said-no-to-pyaasa\/\",\"name\":\"Why Mala Sinha Almost Said No To Pyaasa - 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