Meena Kumari, regarded as one of the most talented and highest-paid heroines of her time, married filmmaker Kamal Amrohi in 1952. At the time, Kamal was already married to Sayeda Al-Zehra Mehmoodi and had three children. However, he never formally informed his first wife about his marriage to the actress. His son, Tajdar Amrohi, has now recalled how his mother discovered her husband’s relationship with Meena Kumari and their first meeting.

Speaking to Vickey Lalwani, Tajdar said: “My mother was an orthodox woman and was not a part of the film industry. She didn’t know anything about films. Back in those days, there used to be a very popular Hindu magazine, called Shama and the Hindi version of the magazine was called Sushma. While going through that magazine, she came across an article that spoke about Kamal Amrohi’s love affair with Meena Kumari. She was among the most famous actors in India.”

The article mentioned that the filmmaker and the actress were having an affair and were likely to get married. While his family lived in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha, he lived in a massive bungalow in Mumbai (then Bombay).

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Tajdar recalled: “When she read the news, she was extremely shocked. Later, other people also came to know. My mother hid that magazine but my sister caught her in the act. When my sister read the magazine, she found out our father was having a love affair.”

Despite the shock, Tajdar said his mother never confronted his father.

“My mother never confronted my father. In fact, my father was quite grateful to my mother because she never questioned him about ‘Choti Ammi’. She never accused him of infidelity or betrayal. And as far as I know, she didn’t care to ask him until her last breath. And at the same time, nobody had the audacity to badmouth my father before her. She wouldn’t tolerate it. She would always say: ‘It is between the both of us.'”

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“Not just my father, but even Choti Ammi had kept this secret hidden from her own father. Only her sisters knew about her affair with Kamal Amrohi.”

Tajdar also spoke about Meena Kumari’s decision to marry his father. “My father was a very handsome, extremely intelligent, highly educated man and belonged to a big family. It was an honour for any woman to get married to such a background. When they got married, my father was more famous than Choti Ammi.”

Several years into their marriage, Meena Kumari fell unwell, prompting Mehmoodi to travel to Mumbai to see her personally. It was the first time the two women met.

“My mother came to see my Choti Ammi when she heard that she wasn’t keeping well. When my mother met her, she removed her bangles and made Choti Ammi wear them. As she passed on the bangle, she said: ‘Dulhan wahi jo piya mann bhaaye’ (The bride is the one who pleases her husband). My husband is happy with you.”

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According to Tajdar, while his mother appeared to be a strong woman to the world, she would often cry when she was alone.

“She never showed her tears. She would show anger. But never made it feel like another woman took away her happiness.” He added: “My father always sent money home. He always took care of my mother. He didn’t do any compromise on that. He gave us good education.”

Meena Kumari and Kamal Amrohi remained married for nearly two decades, until her death in 1972 of liver cirrhosis. However, things soured between the two of them, and they were separated. While many claimed they got divorced, Tajdar said that was not true.