Kamal Amrohi and Meena Kumari's love story to be turned into a web-series

The love story of writer-director Kamal Amrohi and actress-poet Meena Kumari will be turned into a web-series by the late filmmaker's grandson, Bilal Amrohi.

The story will be set in the backdrop of Amrohi's classic romance Pakeezah (1972), which saw the director and his muse collaborate for the final time. Meena Kumari died of cirrhosis of the liver soon after the film's release. She was 38 at the time.

The director or the leading cast for the web-series is yet to be announced. The series is slated to go on the floors next year.

Fifty years of Pakeezah's release were completed on 4 February 2022. Directed by Amrohi, the film starred Meena Kumari, Raaj Kumar and Geeta Kapoor. The musical score was composed by Ghulam Mohammad, who died before he could complete work on the film, leaving friend and mentor Naushad to complete it.

Bilal Amrohi said, "It will be a tall order to do justice to the vision of my grandfather. I have heard stories of his tireless perfectionism and how he even drew the set design to the last detail, ensured that the costumes of the stars and each of the supporting actors were perfect, imported chandeliers from Belgium, and spent lakhs on the exquisite carpets. The film cost almost one-and-a-half-crore rupees at the time of its making, but more than the money, 16 years of my grandfather's life were invested in it."

Announced in 1957, the film faced several hurdles and ran into financial trouble as well. Amrohi also had to borrow special lenses from the Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to complete the project.

Bilal Amrohi added, "It is daunting to narrate the story of the making of the classic for today's audience, but Yoodlee Films is as passionate about the project as we are. Together, we will hopefully pay the perfect tribute to the filmmaker whose obsession with perfection produced one of the landmark films of India.”