My own exposure to 'Bollywood' cinema (and I don't really like that term) was, until Amrohi's movie, pretty slight. I'd caught the odd late night feature on Channel 4 back in the day, finding them energetic but slightly impenetrable, so when we first saw this film together, at a BFI screening several years ago, I was impressed but still a little cool; always an uncomfortable position when your significant other values something so much.
Flash forward a few years and the BFI's choice to show a restored Pakeezah on their IMAX screen for the last day of the 2026 LFF was an opportunity not to be missed, particularly as the film was introduced by the director's son and sister, respectively Tajdar and Rukhsaar Amrohi.
There are many great pieces of writing on the gestation and lengthy development of Pakeezah, covering the fractured relationship between the allegedly controlling Amrohi and his troubled wife Meena Kumari, the star of the film, who would die shortly after its release at the age of 39; I'll let you read those rather than reproduce that history here.
As you would expect from a 153 minute film, Pakeezah's story has many complexities. Split into two parts, the first concerns a famous courtesan, Nargis (Kumari) who dreams of marrying Shahbuddin (Ashok Kumar) but is prevented from doing this by his father, Hakim Saab (D. K. Sapru). Rejected, she flees to a nearby cemetery, giving birth to a daughter before dying, but not before she writes Shahbuddin a letter asking him to come for his child. Nargis' sister Nawabjaan (Veena) discovers Nargis's body and brings the baby home with her.
17 years later the daughter, named Sahibjaan (also Kumari) is also a courtesan at Nawabjaan's brothel. Shahbuddin comes into possession of the letter and tracks down his now-adult daughter, claiming her for his own, but she's stolen away. While travelling by train, a young man enters Sahibjaan's compartment and sees her sleeping. Struck by her beauty, he leaves her a note. After arriving at her destination, Sahibjaan wakes up and finds the note. She reads it and falls in love with the note's author. Meanwhile a wealthy patron, Nawab (Kamal Kapoor) steals Sahibjaan away on his boat, but it's attacked by elephants; shipwrecked, she's taken to the tent of forest ranger Salim (Raaj Kumar) who works out that she was the woman he met on the train.
Sahibjaan feigns amnesia to avoid telling him of her profession, and although she's taken back to the brothel again she escapes and is nearly run over by a train; luckily Salim is on hand to rescue her, where the pair plan to elope; he renames her 'Pakeezah'; the pure one. But, scared of declaring her profession, once again she returns to the brothel; Salim decides to marry someone else but asks Sahibjaan to dance at his wedding. . During the recital, Nawabjaan recognises Shahbuddin, Salim's paternal uncle, and calls him to witness the irony of the situation: his own daughter dancing and entertaining his family. Shahbuddin's father tries to shoot Nawabjaan to silence her but instead kills Shahbuddin who was trying to protect her. With his dying breath, Shahbuddin asks Salim to marry Sahibjaan. Salim's wedding palanquin defies convention and arrives at Sahibjaan's brothel, fulfilling Shahbuddin's dying wish.
Because of the absence of original elements, Pakeezah's restoration is far from perfect, but the combination of the rich Eastmancolor - particularly in the exterior scenes of the second half of the film - coloured by legendary matte artist Ivor (Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes) Beddoes (credited as Ivory Bedos), and the overall hazy look is extraordinary. Veteran 'Bollywood' cinematographer Josef Wirsching manages immense sweeping vistas of the sumptuous countryside and extraordinary crane shots as the camera explores the complicated brothel sets, a fabulous setting for the songs and dances that bring the film to life. As my wife noted within the libretto Sahibjaan is a quiet character without agency; when she sings and dances her character is brought to life and she becomes an elemental force. It's an extraordinary performance, bitter sweet that it was to be Kumari's last. The length of the shoot - possibly as much as fifteen years - tells on the actress's face and need for body double, but there's no denying the power and pain of her performance.
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