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Meena Chaudhary

Meena Chaudhary in Ilzaam

Song and dance is the part and parcel of cinema. All pretty young things come to the industry with the wish to, sooner or later, do the lead role in the films. So was the case with Meena Chaudhary, a sweet starlet with a fondness for pirouettes. When she walked into the iron gates of the Evernew Studios, with stars in her kohl lined eyes, Meena had the same dream. But when she walked into one of the film offices, she had the shock of her life, as she eyed the long line of young wanna be girls from all over the city and quite a few from the adjoining small towns and villages of Lahore. In such a competition, although armed with striking features, Meena felt a bit less endowed. Despite that early disappointment, the charming girl felt her chances of playing the second heroine were quite a few, especially the Punjabi ones, a majority of which were being churned out in the late 1960s and the early 1970s. Meena, with her cute smile and that village belle’s innocence on her young face, got involved with a couple of young men who were also vying for some 2nd lead roles. But soon, she found out that most such aspirants of heroism were not to be trusted with her heart. So she left the flirts to their world of make-believe and went to the dream factory with a new resolve.

Meena danced like the peacock, but she had few very fine performances early on, that actually made her reputation sore. One of those was in Rangila’s debut as a director. The film was titled Rangila as well, and it catapulted the charming dancer to new heights, where the film fans started to look at her as a sort of clubbing vamp. That, of course, wasn’t what the other notable actresses wanted, and the whole thing just fizzled out. But for that one illuminating moment, Meena had that spotlight that she wanted. The song was filmed on her, titled Kis Ne Torra Hai Dil Huzoor Ka, which is sung famously by Mala. Kis Ne Tora Hai is actually one of the earliest compositions by Kamal Ahmed, and it showed Meena the way to graduating from just eastern pirouettes to the local version of the foxtrot. The song had the sympathetic appeal of mending the lover’s tragic heart, which made people remember the song for a long time. That stamped her name in the annals of the film history. Even those who do not see the Pakistani movies anymore, still remember that song from Rangila.

After that, Meena did have sometime with the second heroes in the films, while she learned to act like the actress with a prominent character. But, as usual, the industry lacks initiative to give you detailed character, and soon she felt left out in the same lot of the idle dancer. Meena turned her toe regularly, but her career was turning a blind corner. She danced in Pyar Ka Mausam, Japani Guddi, Jhoota Sachcha, etc

Probably, Meena remained in the Industry till the early 1980s, when suddenly the industry was sunk in a biggest crisis of all times. The films were brutally censored, and nothing really worked out as before. All glamour was lost from the local films, which made club number and kotha songs die out totally. That was when Meena left the industry as a depressed artiste.

Like before, the industry hardly cared about the whereabouts of the retired artiste but, the insiders claim that she was married to a shop-owner of Sialkot and disappeared from the showbiz scene totally.

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