Meena Kumari

The image of her limpid eyes and tremulous voice remains to epitomize the tragic heroine of the Hindi film. Loren was portrayed by Sonia Aquino in the 2004 biopic The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, as well as by Silvia Vrij in a 1980 film entitled Dirty Picture. Pakeezah (1971), jointly conceived with her husband, was completed shortly before her tragic death on March 31, 1972 and was her last great performance. In her 60s, Loren was selective in her films, but made a well-received appearance in the 1994 comedy Grumpier Old Men and in 2004 had a major role in the mini-series, Lives of the Saints. Her screen image of a tormented, self-mortifying woman became an extension of her own personality. In 1991, Loren received an honorary Academy Award for her contributions to cinema. Like the heroine of the film, she increasingly took to drink and embarked on the road to gradual ruin. In 1980 she had the rare distinction of portraying herself (as well as her own mother) in a made-for-television biopic, Sophia Loren: Her Own Story (Ritza Brown and Chiara Ferrari played younger versions of the actress).

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (Master, Mistress and Servant 1962) became in more than a symbolic way the crossroads of her life. In 1982, she made headlines when she served an 18-day prison sentence in Italy on tax evasion charges but this didn't slow down her career. A collection of her poems in Urdu under the pen name Naaz was published after her death. Loren moved into her 40s and 50s gracefully and continued to be considered both a fine dramatic actress and a sex symbol for years, with acclaimed roles in films such as The Cassandra Crossing and Robert Altman's Ready to Wear. She was also a poet in her own right, and was able to lend to the characters she played a certain poetic tenderness and intensity. That same year, Loren gave an acclaimed performance in Italy's Two Women, which earned her the distinction of being the first actor to win a major category Academy Award (in her case, Best Actress) for a non-English language performance. However, her strong independent spirit would not be subordinated by her husband's genius and they eventually separated in 1964. To promote the film, Loren and Sellers recorded a best-selling album of comedic songs.

She married Kamal Amrohi who directed some of her best films. One of her best-known films of this period was The Millionairess (1960) which became the subject of much speculation due to the fact her co-star, Peter Sellers, became infatuated with the actress and later claimed to have had an affair with her (a fact she denies). One reason for this popularity was her private life, which at times rivaled the plot of any movie. By the 1960s, Loren was one of the most popular actresses in the world, and continued to make popular films in both America and in Europe. However, her studied reserve, chaste diction and -- most of all -- extraordinary voice, that struck the right balance between the erotic and the pathetic, ensured her place in the hearts of the Indian movie-going public. Some of her earliest American films included Desire Under the Elms (based upon the Eugene O'Neill play), Houseboat (a romantic comedy starring Cary Grant), and The Black Orchid (a romantic drama co-starring Anthony Quinn). The following years saw her appear in a number of films, where she played many, largely indistinguishable, self-mortifying women. In short order, however, Loren demonstrated considerable skill as a dramatic and comedic actress, which gained her respect as being more than just a sex symbol.

She was never really able to shake off this image of a tragidienne, and at times this severely impeded her in the exercise of the full range of her histrionic talents. Although she had appeared in a bit part in the Hollywood blockbuster Quo Vadis in 1951, it was not until 1957's Boy on a Dolphin that Loren became a major international film star, due in part to the iconic image of her wearing a water-soaked, body-clinging dress. Her evocative portrayal of the perennially suffering Indian woman struck a responsive chord in millions of women. This film, like many of her other early roles, emphasized her voluptuous physique; she even appeared topless in a few films (which was considered acceptable in European cinema at the time, though said scenes were usually cut out when the films were distributed in the United Kingdom or in North America). By 1953, Meena Kumari had starred in three other commercially successful films: Daera, Do Bigha Zameen and Parineeta. Parineeta became a turning point in her career. Two Nights with Cleopatra). She therefore heralded a new era of actresses that included Nargis, Nimmi, Suchitra Sen and Nutan. One of her first major roles was as the titular character of the 1953 Italian film Due notti con Cleopatra (a.k.a.

Meena Kumari entered the limelight at a time when histrionics were taking over from glamour (as epitomized by such beauties as Naseem, Veena, Sofia and Jayshree). She was "discovered" by her future husband Carlo Ponti, who produced many of her films. Her early films were rather unremarkable and mythological. She grew up there in poverty but found her way into small parts in European films in the early 1950s, often billed as Sofia Lazzaro. She took on the name Meena Kumari for Vijay Bhatt's immensely popular musical Baiju Bawra. She was born Sofia Villani Scicolone in Pozzuoli, Italy, the illegitimate daughter of Romilda Villani and Riccardo Scicolone. Mahajabeen acted in her first film at the age of six. Sophia Loren (born September 20, 1934) is one of the most famous Italian actresses of all time, and even at the age of 70 continues to be considered one of the most desirable women on the planet.

Her mother Prabhawati (later Iqbal Begam), a stage dancer and actress, was a descendant of the Tagore family. "If you haven't cried, your eyes can't be beautiful.". Her father Ali Bakhsh was an actor in films and Parsi theatre, apart from composing music for a few films. "The two big advantages I had at birth were to have been born wise and to have been born in poverty.". She was born Mahjabeen Bano in Bombay. "It's a mistake to think that once you're done with school you need never learn anything new.". She shot into stardom in 1952 with the release of Baiju Bawra. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go much further than people with vastly superior talent.".

Meena Kumari (August 1, 1933 - March 31, 1972) was an Indian actress, whose name has become synonymous with the tragic heroine. "Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. NewDelhi: East West Press, 1974. "Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.". The Kaleidoscope of Indian Cinema. "A woman's dress should be like a barbed-wire fence: serving its purpose without obstructing the view.". Mahmood, Hameeduddin. When asked why she stopped doing nude scenes: "When Sophia Loren is naked, that is a lot of nakedness.".

London: British Film Institute; New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994. "Sex appeal is 50% what you've got and 50% what people think you've got.". Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. "Mistakes are a part of the dues one pays for a full life.". Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul. Other notable film roles were: Jimena (Charlton Heston's love interest) in El Cid; Lucilla in The Fall of the Roman Empire with Alec Guinness; and Aldonza/Dulcinea in Man of La Mancha with Peter O'Toole. Her childhood nickname: "Toothpick".

Often appeared with Marcello Mastroianni. Received an Oscar for Best Actress for the 1960 film Two Women..