MUMBAI: We all know about Meena Kumari’s Pakeezah and Rekha’s Umrao Jaan. These two films epitomize the cinematic tawaif, a combination of poetess and seductress, steeped in the tragic metaphor of the candle that burns itself out while giving light to a thankless world. 

However, the greatest films on the 'kotha' culture are the ones with the best poetry and music.

1. Pakeezah (1972): Meena Kumari lived the part of the tawaif Sahib Jaan and the credit for her heart-melting performance must go to a large extent to the music by Ghulam Mohammed. As sung by Lata  Mangeshkar, the Mujras, the life and breath of every tawaif’s tale are among the finest heard in  Indian cinema: 'Chalte-chalte yuhi koi mil gaya tha',  'Teer-e-nazar dekhenge', 'Thare rahiyo ho banke yaar re', 'Inhi logon ne le lee na dupatta mera'…which one do we choose? All or none?  

In Pakeezah, Meena Kumari’s overrated performance was dependent entirely on the music. During a large part of the film’s shooting, Meena  Kumari couldn’t even move because of her ill health, let alone dance. The 'Mujra Chalte-chalte' was shot with chorus dancers and 'Teer-e-nazar' was performed by a duplicate dancer - Padma  Khanna.

2. Umrao Jaan (1981):  Again, a  Tawaif’s tale elevated solely by the music by Khayyam, the poetry by Shahrayar and was sung exquisitely by Asha Bhosle. I asked director  Muzzafar Ali why  Asha and not Lataji. It was composer Khayyam’s decision of selecting Ashaji over Lataji since Lataji singing for Umrao would have made this film Pakeezah 2. 

And boy! Madame Bhosle did full justice to the melodious Mujras - 'Dil cheez kya hai aap meri jaan lijiye', 'Inn ankhon ke masti ke mastane hazaaron hain', 'Yeh kya jagah hai doston'  and my favourite 'Justuju jiski thi ussko toh na paaya humein iss bahane see magar dekh li duniya maine'…Wah, Shahrayar Saab (trivia: Shahrayar’s son Faridoon Shahryar is a well-known entertainment journalist).

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3. Sadhana (1958): Better than Meena  Kumari in Pakeezah and definitely better than  Rekha in Umrao Jaan (who was all sighs and no substance), Vyjanthimala ‘s tawaif act in B R Chopra’s reformist drama is simply dynamite. Actresses seldom get roles like the one in Sadhana and Vyjanthimala is rightly proud of the film. It provided her with a platform to showcase many shades in her versatile personality. As a  dancer,  a tawaif to be more precise, she had already played Chandramukhi in Bimal Roy’s Devdas, three years prior to Sadhana. 

Devdas was a relatively easier role to play. She played the all-giving courtesan with a heart of gold. In  Sadhana, Vyjanthimala is initially portrayed as a gold-digging schemer who takes advantage of a dying woman’s wish to see her bahu before it’s too late. From the sensuous dances to the desire to be a part of mainstream society, Vyjanthimala takes her character through the wide arc with a confidence that sublimates Champabai’s journey into a  metaphor on societal prejudice and its subjugation by elements that have the guts to say no to biases. 

Years after Sadhana, L V Prasad produced Khilona, where a tawaif Mumtaz is brought home to a well-to-do family to play a psychologically traumatized man Sanjeev Kumar’s wife. After she is cured she is pushed out bodily from the family nucleus, until the man now having fully recovered his intellectual capacities protests on behalf of the prostitute.

4. Sharafat (1970):  Hema Malini at the beginning of her career played the fallen woman who was rescued by an idealistic college professor Dharmendra and rehabilitated until she returns to her old life convinced she would never get societal sanction. 

The climactic Mujra 'Sharifon ka zamane main ajee bass haal woh dekha ke sharafat chhod di maine' epitomizes the disillusionment of a woman who craves to leave behind her life of disrepute if only samaaj (the society) would let her.

5. Devdas (2002): Madhuri Dixit’s tawaif with the heart of gold act was embroidered with the exquisite dances that were choreographed by Kathak exponent  Pandit Birju Maharaj and of course, Bollywood’s most reputed choreographer Saroj Khan. In what's possibly the best written and choreographed courtesan's role since Meena Kumari's in Pakeezah, Madhuri gleams with a graceful aura. 

Her recent attempt to do the tawaif act in Karan Johar’s Kalank fell flat on its face. 

Lately, Bhansali had planned another tawaifs’ tale, Heera Mandi, with a gallery of gorgeous actresses from Rekha to Tabu to Kareena Kapoor to Alia Bhatt inhabiting the kotha. However, the plan has been shelved for now owing to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

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Credit: SpotboyE