&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Meena_Kumari_(book)_cover.jpg) Cover of the 1972 edition | |
| Author | Vinod Mehta |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Meena Kumari |
| Published | October 1972 |
| Publisher | Jaico Publishing House |
| Publication place | India |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 187 |
| OCLC | 586134668 |
Meena Kumari is a biography by Vinod Mehta about the Indian actress of the same name. It details her birth in 1933 in Bombay (present-day Mumbai), her 33-year-long acting career, her marriage to Kamal Amrohi, and her death in 1972. It also includes Mehta's analysis on her career and film roles. The first edition published in October 1972 by Jaico Publishing House was praised by critics, but its second edition, Meena Kumari: The Classic Biography, released on 10 July 2013 by HarperCollins, met with mixed criticism.
Luiz Vaz of Jaico Publishing House approached Mehta, then a copywriter, to write a biography on Kumari soon after her death in March 1972. Though unfamiliar with Bollywood, Mehta took the opportunity to expand his scope of work. In research, he met her family members and contemporaries, and also collected archived film magazines. His writing style is influenced by New Journalism, where the authors are placed as the narrative's core and refer to themselves with first-person pronouns.