Bollywood's most lovable romantic-comedy stars: the versatile, debonair Motilal and the pretty and mischievous Meena. Their slick team-work has won them a big following throughout the country.

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LA-RA-LAPPA! Here they come! Filmland’s most lovable romantic-comedy stars, the versatile, debonair Motilal and the plump, pretty and very mischievous Meena.

It all started with “Ek Thi Larki”, Roop K. Shorey’s hilarious comedy which took picturegoers by storm. For the heroine’s role there could not have been a better choice than the producer’s lovely and talented wife, Meena, who overnight became the “La-ra-lappa” girl when the film was released.

And the hero? Why, who else, but that always delightful, ever-dependable actor Motilal who is equally at home in comedy and drama.

Naturally, the team clicked, and audienc­es, still holding their sides with laughter, asked for more.

“More” came in the shape of “Ek Do Teen”, a comedy even more side-splitting than its predecessor, and the Meena-Motilal team won fresh laurels and a legion of new fans.

Now they are to appear in yet another comedy, “Shri Naqad Narayan”, and there cannot be the slightest doubt that in terms of personal popularity as well as box-office success this bright romantic team will per­form the hat-trick.

What is the secret of their great success? Undoubtedly, both stars have a distinct flair for comedy. Their sense of timing is perfect and their slick team-work draws the last ounce of comedy from every scene.

Yet another factor which contributes to their success with cinegoers is that physically they are unevenly matched. Meena is buxom hardy Punjabi lass. Moti, on the other hand, is slight of build, almost frail-looking, as com­pared with Meena. In one of her mischievous moods on the cricket field recently she lifted him bodily and ran off the field with Moti sitting astride her back. The crowds roared with laughter.

Meena says she enjoys working with Motilal and finds him an ideal partner for comedy.

“He is so easy to work with, so very natural,” she says. “Especially in those scenes in which we have to quarrel with each other, he helps me achieve a realism which I doubt I will get with any other actor.”

Moti, who has acted opposite innumer­able screen heroines of the past and present, has an equable temperament and a sparkling bonhomie which makes it easy for him to get along with every person he comes in contact with. Completely at home in any type of role, he, too, thinks that Meena is excellent in comedies, and gets from her the necessary response to inject into his own roles that inimitable charm of his.

On the set, or off, this team of Moti and Meena is constantly bubbling with wit and humour. They are always wisecracking, each trying to get the better of the other, and when­ever they are together their associates have a field day watching the antics of this lov­able pair.

The Indian screen cannot boast of any other sophisticated comedy team like that of Meena and Motilal. Slapstick we have, but for straight, clever comedy, this romantic team is certainly unsurpassed (January 1955)

Prithvi Raj Kapoor in Sikandar (1941)

The historical film is one of the oldest genres of Indian cinema, often closely linked with themes of nationalism and the freedom struggle. Favourite periods include the Mughal era (the most popular film being Mughal-e Azam) and, less often, classical India, often used to evoke the glory that was India or highlight how the Indian nation and its unity are rooted in the mists of time. The historical’s popularity waned from the early 1960s but several have succeeded in the 2000s (including Lagaan and Gadar), experimenting with new periods (partition and even the 1960s).

Sohrab Modi, a Shakespearean actor, and his production company, Minerva Movietone, were always associated with this genre. His major historicals include Pukar (1939), which almost ousted Sikandar for its performances by Chandramohan and Naseem Bano, with able support from Sohrab Modi and others, its lavish sets and high drama; Prithvivallabh (1941), based on the novel by K. M. Munshi; Jhansi ki Rani (1953), documenting the fight by Queen Laxmibai against the East Indian Company; and the life of the great Urdu poet, Mirza Ghalib (1954), if only for Suraiya’s songs. However, Sikandar is held to be his greatest film.

326 BCE. Sikandar (the Indian name for Alexander the Great) (Prithviraj Kapoor) has reached the Jhelum and is set to conquer India but has to defeat the Indian King Porus (Sohrab Modi). Sikandar’s Persian lover Rukhsana (known in the west as Roxanna) (Vanamala), though shunned by Sikandar’s tutor Aristotle (Shakir), pleads with Porus to spare Sikandar but Porus’ only son (Zahur Raja) is killed in battle, and Porus is captured. However, the two heroes recognize kindred spirits and become friends. Sikandar releases Porus and begins his journey back home.

The film was epic in all senses. Its sets and battle scenes were lavish and no expense seemed to have been spared in creating the grandeur of ancient India. However, it must have been a great risk to make a film in 1941 (at the height of the freedom struggle) in which leaders debate nationalism and defeat. Nevertheless, apparently it managed to evade censor cuts, although it was not shown in cantonment towns (towns where the army was based).

The film is also remembered for the performances of these two imposing Shakespearean actors. Modi had worked in the Parsi theatre, specializing in Shakespeare, and Prithviraj Kapoor had also acted in Shakespearean touring companies. Both men began their careers in silent cinema. Prithviraj remained only an actor, starring in the first talkie, Alam ara (1931), and worked in New Theatres before returning to Bombay to appear in films such as Phool. From a generation who preferred theatre to cinema, he discovered that the latter paid the bills. His sons Raj (whose films include Awaara, Shree 420 and Bobby) and Shammi (Junglee, Teesri manzil, among others) worked almost entirely in cinema, while a third, Shashi (Waqt, Jab jab phool khile, Deewaar, Kabhi kabhie and Silsila), despite a good film career, subsequently devoted his energies to the theatre.

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 1941, Genre – Historical, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Mohan Pictures, Director – Sohrab Modi, Music Director – Mir Sahib, Cast - Prithviraj Kapoor , Sheela, Sadiq Ali, K. N. Singh, Meena, Shakir, Yakub, Jilloo Maa, Vanmala, Sohrab Modi, Zahur Raja, Abu Baker

Meena Shorey

Meena Shorey was the silver screen temptress of the 40′s and the 50′s. Once the hippest girl in the Indian movie industry, she was born in Raiwind in a small rural household. Her father lived a wayward life and used to beat his wife brutally. One of Meena’s sisters married and moved to Bombay, and she and her mother followed. Sohrab Modi at the time was looking for a young girl who could play the lead in Sikandar (1941), Nasim, the most beautiful woman of her time, having walked out. Therefore, Sikander marked her debut, the memorable Sohrab Modi production starring Prithvi Raj as the world conqueror. Meena starred as the sister of Ambhi, the rajah of Taxila.The movie was an all-India hit and there was no looking back for Meena.

Eik Thi Ladki, made by her husband Roop K. Shorey in 1949 in Bombay, dubbed her as the sensational Lara Lappa Girl (after one of the popular songs from that film). Just when the glamour of this achievement was beginning to decline the couple was called to Lahore by J.C. Anand. He had used an Indian soundtrack (Hemant Kumar’s number Na Yeh chand ho ga) in his successful movie Sassi last year and now he wanted to improve the status of his plagiarism by imitating the concept of an entire film: Guru Dutt-Madhubala hit Mr. & Mrs. 55. What came out was Miss 56.

Although the film did good business, it proved to be the swan song of the Shoreys. Meena, the Lara Lappa Girl of the forties was pampered by all, in contrast with the treatment meted out to declining artistes by film-goers in Bombay. For her it was like rediscovering the adulation of her youth. So when the time came to return to India, she decided to stay back, leaving heart-broken Roop to take yet another trip from Lahore empty-handed, within a span of ten years, first losing his means of livelihood and then his sweetheart. That was the separation of the Shoreys. As time was to reveal, it did no good to any of them. Apart from a few side roles in major films like Sarfarosh (1956), Bedari (1957), and Mauseeqar (1962) she was soon reduced to obscure films with titles that sounded like Jagga (1958), Bacha Jhamoura (1959), Behrupiya (1960) and Jamalo (1962) before her ultimate descent into negative old-age role of a ‘Madam’ running a network of bonded prostitution in Khamosh Raho (1964).

The final part of her life story is almost too painful to be real. While Roop K. Shorey died in 1973 in India, from a broken heart over the separation from his sweetheart; Meena – the former wife of the studio owner and once a bright star in the galaxy of Bollywood was reduced to extremely destitute living by the end of her life before her death in 1989. None of her marriages, except the one with Roop K Shorey, brought her any happiness. One of her Pakistani husbands, the B-grade actor Asad Bokhari, used to beat her as if it were part of his husbandly duties. Once she mentioned that she felt like a dried up tree in a grove of green saplings that everyone is out to chop down and burn. She was last seen in the television program Silver Jubilee in 1983 and then mentioned in one news item as having had stood up in a function begging for charity money to marry off her sister’s daughters. Muhammad Ali, who had played a younger (and his first great) role against her in Khamosh Raho was reported to have given her moral support on that occasion. It is said that her burial was arranged with charity money – By Khurram Ali Shafique, Khalid Hassan and Ummer Siddique