Pakeezah

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Harper Collins, Aug 1, 2013 - Performing Arts - 160 pages

Meghnad Desai tracks the film's tortuous journey and reveals fascinating, little-known aspects of it. He foregrounds the craftsmanship, perseverance and perfectionism of its maker, Kamal Amrohi, who would wait weeks for the perfect sunset. Desai sees the film as a 'Muslim social' set in a 'Lucknow of the Muslim imagination', as a woman-centric film with a dancing heroine at a time when they were a rarity and above all, as a film that harkes back to an era of 'nawabi culture with its exquisite tehzeeb', a world that is lost forever. Pakeezah: An Ode to a Bygone World is a fitting tribute to a film that Meghnad Desai calls 'a monument to the golden age of Hindustani films'.

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About the author (2013)

Meghnad Desai is an economist by profession and a lover of Hindustani cinema. He has written Nehru's Hero: Dilip Kumar in the Life of India (2004) and many articles on films and film stars. He is the author of twenty books. He is Emeritus Professor of Economics at LSE and a member of the House of Lords. He divides his time between London, Delhi and Goa.

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