FilmIndia (Jan-Nov 1942)

Hyacinth And The mystery Woman Doings At Neena's Dinner Table By: Hyacinth I am a hypocrite, a snake in the grass and the feminine version of a cad. I went to see Neena as a friend, accepted her hospitality and now I've turned traitor. She invited me to lunch along with Baburao Patel and Rita Carlyle not knowing that I was "Hyacinth" of "filmindia" and not knowing that her privacy was about to be endangered. You and I have read about Neena as a mystery woman. We have thought of her with the same awe as we have thought of Garbo. But her's, unlike Garbo's, is not the sphinx-like type of fascination. She is just a lovely woman who wishes her private life to remain private. Unlike many stars ghe doe;, not use this cloak of mystery to conceal a murky past. Why then, you will ask, have I violated Neena's privacy? I have done this because as I have said so often before, all stars are public property and when they become famous they must sacrifice privacy for fame. Neena cannot remain a mystery forever. Her fans have given her a spectacular welcome and in re turn they deserve to be told something about her life. Not everything perhaps, but just enough to stop their clamouring for news of her. I propose to provide a literary tit-bit to appease their hunger for news. We arrived late for our luncheon date with Neena and found she was having several others to lunch as well, so in the confusion of Howd'you-do's I did not get much chance to look at Neena. When we sat down to lunch I found it even harder to get a look at her. The table was laden with food and in front of me was a large roasted chicken which obstructed my view and was altogether rather a nui sance until it was consumed by Baburao Patel who has the father and mother of all good appetites. Then I took stock of Neena. She is slight, weighing about 108 lbs. and measuring roughly 5' 2". Her hair is brown and curls at the temples and her eyes are large and light brown in colour. Her skin is clear and of an attractive light gold-brown shade. Her nose is small and straight and her mouth curves delightfully when she smiles. Without being too lavish with my bouquets I can say that Neena is better-looking even than the film industry's current beauty queen Naseem. A large roasted chicken obstructed my view, until it was consumed by Baburao Patel. Her's is a quiet beauty. She is not vivacious or glamourous but you are always conscious of her presence even though she sits quietly in the background and does not talk much. When we had all had a little more than an elegant sufficiency of food we retired to the sitting room where I began my CfiCiss Jfei career of hypocrisy. By cleverly or perhaps I should say artfully turning the conversation from beauty culture to acting and then to childhood reminiscences I managed to draw quite a lot out of Neena, poor unsuspecting girl that she is. NEENA AT THE RACES She is 22 years old and was born on the 12th July in Aligarh. She is the eldest child in a family of six dhildren. Her father who stayed in Lucknow was City Magistrate, then Inspector General of Registration and also Secretary to the local Government Producer-Director W. Z. Ahmed a great friend of theirs, persuaded Neena to become an actress. She was reluctant, because she knew there would be opposition from her family, but eventually she agreed. She was nervous at first, but soon got into the swing of things and decided acting was fun even if it was hard work sometimes. She has made her first film "Ek Raat" with Prithviraj but the people have not seen the film generally yet. Those who have, in Karachi, rave about her performance and experts in Urdu say, she speaks the most perfect Urdu that has ever been heard on the Indian screen. Her next film is going to be called "Mun-Ki-Jeet". She is going to 59