Last week’s definitive DVD memory was definitely Meena Kumari’s introduction scene in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. Gurudutt’s naïve Bhootnath is ushered in the Zenana where Meena Kumari’s Chhoti Bahu is waiting. Bhootnath slowly raises his eyes and the camera follows his gaze. We see Chhoti Bahu’s payal clad feet, the splendourous folds of her silk saree and then her face. And then we know why Bhootnath’s mouth has fallen open. Chhoti Bahu is not just another woman. She is a force of Nature. Her eyes glow with the suppressed sensuality of an unloved woman. Her lips are full of mysterious promises and she radiates passion and love and longing, none of which have found an outlet. This is Meena Kumari at her most sublime. Without saying a word, she makes Bhootnath and us privy to her deprived, craving but still magnificent spirit. And what a film! Only a Gurudutt could have understood the pathos of unfulfilled love. And only a Meena Kumari could have been Chhoti Bahu. Only actors who have lived through real pain and loss can create a film as searing as this. Chhoti Bahu was the female equivalent of Devdas, a woman who self-destructs because she loves too much and hurts too much. And yet there is more to the film than Chhoti Bahu’s self-destruction. It is a celebration of Meena Kumari’s histrionics, her beauty. One of the most beautiful scenes in the film is when she is getting ready to receive her husband. Geeta Dutt’s “Piya Aiso Jiya Main,’’ plays in the background and Chhoti Bahu lines her hypnotic eyes with kohl, wears jewels. Her face is ablaze with anticipation. I can’t recall any recent film dwelling on the wonderful moment of alchemy when an ordinary woman becomes an enchantress before her mirror. Today seduction is not about shringara but about stripping. Someone is remaking Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, I believe. The question however is, where will they find another Meena Kumari?