'''Chitralekha''' 1964 ?’ col Hindi d Kidar Sharma pc Pushpa Pics s Rajinder Kumar Sharma lyr Sahir Ludhianvi c D.C. Mehta, A. Lateef m Roshan lp Ashok Kumar, Meena Kumari, Pradeep Kumar, Mehmood, Minoo Mumtaz, Zeb Rehman, Bela Bose, Achala Sachdev, Naseem, Neeta, Rehana, Shobhana Sharma’s opulent costume drama set in the Gupta period (4th C.) is a remake of his 1941 film. With Kumari in the title role of the court dancer, her romance with Samant Beejagupta leads to questions of infidelity, the futility of love and corrupt ascetics. The film contributed to Meena Kumari’s image as the archetypal courtesan in costume spectaculars (cf. Pakeezah, 1971), although its garish colours and costume design betray the degeneration of Sharma’s work since his b&w romances. [[Film]]