Pakeezah
Sunday, November 8, 2026, 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM EST
Event duration 3 hours
General Admission:
USD 0.00
About Pakeezah
Enjoy this beloved Bollywood classic, a heartbreaking romance replete with gorgeous visuals beautiful songs.
Set against the backdrop of the courtly era of the nawabs of Lucknow, Pakeezah with its painterly frames saturated with color, opulent sets and costumes, haunting music and the luminous Meena Kumari in an unforgettable performance as the courtesan Sahibjaan, is a poetically exquisite classic that took fourteen years to complete. The courtesan Nargis is rejected by the family of her husband Shahabuddin and dies giving birth to her daughter Sahibjaan who grows up to become a renowned courtesan. But she lives in a gilded cage, yearning for love and a life of dignity. Her life takes a turn when a forest officer, Salim, accidentally encounters her while she is asleep in a train compartment. Captivated by her, he leaves behind a note praising her beauty and innocence without knowing her identity. Their paths cross again and they fall in love. However, misunderstandings and the stigma attached to Sahibjaan’s identity threaten to keep them apart. Description courtesy of Film Heritage Foundation.
Pakeezah was restored in 4K by Film Heritage Foundation at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in association with Bilal Amrohi of Lionheart Cinema.
Directed by: Kamal Amrohi. Country: India. Released: 1972. Length: 153 min. Format: DCP. Language: Urdu with English subtitles.
Events Schedule
Sunday, November 8, 2026
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM EST
Time zone
Eastern Time (EST, UTC-05:00)
Event Categories
Languages
Urdu
Community Connections
National Museum of Asian Art
https://asia.si.edu/
1050 Independence Ave. SW
Established a century ago, the National Museum of Asian Art was the Smithsonian’s first art museum. Committed to preserving, exhibiting, researching, and interpreting art in ways that deepen our collective understanding of Asia and the world, the museum stewards one of North America’s largest and most comprehensive collections of Asian art. Its rich holdings bring the arts of Asia into direct dialogue with an important collection of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American works, providing an essential platform for creative collaboration and cultural exchange between the United States, Asia, and the Middle East. Beginning with a 1906 gift that paved the way for the museum’s opening in 1923, the National Museum of Asian Art is a leading resource for visitors, students, and scholars in the United States and internationally. Its galleries, laboratories, archives, and library are located on the National Mall in Washington, DC, and are part of the world’s largest museum complex, which typically reports more than 27 million visits each year. The museum is free and open to the public 364 days a year, making its exhibitions, programs, learning opportunities, and digital initiatives accessible to global audiences. When you visit our galleries or delve into the stories of our collections online, we hope you find a portal to different ways of interpreting our world. We invite you to learn and explore in your own way—to look deeply into the past to better understand the present and to break through the artificial barriers that can separate us.