Ghulam Mohammed's music by itself makes this a masterpiece.

Pakeezah is a really mesmerizing film. The costumes, the scenery, the characterizations and the dialogue all conspire to give the viewer a dreamlike feeling and the impression that they are drifting through another world, as indeed they are. There are only two things that are terribly wrong with this movie : Meena Kumari's awful, cloying voice and Raaj Kumar's piping Bertie Wooster-ish tones. Overlook them, and it is easy to understand why "Pakeezah" comes up in everyone's list as a must-see movie. ( P.S. I've written a longer note in the Adda section)