Remembering Madhubala,

the 'Marilyn Monroe of Bollywood'

Since her father lost his job and they had little means to survive, Madhubala started paying frequent visits to film studios to find work. She appeared in the film Basant at the age of 9 which provided much needed financial help to her family. The film was a box office hit.

Often perceived as 'Marilyn Monroe of Bollywood', Madhubala was one of the most beautiful and influential personalities to have worked in the Indian film industry. Starting her film career at the age of nine, Madhubala worked in approximately 70 films, only 15 of which were box office hits.

Madhubala died on February 23 in the year 1969 at the age of 36.

On her 48th death anniversary today, listed are some facts you should definitely know about Madhubala:

Madhubala was born as Mumtaz Jehan Dehlavi

She and her family endured a lot of hardships when she was only a kid. Her three sisters and two brothers died at a very young age. Her house was destroyed in an explosion

Since her father had also lost his job and they had little means to survive, Madhubala started paying frequent visits to film studios to find work

She appeared in the film Basant at the age of 9 which provided much needed financial help to her family. The film was a box office hit

It was actress Devika Rani who had suggested her to assume the screen name 'Madhubala'

Her first lead role was opposite Raj Kapoor at the age of 14 in Neel Kamal (1947)

Neel Kamal was the last film which credited her with her original name Mumtaz

In the early 1950s, Madhubala became one of the most sought-after actresses in India

She appeared in the American magazine Theatre Arts in 1952 issue. She was featured in a full page article under the title: 'The Biggest Star in the World - and she's not in Beverly Hills'

She had become so famous in Hollywood that Academy Award winner American director Frank Capra, while visiting Bombay for International Film Festival of India, was keen to give her a break in Hollywood

Madhubala has worked with Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Rehman, Pradeep Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Dev Anand, Kamini Kaushal, Suraiya, Geeta Bali, Nalini Jaywant, Shyama and Nimmi

Madhubala acted in as many as 70 films from 1947 to 1964, and only 15 of which were box office successes

Dilip Kumar once said 'had she lived, and had she selected her films with more care, she would have been far superior to her contemporaries...'

The iconic film Mughal-e-Azam defined her success and popularity in the world. The film took nine years to complete

However, by the late 1950s, her health was deteriorating fast. It has been said that since Director K. Asif wasn't aware of her deteriorating health, he would require her to wear suffocating make up for the scene of the veiled statue, and heavy chains which added to her worsening health

It is said that since Madhubala and Dilip Kumar's relationship was fading out during the shooting of Mughal-e-Azam, they hardly talked off screen

Mughal-e-Azam was released on August 5 1960, and became the biggest grossing film at that time, a record that went unbroken for 15 years until the release of the film Sholay in 1975

Madhubala married Kishore Kumar in 1960 after Kishore Kumar converted to Islam and took up the name Karim Abdul

Madhubala had ventricular septal defect or a hole in her heart which was detected while she was shooting for Bahut Din Huwe in Madras in 1954

According to her sister, 'due to her ailment, her body would produce extra blood. So it would spill out from the nose and mouth. The doctor would come home and extract bottles of blood. She also suffered from pulmonary pressure of the lungs. She coughed all the time. Every four to five hours she had to be given oxygen or else would get breathless. She was confined to bed for nine years and was reduced to just bones and skin.'

She died on February 23, 1969, shortly after her 36th birthday

On March 18, 2008, a commemorative postage stamp featuring Madhubala was issued in her honour.

Personal life and controversies[edit]

In their 1962 book Self-Portrait, Harish Booch and Karing Doyle commented that "unlike other stars, Madhubala prefers a veiled secrecy around her and is seldom seen in social gatherings or public functions" (p. 76), and went on to say that "contrary to general belief, Madhubala is rather simple and unassuming" (p. 78).[10][24] This is echoed in Madhubala's sister's interview with the Filmfare: "(Madhubala) became a craze because she was never seen in public. She wasn’t allowed to attend any function, any premiere. She had no friends. But she never resisted, she was obedient. Being protective, my father earned the reputation of being domineering".[25] Dilip Kumar added, "She was extremely popular ... and I think the only star for whom people thronged outside the gates. Very often when shooting was over, there’d be a vast crowd standing at the gates just to have a look at Madhu ... It wasn’t so for anyone else. That was her personal effect on fans. Her personality was vivacious."[26] But, "she was aware of her beauty," reminisces B. K. Karanjia, former Filmfare editor and a close friend of both Madhubala and her father, "and because there were so many in love with her, she used to play one against the other. But it was out of innocence rather than shrewd calculation."[27] Dev Anand recalled in a similar way: "she liked to flirt innocently and was great fun."[28][29] However, with Dilip Kumar she had a long association.

Dilip Kumar and Madhubala first met on the set of 'Jwar Bhata' (1944 film), and worked together again on the film 'Har Singaar'(1949), which was shelved. Their relationship began two years later during the filming of 'Tarana (1951 film. They became a romantic pair appearing in a total of four films together. Actor Shammi Kapoor recalled that "Dilip Kumar would drive down from Bombay to meet Madhubala ... she was committed to Dilip ... he even flew to Bombay to spend Eid with her, taking time off from his shooting stint ..."[30] "They even got engaged", said Madhubala's sister.[25] But, Madhubala's father Ataullah Khan did not give them permission to marry.[31] Dilip Kumar said, "She was a very, very obedient daughter",[32] and who, in spite of the success, fame and wealth, submitted to the domination of her father and more often than not paid for his mistakes.[33] "This inability to leave her family was her greatest drawback", believed Shammi Kapoor, "for it had to be done at some time."[34] The Naya Daur (1957 film) court case happened in 1956 when Dilip Kumar testified against Madhubala and her father in favor of the director B.R. Chopra in open court. This struck a fatal blow to the Dilip-Madhubala relationship as it ended any chance of reconciliation between Dilip Kumar and Madhubala'a father.[35] Reflecting on this, while Dilip Kumar said he was "trapped",[36] Shammi Kapoor felt "this was something which went beyond him (Dilip) and he couldn’t control the whole situation ..." [37] However, Madhubala's sister Madhur Bhushan claimed that "(Madhubala) said she would marry him (Dilip), provided he apologised to her father. He refused, so Madhubala left him. That one 'sorry' could have changed her life."[38]

Madhubala married Kishore Kumar in 1960 after Kishore Kumar converted to Islam and took up the name Karim Abdul,[39] and according to Leena Chandavarkar (Kishore's fourth wife): "When she realized Dilip was not going to marry her, on the rebound and just to prove to him that she could get whomsoever she wanted, she went and married a man she did not even know properly."[40] B. K. Karanjia assumed that "Madhubala may have felt that perhaps this was her best chance" because by this time she became seriously ill, and was about to stop working completely; however, he added that "it was a most unlikely union, and not a happy one either."

[41] Madhubala's illness was known to Kishore, but like all the others, he did not realize its gravity; Ataullah Khan did not approve of his son-in-law at all, but he had lost the courage to disapprove.[42]

Ashok Kumar reminisced in a Filmfare interview: "She suffered a lot and her illness made her very bad-tempered. She often fought with Kishore, and would take off to her father's house where she spent most of her time."[43]

Madhubala's sister echoes this view albeit in a slightly different tone: "After marriage they flew to London where the doctor told her she had only two years to live. After that Kishore left her at our house saying, ‘I can’t look after her. I’m on outdoors often’. But she wanted to be with him. He’d visit her once in two months though. Maybe he wanted to detach himself from her so that the final separation wouldn’t hurt. But he never abused her as was reported. He bore her medical expenses. They remained married for nine years."[25]

However, Madhubala's love-life continued to be the subject of media speculation. Mohan Deep wrote an unofficial biography of Madhubala titled Mystery and Mystique of Madhubala, published in 1996, where he claims that Kishore Kumar regularly whipped Madhubala, who would show her lashes to Shakti Samanta.[44]

Mohan Deep also questions whether Madhubala was really ill or whether her ailing was a fiction.[45]

Shammi Kapoor, a long-term colleague of Madhubala, refused Mohan Deep's claims, which he described as being "in bad taste". Paidi Jairaj, and Shakti Samanta, both of whom worked with Madhubala, rejected Deep's biography emphasizing the glaring difference between fact and fiction, and

film journalist M.S.M. Desai, who had worked as a journalist on Madhubala's sets, questioned Deep's method of research saying, "Mohan Deep was not around at the time of Madhubala, so how is he capable of writing about her without resorting to hearsay?".[46]

Final years and death[edit]

Prithviraj Kapoor visiting the grave of Madhubala in 1969

Madhubala had ventricular septal defect (a hole in her heart) which was detected while she was shooting for Bahut Din Huwe in Madras in 1954.^[47] By 1960, her condition aggravated, and her sister explains that "due to her ailment, her body would produce extra blood. So it would spill out from the nose and mouth. The doctor would come home and extract bottles of blood. She also suffered from pulmonary pressure of the lungs. She coughed all the time. Every four to five hours she had to be given oxygen or else would get breathless. She was confined to bed for nine years and was reduced to just bones and skin".^[25] In 1966, with a slight improvement in her health, she made a valiant attempt to complete her work in Chalak opposite Raj Kapoor, which needed only a short spell of shooting, but she could not even survive that strain.^[48] When acting was no longer an option Madhubala turned her attention to film direction. In 1969 she was set to make her directorial debut with the film Farz aur Ishq. However the film was never made as during pre-production,

she died on February 20,1969, shortly after her 36th birthday. Her tomb was built with marble and inscriptions included aayats from the Quran and verse dedications. Controversially, her tomb was demolished in 2010 to make space for new graves.^[49]

Madhubala's strong presence in the public memory has been evidenced by all recent polls about top actresses or beauties of the Indian cinema.^[50]^[51]^[52] Every year, on her birthday, numerous articles are printed and television programmes aired to commemorate her, to the present day. Her posters are still in demand and sold alongside contemporary actresses, and modern magazines continue to publish stories on her personal life and career, often promoting her name heavily on the covers to attract sales.^[53] Many believe, however, Madhubala remains one of the most underrated actresses as "her beauty attracted more attention than her talent."^[54]

In 2004, a digitally-colorized version of the original Mughal-e-Azam was released, 35 years after her death. In 2012, her 1962 release Half Ticket was also remastered, digitally coloured and re-released.

On March 18, 2008, a commemorative postage stamp featuring Madhubala was issued.^[55] The stamp was produced by India Post in a limited edition presentation pack. It was launched by veteran actors Nimmi and Manoj Kumar in a ceremony attended by colleagues, friends and surviving members of Madhubala's family. The only other Indian film actress that was honoured in this manner was Nargis Dutt, at that point of time.^[56]