Remembering Madhubala

( 14th February 1936 to 23rd February 1969 )

'The beauty in its purest form'

It rarely happens that even after a lapse of time... years together.... the hearts of millions people are filled with memories of a personality and their minds wander for ever around that charishmatic persona ....Madhubala was one of them......
Born as Mumtaz Jehan Begam Dehlavi, Madhubala was fifth of eleven children of her father. The family suffered innumerable hardships and Madhubala was compelled
to work in films as a child artist. Her first film was Basant ( 1942 ) when she was of 9 years old. She continued to act in films since then and assumed the screen name ' Madhubala' on the advice of the then veteran actress Devika Rani. Madhubala achieved recognition from ' Mahal' ( 1949 ) and her popularity reached at its peak in early 1950s as her succeeding films Dulari, Beqasoor, Tarana, and Badal were box office hits. Her bewitching eyes, mischievous glances, dazzling smile, glowing skin, natural look unburdened by make-up and a matchless, timeless sensuous personality did have a magic effect
Her stardom and huge fan base even forced Hollywood to take note of her by including an article on her in August 1952 issue of 'Theatre Arts' under the title 'Biggest Star in the World'. American Director Franc Capra was interested in inducting her in Hollywood but Madhubala's father refused.
Madhubala acted in about 70 films. Some of her notable films are Mahal, Chalti ka Naam Gadi, Howrah Bridge, Phagun, Kala Pani, Barsaat ki Raat and lastly the landmark ' Mughal-e- Azam' which made history.
However restrictions on her Public life by her dominating father, break up with Dilip Kumar, her incurable heart disease and late and ' not so happy' marriage with Kishor Kumar marred the personal life of this enchanting beauty.
Madhubala's health started deteriorating around 1960 and she was confined to bed. However she did not give up. With a slight improvement in 1966 she made an attempt to complete ' Chalak' opposite Raj Kapoor. When she found that acting entails strain on her body, she was set to make a directional debut by a film ' Farz aur Ishq'. Ultimately she surrendered against the cruel destiny on 23rd February 1969, but not with desperation and regrets. She might have rested in the arms of death ,humming innocently and mischievously in its ears ......अच्छा जी मैं हारी चलो मान जाओ ना ......