Madhubala

Who can forget the dove-eyed Madhubala who is the epitome of on-screen beauty and still the most beautiful actress Bollywood ever had. She had name and fame but not enough life. The actress died at a young age of 36!! She was born on 14/02/1933 and died on 23/02/1969 and in that period that she acted she did 70 films.

Her early life was full of struggles. Born to Atauallah Khan and Mumtaz Jehan Begum in a conservative family of Pathan Muslims, she started in a cow shed in Jogeshwari courtesy of a Bhaiya from UP. For her first role as a child star, she was paid 50 rupees and then 50 rupees more because the father said he has to accompany her and hence can not do a job.

After about five years of playing child roles, Devika Rani called for her to come for her film Jwar Bhata. She was rechristened to Madhubala. Madhubala got her first break in a lead role in Neel Kamal (1947). Her true success came with the movie Mahal (1949), which literally made her a superstar overnight. The list of movies to her credit is long, some of them being Sharabi (1964) Half Ticket (1962), Mughal-E-Azam (1960), Barsaat Ki Raat (1960), Jaali Note (1960), Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Howrah Bridge (1958), Phagun (1958), Mr. & Mrs. ‘55 (1955), Badal (1951), Neki Aur Badi (1949), Amar Prem (1948), Lal Dupatta (1948), Pujari (1946). Not many would know Madhubala had charged twice that was paid to Dilip Kumar for Mughal e Azam when the movie had gone on the floor.

She was romantically involved with a number of men. She worked with most of them and some of them were very respectable film personalities. Be it Latif, Mohan Sinha, Kamal Amrohi, Premnath, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Dilip Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Bhart Bhushan and finally Kishore Kumar. Men just fell for her beauty and charms. The list can go on and on.

To get Dilip interested in her she sent a red rose with a message. Dilip was impressed but got furious when he later came to know that she had done the same with Premnath not long ago and was going strong with him. He never forgave her for that. Never ever, not even when she was on her death bed. Kishore Kumar who was her last love and eventually her husband – married her despite her illness.

Her ailing heart was kept hidden from the industry. Often she would cough blood on the sets. Ultimately she died of her heart problem and Kishore Kumar took no time in forgetting her and remarrying.