Cinema: The Magic Lantern!!

Madhubala was a priceless gift to Indian Cinema, the moment we say Madhubala, it reminds of us her million dollars smile and beautiful eyes. Besotted poets called her ‘A living Taj Mahal’. Madhubala’s radiant beauty was timeless yet ephemeral. Madhubala, The Venus of Bollywood, took over the reins from the Venus of the East ‘Devika Rani’ and firmly saddled herself as the crowing queen with Mahal (1949). One success followed another, establishing her as a top-grade star with a rare versatility and ebullience. Madhubala was declared ‘The Biggest Star in the World’ by an American magazine comparing her mystique to Marilyn Monroe. Madhubala was born as Mumtaz Jahan Dehlavi on Valentine’s Day in 1933. Her father Attaullah Khan was a horse-cart puller in Delhi. Baby Mumtaz, dreamt of becoming a movie star since childhood. A holy man predicted that she would have fame and fortune but failed love affairs and early death. Subsequent events bore out the accuracy of this clairvoyant...

Shakeel Badayuni’s lyrics “Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho Ya Aftab Ho..”, are an exquisitely refined description of Waheeda Rehman’s bewitching prettiness. Her classic beauty is an example where a poet’s dreamily romantic imagination finds its match in real life. She possessed the mischievous streak of a precocious village belle. Waheeda, the quintessential beauty of Bollywood, has wooed the captive audience for decades with her charms and acting savoir faire without any sensual display of her limbs. She has an uncanny ability to give visible expression to innermost feelings through the entire spectrum of emotions. Most of her films were classic flabbergasted by her radiance on screen. She portrayed multi-layered characters like the role of seductive Gulabo in Pyasa, a defiant Rosie in Guide, coquettish Hira Bai of Teesri Kasam and emotionally deranged nurse Radha in Khamoshi. Her illustrious career-trajectory culminated in her attaining the iconic status. Waheeda Rehman was born o...