Madhubala- Kaneez-E-Azam: The Mysterious Smiling Beauty of Indian Cinema

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 foretelling. In search of a better pasture, her family relocated to the City of dreams, Bombay. She was spotted by Rai Bahadur Chunnilal during a children’s programme at All India Radio. She was contracted to play the role of heroine’s daughter in Bombay Talkies 'Basant' (1942). She lip-synched the song ‘Mere Chhote Se Man..’ and was paid 50 rupees. After this successful venture, she went on to act in several films as a child artist.

Devika Rani rechristened her as Madhubala (Honeybelle) with an offer to work opposite Dilip Kumar in ‘Jwar Bhata’. However, she made her debut as a heroine in Neel Kamal (1947) opposite Raj Kapoor. Thereafter, she was flooded with many film contracts. She worked in 24 films in the first four years of her adult career. But the film that catapulted her to stardom was Kamal Amrohi’s Mahal (1949). Madhubala played the enigmatic gardener's daughter in this fascinatingly complex psychodrama and gave lip-sync to Lata's immortal song ‘Ayega Aanewala..’. Thereafter, there was no looking back.

During the turbulent years of partition, she became victim of mendacious propaganda accusing her of being a beef-eater. The dust settled after she gave her life savings of Rs. 50,000/- as donation to alleviate the sufferings of the refugees coming from East Pakistan.

Barring a few stray successes like Baadal and Beqasoor, Madhubala had a string of commercial disappointments in the early 1950s, earning her the label ‘Box Office Poison’. Her career revived and reached dazzling heights with smash hits like Howrah Bridge, Kaala Paani, Phagun, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi and Barsaat Ki Raat. 

She reached the pinnacle of her career with ‘Mughal-E Azam’. Her ‘feather scene’ with Dilip Kumar in the film is rated as the most sensuous capture in Bollywood history. Madhubala had charged twice what was paid to Yusuf Saheb when the movie had gone on the floor. The famous song, “Bekas Pe Karam Kijiye” was picturised on heavily-chained Madhubala, the defiant courtesan Anarkali. Her exhaustion and despair truly mimicked the torture of her Mughal character.

An epic beauty, Madhubala had a delicately voluptuous figure to proclaim her as ‘the Venus of the Screen’ and ‘the Fragrant Spring of Love’. Her full-lipped smiles and mischievous coquette perfectly complemented her inspired antics. Her complexion was so fair and translucent that whenever she chewed a paan, one could almost see the red colour going down her throat. Her dreamy eyes, vivacious smile and mischievous laughter gave her a girl-next-door appeal.

Her portrayal of modern young women embodied the optimism of the new generation. She was not type-cast, her natural, understated acting style brought her equal success in serious social dramas as well in lighthearted comedies. Madhubala’s unique mesmerism allured the movie lovers worldwide. Many American magazines including Life Magazine, published special features on her charm and acting skills. The legendary director Frank Capra was eager to launch Madhu in Hollywood movies, but her greedy and conservative father nipped the proposal in the bud.

Madhubala, playful and flirtatious, had loved passionately, tempestuously and lost tragically. Men just fell for her beauty and charms. She was romantically involved with a number of men, be it her childhood friend Latif, Kedar Sharma, Mohan Sinha, Kamal Amrohi, Premnath, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Dilip Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Bhart Bhushan and Kishore Kumar. In ‘Tarana’ she was smitten with Dilip Kumar and reportedly sent him a rose, the beginning of a long romance. Both looked made for each other and had even got engaged. An ugly lawsuit over Naya Daur (1957) hastened their breakup. In 1960, she married Kishore Kumar but marital bliss was soon eclipsed by her fatal condition.

Madhubala was born with Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), a serious sign of cyanosis and poor oxygen perfusion. Yet she grew into a vivacious and beautiful young woman whose fragility was for many years known only to a few. While shooting for ‘Bahut Din Hue’(1954), Madhubala vomited blood on the set. With skyrocketing notoriety, her illness, no longer was a family secret. She sought treatment in London, but physicians refused to operate. The despondent Madhu returned to Bombay, where she realized her acting career was over. She opted for direction of films and her directorial debut was Farz Aur Ishq.

She has also produced three films ‘Naata’, ‘Mahlon Ke Khawab’ and 'Pathan' (1962). She valiantly tried to make a comeback in Chalak (1966). However, her frail health caused her to collapse and the film remained incomplete. In her short life, she notched up a legion of achievements completing more than 70 films. However, she could not win any awards in her lifetime. Her only fully-coloured film Jwala (1970) co-starring Sohrab Modi, Sunil Dutt and Pran was released two years after her death.

The epitome of on-screen beauty was confined to bed for nine years and was reduced to just bones and skin. A song from the film ‘Jewel Thief’ “रुला के गया सपना मेरा” became her swan song. She’d keep crying, “I want to live, I don’t want to die”. But the 'Diva' of bollywood, Madhubala left for her heavenly abode on a Sunday morning i.e. 23rd Feb 1969 at a very young age of 36 years.

Tootaa Hai Zindagi Ka Ab Aakhiri Sahara, Haafiz Khuda Tumhara….