Mumtaz Jehan (February 14, 1933 – February 23, 1969), more popularly known as Madhubala (literally "honey belle"), was an Indian Bollywood actress who appeared in classic films of Hindi Cinema.[2][3] She was active between 1942 and 1960. Along with her contemporaries Nargis and Meena Kumari, she is regarded as one of the most influential personalities of Hindi movies.[4] She is also considered to be one of the most beautiful actresses to have worked in the industry.[5][6]
Madhubala received wide recognition for her performances in films like Mahal (1949), Amar (1954), Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955), Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and Barsaat Ki Raat (1960). Madhubala's performance in Mughal-e-Azam established her as an iconic actress of Hindi Cinema. Her last film, Jwala, although shot in the 1950s, was released in 1971. Madhubala died on 23 February 1969 after a prolonged illness.
Early life[edit]
Madhubala was born Mumtaz Jehan Dehlavi,[7] on 14 February 1933 in Delhi, British India.[1] She was a native Pashto-speaker.[8] Her father was Attaullah Khan, a Yusufzai[1] Pashtun from the Swabi District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in British India (present-day Pakistan), and her mother was Ayesha Begum.[9] She belonged to an orthodox middle-class family[10] and was the fifth of eleven children. After her father lost his job at the Imperial Tobacco Company in Peshawar,[11] he relocated to Delhi followed by Mumbai. There, the family endured many hardships. Madhubala's three sisters and two brothers died at the age of five and six. The dock explosion and fire of April 14, 1944 wiped out their small home. The family survived only because they had gone to see a film at a local theater.[12] With his six remaining daughters to provide for, Khan, and the young Madhubala, began to pay frequent visits to Bombay film studios to look for work. At the age of 9, this was Madhubala's introduction to the movie industry, which would provide financial help to her family.[9]
Early career[edit]
Madhubala's first movie, Basant (1942), was a box-office success.[13] She acted as the daughter to a mother played by actress Mumtaz Shanti. As a child actress she went on to play in several movies. Actress Devika Rani was impressed by her performance and potential, and advised her to assume the screen name 'Madhubala',[10] literally meaning "honey belle". Her first lead role, at the age of 14, was with producer Kidar Sharma when he cast her opposite Raj Kapoor in Neel Kamal (1947).[13] This was the last film in which she was credited as Mumtaz before assuming her screen name 'Madhubala'. She achieved stardom and popularity in 1949 when she was cast as the lead in Bombay Talkies studio's Mahal – a role intended for well-known star Suraiya. Madhubala, with established actresses, screen-tested for the role before she was selected by the film's director Kamal Amrohi. The film was the third largest hit at the 1949 Indian box office. Following the success of Mahal, Madhubala appeared in the box office hits Dulari (1949), Beqasoor (1950), Tarana (1951) and Badal (1951).
Hollywood interest[edit]
In the early 1950s, as Madhubala became one of the most sought-after actresses in India, she attracted interest from Hollywood. She appeared in the American magazine Theatre Arts where, in its August 1952 issue, she was featured in an article with a full page photograph under the title: "The Biggest Star in the World - and she's not in Beverly Hills". The article described Madhubala's immense popularity in India, and explored her wide appeal and large fan base. It also speculated on her potential international success.[12] 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, but her father Ataullah Khan declined.[14]
Stardom[edit]
Madhubala's co-stars Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Rehman, Pradeep Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Dev Anand were the most popular of the period. She also appeared with Kamini Kaushal, Suraiya, Geeta Bali, Nalini Jaywant, Shyama and Nimmi, notable leading ladies. The directors she worked with, Mehboob Khan (Amar), Guru Dutt (Mr. & Mrs. '55), Kamal Amrohi (Mahal) and K. Asif (Mughal-e-Azam), were amongst the most prolific and respected. Madhubala also became a producer with the film Naata (1955), in which she also acted.[15]
During the 1950s, Madhubala took starring roles in almost every genre of film being made at the time. Her 1950 film Hanste Aansoo was the first ever Hindi film to get an "A" – adults only – rating from the Central Board of Film Certification.[16] She was the archetypal fair lady in the swashbuckler Badal (1951), and following this, an uninhibited village beauty in Tarana (1951). She played the traditional ideal of Indian womanhood in Sangdil (1952), and produced a comic performance as the spoilt heiress, Anita, in Guru Dutt's satire Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955). In 1956, she acted in costume dramas such as Shirin-Farhad and Raj-Hath, and played a double role in the social drama Kal Hamara Hai (1959). In the mid-1950s, her films including the major ones like Mehboob Khan's Amar (1954) did not do well commercially.[17] However, she bounced back between 1958 and 1960 when she starred in a series of hit films. These include Howrah Bridge, opposite Ashok Kumar where she played the role of an Anglo-Indian Cabaret singer involved in Calcutta's Chinatown underworld. In the song Aaiye Meherebaan from this film, she lip-synced a torch song dubbed by Asha Bhosle which has remained popular to this day. Among other successful films, she played opposite Bharat Bhushan in Phagun; Dev Anand in Kala Pani; Kishore Kumar in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi; and Bharat Bushan again in Barsaat Ki Raat (1960). Then in 1960, she appeared in the magnum opus Mughal-e-Azam.
Madhubala acted in as many as seventy films from 1947 to 1964, and only fifteen of which were box office successes.[17] Dilip Kumar regrets that "(h)ad she lived, and had she selected her films with more care, she would have been far superior to her contemporaries ..."[18] Kumar also points out that "actresses those days faced a lot of difficulties and constraints in their career. Unable to assert themselves too much, they fell back on their families who became their caretakers and defined everything for them."[19]
Mughal-e-Azam and later work[edit]
It was the film Mughal-e-Azam that marked what many consider to be Madhubala's greatest and definitive characterization, as the doomed courtesan, Anarkali. Although the film took nine years to complete, it was not until 1953 when Madhubala was finally chosen to play the role. Bunny Reuben in his Book Dilip Kumar: Star Legend of Indian Cinema claimed that Dilip Kumar's role was instrumental behind this selection.[20] Mughal-e-Azam gave Madhubala the opportunity of fulfilling herself totally as an actress, for it was a role that all actresses dream of playing as Nimmi acknowledges that "as an actress, one gets a lot of roles, there is no shortage of them, but there isn’t always good scope for acting. With Mughal-e-Azam, Madhubala showed the world just what she could do."[21]
Madhubala in Mughal-e-Azam
However, by the late 1950s, her health was deteriorating fast, and Director K. Asif, probably unaware of the extent of Madhubala's illness, required long shooting schedules that made physical demands on her, whether it was posing as a veiled statue in suffocating make-up for hours under the studio lights or being shackled with heavy chains. It was also a time when Madhubala's relationship with Dilip Kumar was fading out, and "the lives of Madhubala and her screen character are consistently seen as overlapping, it is because of the overwhelming sense of loss and tragedy and the unrelenting diktat of destiny that clung to both and which neither could escape".[22]
Mughal-e-Azam was released on 5 August 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. It still ranks second in the list of all time box-office hits of Indian cinema. Madhubhala was nominated for a Filmfare Award for her performance in Mughal-e-Azam.
In 1960 Madhubala was at the peak of her career and popularity with the release of Mughal-e-Azam and Barsaat Ki Raat. She did have intermittent releases in the early 1960s. Some of these, like Jhumroo (1961), Half Ticket (1962) and Sharabi (1964), performed above average at the box-office. However, most of her other films released during this time were marred by her absence and subsequent lack of completion due to her prolonged illness. These films suffer from compromised editing, and in some cases the use of "doubles" in an attempt to patch-in scenes that Madhubala was unable to shoot.[23] Her last released film Jwala, although filmed in the late 1950s, was not issued until 1971.
Personal life and controversies[edit]
In their 1962 book Self-Portrait, Harish Booch and Karing Doyle commented that "(u)nlike 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 "(c)ontrary 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: "(s)he 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), 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). 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, 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."[39] 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." [40] 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.[41] 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."[42] 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.[43] Mohan Deep also questions whether Madhubala was really ill or whether her ailing was a fiction.[44] Shammi Kapoor, a long-term colleague of Madhubala, refuted 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?"[45]
Final years and death[edit]
Prithviraj Kapoor visiting the grave of Madhubala in 1969
Madhubala had ventricular septal defect (hole in her heart) which was detected while she was shooting for Bahut Din Huwe in Madras in 1954.[46] 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.[47] 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 23, 1969, shortly after her 36th birthday. She was buried with her personal diary at the Santa Cruz Muslim cemetery by her family and husband Kishore Kumar.[48] 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]
Filmography[edit]
YearFilmDirectorNotes
1942BasantAmiya Chakravartyas Manju; credited as Baby Mumtaz
1944Mumtaz MahalKidar Sharmaas a child artiste
1945Dhanna BhagatKidar Sharmaas a child artiste
1946PujariAspias a child artiste
1946PhoolwariChaturbhuj Doshias a child artiste
1946RajputaniAspias a child artiste
1947Neel Kamal (1947 film)Kidar SharmaFirst film as a heroine
1947Chittar VijayMohan Sinha
1947Mere BhagwanMohan Sinha
1947Khubsoorat DuniyaMohan Sinha
1947Dil-Ki-RaniMohan Sinhaas Raj Kumari Singh
1948Parai AagNajm Naqvi
1948Lal DupattaK.B.Lall
1948Desh SewaN.Vakil
1948Amar PremN.M.Kelkar
1949SipahiyaAspi
1949SingaarJ.K.Nanda
1949ParasAnant Thakuras Priya
1949Neki Aur BadiKidar Sharma
1949MahalKamal Amrohias Kamini
1949ImtihaanMohan Sinha
1949DulariA. R. Kardaras Shobha/Dulari
1949DaulatSohrab Modi
1949AparadhiY.Pethkaras Sheela Rani
1950PardesM.Sadiqas Chanda
1950NishanaWajahat Mirzaas Greta
1950NiralaDevendra Mukherjeeas Poonam
1950MadhubalaPrahlad Dutt
1950Hanste AansooK.B.Lall
1950BeqasoorK. Amarnathas Usha
1951TaranaRam Daryanias Tarana
1951SaiyanM. Sadiqas Saiyan
1951NazneenN.K.Ziree
1951NadaanHira Singh
1951KhazanaM.Sadiq
1951BadalAmiya Chakravartyas Ratna
1951AaramD. D. Kashyapas Leela
1952SaqiH. S. Rawailas Rukhsana
1952DeshabakthanAmiya Chakrabarty
1952SangdilR. C. Talwar
1953Rail Ka DibbaP. N. Aroraas Chanda
1953ArmaanFali Mistry
1954Bahut Din HuyeS.S.Vasanas Chandrakanta
1954AmarMehboob Khanas Anju
1955TeerandazH.S.Rawail
1955NaqabLekhraj Bhakri
1955NaataD. N. Madhokas Tara
1955Mr. & Mrs. '55Guru Duttas Anita Verma
1956Shirin FarhadAspi Iranias Shirin
1956Raj HathSohrab Modias Raja Beti/Rajkumari
1956Dhake Ki MalmalJ.K.Nanda
1957Yahudi Ki LadkiS.D. Narang
1957Gateway of IndiaOm Prakashas Anju
1957Ek SaalDevendra Goelas Usha Sinha
1958PoliceKali Das
1958PhagunBibhuti Mitraas Banani
1958Kala PaniRaj Khoslaas Asha
1958Howrah BridgeShakti Samantaas Edna
1958Chalti Ka Naam GaadiSatyen Boseas Renu
1958Baghi SipahiBhagwandas Varma
1959Kal Hamara HaiS.K.Prabhakaras Madhu/Bela
1959Insaan Jaag UthaShakti Samantaas Gauri
1959Do Ustad (1959)Tara Harishas Madhu Sharma
1960Mehlon Ke KhwabHyderas Asha
1960Jaali NoteShakti Samantaas Renu/Beena
1960Barsaat Ki RaatP.L.Santoshias Shabnam
1960Mughal-e-AzamK.Asifas Anarkali; Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
1961PassportPramod Chakravortyas Rita Bhagwandas
1961JhumrooShankar Mukherjias Anjana
1961Boy FriendNaresh Saigalas Sangeeta
1962Half TicketKali Dasas Rajnidevi/Asha
1964SharabiRaj Rishias Kamala
