Madhubala - The Indian Venus
Madhubala - The Indian Venus
When the night shines radiant under the moonlight and the breeze blows ever so gently, there spreads a strange intoxication in the air. It is on nights like these that I can almost feel the longing with which the legendry but almost forgotten lyricist, Rajendra Krishan felt for his lady love when he penned;
Yeh hawa yeh raat yeh chandni, teri ik adaa peh nisaar hai,
Mujhay kyun na ho teri aarzu, Teri justaju mein bahaar hai.
Add to this Dilip Kumar lip-synching to the immortal voice of Talat Mahmood in Sangdil and you’ll realise every time that nobody does justice to Krishan's verses than the exuberant, Madhubala.
If a flower-like mouth and large gentle eyes, neither black nor blue, nor gray nor violet; rather all those shades together, full of nocturnal mysteries, are the standards of beauty set by British novelist Thomas Hardy, it may as well have been Madhubala he was picturing.
Madhubala was born on February 14, 1933 to Attaullah Khan and Begum Ayesha in Delhi – her birth was celebrated as that of any ninth daughters’ in a poor patriarchal family. She was named Mumtaz Jehan Begum. Fortune came well disguised when her father lost his job in Delhi and the family relocated to Mumbai. At the age of nine, when her coevals were playing in the streets, she walked into a film studio with her father who wanted her to financially support the family - this was Madhubala's introduction to the movie industry.
She began her career with Basant released in 1942 and went on to star as a child actress in several movies. Her first lead role came in Kidar Sharma's Neel Kamal starring opposite Raj Kapoor, however, it wasn’t until Kamal Amrohi's Mahal – the third largest hit at the 1949 Indian box office – that she truly gained stardom and became famous as the Indian Venus.
There was no looking back from there as she won applause after resounding applause in the subsequent Badal, Tarana, Bayqasoor, Sangdil and Barsaat Ki Raat, all box office hits. The actor, whose mischievous smile and unforgettable screen presence had the industry at her feet.
It was with the magnum opus Mughal-e-Azam (1960), in which she played the beautiful courtesan Anarkali, that Madhubala attained cult status when she swayed to Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya. Barsaat Ki Raat, which released the same year, consolidated her position as a superstar.
Dilip Kumar and Madhubala's fabled romance reportedly began during the filming of Tarana in 1951. Madhubala apparently sent her hairdresser to Dilip saab with a red rose and a note written in Urdu asking him to accept it if he loved her, which he did. The romance was nipped in the bud by Madhubala's father Ataullah Khan who didn't approve of Dilip Kumar and refused to let his daughter go to Bhopal for outdoor shoot for B R Chopra's Naya Daur (1956). Chopra dragged the affair to court and Dilip testified in Chopra’s favour. The fairytale was over and the nightmare had begun. Madhubala coped with heartbreak recklessly. Angry with Dilip for not fighting for her and abandoning her, she grew closer to Kishore Kumar during the filming of Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958) and later married him in 1960.
Her glorious journey was cut short soon after she was detected with ventricular septal defect – also known as a “hole in the heart” in 1954. By the late 1950s, her health was deteriorating quickly. During her short stint she proved herself to be the most influential and sought after actress in Bollywood.
An American magazine, Theatre Arts featured her in an article with a full page photo titled, “The Biggest Star in the World – and she's not in Beverly Hills”.
Even so, for the time she was granted, Madhubala shone as brightly as possible and with an impact so magnificently wide-reaching, she remained humble and grounded all the while, as if unaware of her own value. In the short time that she graced the silver screen, Madhubala achieved the kind of iconic status that many actors can only dream of. Too young to die at just 36 in February 23, 1969, Madhubala’s beauty remains immortalised.
Madhubala - The Indian Venus
When the night shines radiant under the moonlight and the breeze blows ever so gently, there spreads a strange intoxication in the air. It is on nights like these that I can almost feel the longing with which the legendry but almost forgotten lyricist, Rajendra Krishan felt for his lady love when he penned;
Yeh hawa yeh raat yeh chandni, teri ik adaa peh nisaar hai,
Mujhay kyun na ho teri aarzu, Teri justaju mein bahaar hai.
Add to this Dilip Kumar lip-synching to the immortal voice of Talat Mahmood in Sangdil and you’ll realise every time that nobody does justice to Krishan's verses than the exuberant, Madhubala.
If a flower-like mouth and large gentle eyes, neither black nor blue, nor gray nor violet; rather all those shades together, full of nocturnal mysteries, are the standards of beauty set by British novelist Thomas Hardy, it may as well have been Madhubala he was picturing.
Madhubala was born on February 14, 1933 to Attaullah Khan and Begum Ayesha in Delhi – her birth was celebrated as that of any ninth daughters’ in a poor patriarchal family. She was named Mumtaz Jehan Begum. Fortune came well disguised when her father lost his job in Delhi and the family relocated to Mumbai. At the age of nine, when her coevals were playing in the streets, she walked into a film studio with her father who wanted her to financially support the family - this was Madhubala's introduction to the movie industry.
She began her career with Basant released in 1942 and went on to star as a child actress in several movies. Her first lead role came in Kidar Sharma's Neel Kamal starring opposite Raj Kapoor, however, it wasn’t until Kamal Amrohi's Mahal – the third largest hit at the 1949 Indian box office – that she truly gained stardom and became famous as the Indian Venus.
There was no looking back from there as she won applause after resounding applause in the subsequent Badal, Tarana, Bayqasoor, Sangdil and Barsaat Ki Raat, all box office hits. The actor, whose mischievous smile and unforgettable screen presence had the industry at her feet.
It was with the magnum opus Mughal-e-Azam (1960), in which she played the beautiful courtesan Anarkali, that Madhubala attained cult status when she swayed to Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya. Barsaat Ki Raat, which released the same year, consolidated her position as a superstar.
Dilip Kumar and Madhubala's fabled romance reportedly began during the filming of Tarana in 1951. Madhubala apparently sent her hairdresser to Dilip saab with a red rose and a note written in Urdu asking him to accept it if he loved her, which he did. The romance was nipped in the bud by Madhubala's father Ataullah Khan who didn't approve of Dilip Kumar and refused to let his daughter go to Bhopal for outdoor shoot for B R Chopra's Naya Daur (1956). Chopra dragged the affair to court and Dilip testified in Chopra’s favour. The fairytale was over and the nightmare had begun. Madhubala coped with heartbreak recklessly. Angry with Dilip for not fighting for her and abandoning her, she grew closer to Kishore Kumar during the filming of Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958) and later married him in 1960.
Her glorious journey was cut short soon after she was detected with ventricular septal defect – also known as a “hole in the heart” in 1954. By the late 1950s, her health was deteriorating quickly. During her short stint she proved herself to be the most influential and sought after actress in Bollywood.
An American magazine, Theatre Arts featured her in an article with a full page photo titled, “The Biggest Star in the World – and she's not in Beverly Hills”.
Even so, for the time she was granted, Madhubala shone as brightly as possible and with an impact so magnificently wide-reaching, she remained humble and grounded all the while, as if unaware of her own value. In the short time that she graced the silver screen, Madhubala achieved the kind of iconic status that many actors can only dream of. Too young to die at just 36 in February 23, 1969, Madhubala’s beauty remains immortalised.
