Madhubala
Mumtaz Jahan Begum Dehlavi, known by her stage name Madhubala (14 February 1933 – 23 February 1969) was a Hindi movie actress. She starred in several successful movies in the 1950s and early 1960s, many of which have attained a classic status. With her contemporaries Nargis and Meena Kumari, she is widely regarded as one of the most talented Hindi movie actresses.
Madhubala had many successful films following . With pressure to secure herself and her family financially, she acted in as many as twenty-four films in the first four years of her adult career. Consequently, critics of the time commented that Madhubala's beauty was greater than her acting ability. This was in part due to careless choices in film roles. As sole support of her family, she accepted work in any film, causing her credibility as a dramatic actress to be seriously compromised. Something she later expressed regret over.
She did have aspirations to appear in more prestigious films with challenging roles.Bimal Roy's Biraj bahu (1954) being a case in point. Madhubala having read the novel, was desperate to secure the lead in the film adaptation. Assuming she would command her market price (one of the highest), bimal Roy passed her over in favour of a then, struggling Kamini Kaushal When Madhubala learned that this was a factor in her losing the part, she lamented the fact that she would have performed in the film for a fee of one rupee Such was her desire to improve her image as a serious actress.
As a star, Madhubala did ascend to the top of the industry. Her co-stars at the time were the most popular of the period: Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Rehman, Pradeep Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Dev Anand. Madhubala also appeared alongside many notable leading ladies of the time including Kamini Kaushal, Suraiya, Geeta Bali, Nalini Jaywant and Nimmi. The directors she worked with were amongst the most prolific and respected: Mehboob Khan (Amar), Guru Dutt (Mr. & Mrs. '55), Kamal Amrohi (Mahal) and K. Asif(Mughal-e-Azam) . She also ventured into production and made the film Naata (1955) which she also acted in.
During the 1950s, Madhubala proved herself a versatile performer in 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. She was the archetypal lady fair in the popular swashbuckler, Badal (1951) and was next seen as an uninhibitted village belle in Tarana (1951). She was convincing as the traditional ideal of Indian womanhood in Sangdil (1952) and was well received in a comic performance as the spoilt heiress, Anita in Guru Dutt's classic satire Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955). In 1956 she had success in historical costume dramas such as Shirin-Farhad and Raj-Hath. Equally successful in contemporary characterizations, she was memorable in a double role in the social film Kal Hamara Hai (1959). Madhubala played the cigarette smoking dancer Bella, and her more conventional saintly sister Madhu.
Suddenly in the mid-1950s her films, even major ones like Mehboob Khan's Amar (1954), fared so badly commercially that she was labelled "Box Office Poison". She turned her career around in 1958, with a string of hit films: Howrah Bridge opposite Ashok Kumar featured Madhubala in the unusual role of an Anglo-Indian Cabaret singer, embroiled in Calcutta's Chinatown underworld. She made a big impact with a daring (for the time) Westernized image, with her cascading locks, deep cut blouses, fitted Capri pants and tailored Chinese dresses. Madhubala's sensuous torch song from the film, Aaiye Meherebaan, dubbed by Asha Bhosle, was a popular hit with audiences, and is widely quoted and celebrated to this day.Howrah Bridge was followed by Phagun opposite Bharat Bhushan, Kalapani opposite Dev Anand, the perennial hit Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi opposite her would-be-husband, Kishore Kumarand Barsaat Ki Raat (1960), opposite Bharat Bhushan again.
Marilyn Monroe and has a similarly iconic position in Indian film history. Perhaps because she died before being relegated to supporting or character roles, to this day Madhubala remains one of the most enduring and celebrated legends of Indian cinema. Her continuing appeal to film fans was underlined in a 1990 poll conducted by Movie magazine.
In 1960, she consolidated these successes, and her super-star status when she went on to appear in the epic mega-budget historical, Mughal-e-Azam. This film is widely perceived to be the crowning glory of her career and perhaps the decade of filmmaking in India.
Madhubala was voted the most popular vintage Hindi actress of all time, garnering 58% of the votes, and out ranking contemporary legendary actresses Meena Kumari, Nargis, and Nutan. More recently in rediff.com's International Women's Day 2007 special (see external links), Madhubala was ranked second in their top ten list of "Bollywood's best actresses. Ever" According to the feature, the actresses that made the final list were ranked on "...acting skills, glamour, box office appeal, versatility and icon status -- and the fact that each of them became a figurehead for Bollywood, ushering in a new wave of cinema..."In her short life, Madhubala appeared in over 70 films. In all three biographies and numerous articles published on her, she has been compared with
In 2004 a digitally colorized version of Mughal-e-Azam was released and, 35 years after her death, the film and Madhubala became a success with cinema audiences all over again.
In the past decade, several biographies and magazine articles have been issued on Madhubala, revealing previously unknown details of her private life and career. Consequently in 2007, aHindi film Khoya Khoya Chand was produced starring Shiney Ahuja and Soha Ali Khan - the plot included some events loosely based on the life of Madhubala and other vintage film personalities. In 2008 a commemorative postage stamp featuring Madhubala was issued. The stamp was produced by India Post in a limited edition presentation pack which featured images of the actress. It was launched by veteran actors Nimmi and Manoj Kumar in a glittering ceremony attended by colleagues, friends and surviving members of Madhubala's family. The only other Indian film actress to be honoured in this manner is Nargis Dutt.
