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Star of the month Madhubala (Malika e Jehan)
Feb 7, 2012
Born on 14 Feb. 1933 in Delhi, she debuted in a movie Basant – 1942 which was a box office success.
She went on to act in several films as a child artist.
It was Devika Rani who advised her to assume the name Madhu Bala meaning woman of honey.
Aaye bahar ban ke lubha kar chaley gaye, kya raaz tha jo dil mein chupa ker chale gaye……
Because of Akbar’s stubbornness, kaneez Anarkali could not be Mallika-e-Hindustan but because of her potential and magic, she shall always reign over the hearts of million around the world remembered as Malika-e-Jehan.
Yes, I mean Madhubala (Mumtaz Begum) the most obedient and sacrificing daughter of Ataullah Khan- a Nawab of Mohd. Zai dynasty. After losing his job at Imperial Tobacco Company, at Peshawar (now in Pakistan) Madhubala’s father relocated his family to Bombay.
Born on 14 Feb. 1933 in Delhi, she debuted in a movie Basant – 1942 which was a box office success. She went on to act in several films as a child artist. It was Devika Rani who advised her to assume the name Madhu Bala meaning woman of honey.
Her first break came when producer Pt. Kedar Sharma casted her opp. Raj Kapoor for Neel-Kamal-1947 in which her performance was well received. During next 2 years, she blossomed into a captivating beauty like Venus. After her lead role in Mahal- 1949, Madhubala attained immense popularity.
Her skilled performance upstaged her seasoned Co-star Ashok Kumar. The movie and the everlasting sensuous song Aayega aayega aanewala heralded 2 new super stars i.e. Madhubala and Lata Mangeshkar and both went strength to strength. Most of Madhubala’s memorable songs were play backed by Lata or Asha. She proved lucky for both.
Asha’s voice for Madhubala in her 4 hit films (in 1948) established her as a major playback singer rivalling her own sister Lata. The film broke all records of success and celebrated jubilees everywhere.
She had many successful films after Mahal. With the pressure to secure her career and the family she acted in as many as 24 films in 4 years .Consequently; critics commented that her beauty was greater than the acting skill... This she later regretted over.
She did have aspirations to appear in more prestigious films with challenging roles. As mega star, she did ascend to the top of industry. Her all co-stars viz Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar , Pradeep Kumar, Sunil Dutt,& Kishore Kumar had great respect for her .
She appeared along with al leading ladies of that time including Kamini Kaushal, Suraiya, Gita Bali, Nalini Jayvant, Nimmi etc.
Almost all prolific and eminent Directors namely Guru Dutt (Mr. & Mrs.-1955 ) Mehboob (Amar,) Kamaal Amrohi (Mahal ) and K.Asif (Mughal-e-Azam) casted her.
During 1950s she proved herself versatile performer in starring premium roles in almost every genre of films made at that time. She was most convincing as traditional ideal Indian woman in Sangdil-1952, well recd. in a comic role in satire Mr. & Mrs. – 1955, Raj Hath- 1956 , Gateway of India-1957, Shiri Farhaad- 1956 Kal hamara Hai and Jaag utha Insaan -1959 to name a few. During 1956 to 1959 she gave 10 hits and this period belonged to her.
With a string of hit films viz Howrah Bridge with Ashok Kumar ..Aayie Meherban baithiye jaane jaan followed by Phagun- 1958’s Piya Piya Na lage mora jiya , KalaPani-1958…Achhaji main hari chalo maan jao na , Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi.. Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi si Barsaat Ki Raat – Zindagi Bhar nahin Bhooligi Ye Barsaat Ki Raat and lastly, the master piece Qawali- Ye ishq ishq hai ishq ishq.
It was Mughal-e-Azam that marked to be her greatest and most remarkable characterization as a doomed courtesan Anarkali. Director K. Asif was unaware of her illness ventricular septal defect (commonly known as hole in the heart.) Since heart surgery was not widely available at that time, she had to carry away with it. The film required long and gruelling shooting schedule that made heavy physical demands on her.
Remember posing as a veiled statue in suffocating make up for hrs. under sweltering studio lights or being shackled with heavy chains stamps an example of dedication and devotion to duty.On 5th August 1969, her Mughal-e- Azam released and became biggest grossing film. a record that went un-broken for 15 yrs, Until Sholey -1975. But it still ranks 2nd in the list of all time Box Office hits of Indian cinema, what an honour!
Madhubala had a long affair with actor and frequent co-star Dilip Kumar. They became a popular and hit romantic team appearing in 4 films together. But she was known for keeping a low profile never making it public. She loved Dilip till the day she died at the most tender age of 36.
During Chalti ka naam Gaadi-1956 and Jhumroo- 1961, she came very close to Kishore Kumar- the singer, the comedian and the actor .She had a court marriage which his parents refused to attend .The couple had a Hindu wedding ceremony to please Kishore’s household but she was never accepted as his wife.
Because of this tension, emotional taxing and degrading health she moved back to her Bandra bungalow to live all alone but remained under stress.
In 2008, a commemorative postage stamp featuring Madhu-Anarkali was issued in her Honour.The stamp was released in a glittering ceremony by her contemporary artist Nimmi.
When acting was clearly no longer an option, Madhubala turned her attention to film making. In 1969 she was set to make her directorial debut with a film named Farz aur Ishq. However the film was never made, as during the pre production stages, Madhubala finally succumbed to her illness and died on 23 February 1969, shortly after her 36th birthday.Controversially, her white marble tomb at Santa Cruz cemetery was bulldozed in 2010 to make space for new graves. What a brutal and barbaric step for such a pious soul. Anyway she will remain intact in the hearts of her uncountable fans globally.
Comments
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Ardiansyah -
February 22, 2012, 11:35 am
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Roelie -
March 22, 2012, 12:13 pm
Add A CommentI'm in favor of the mrtiaal arts myself :) But I do know exactly how you feel. My kids sometimes accuse me of being over protective, but I always say that's just because I know how scary this world can be.
Buddhaji Glad to know you liked it.Gaurav Don't worry re won't thrash you as much if aeetgd. Filmiholic Way to go girl !! Desh Well yaar whats life without a little bit of fiction init. Plus if we had blogs then we would surely have YouTube, the feather moving scene could have be put up there. Akbar doesn't need to be tech-savy, he is the KING his mantries would be doing so for him. As for Durjan Singh he could be so famous among the boys with his agressive but inspiring PodCasts. What say?