Yesterday someone shared a rare collection of photos of Madhubala on FB. The photos clicked by photographer James Burke were published in Life Magazine of America which also featured unusual photos of actresses like Asha Parekh, Nalini Jaywant and Begum Para. I could not help sharing such exclusive snaps of her in my blog.
Madhubala looking so ethereal and life-like in the photos just piqued my curiosity further to explore more about this divine beauty. An actress of yesteryear, she was famed for her unparalleled luminous beauty and her swashbuckling performance in movies like Mughal-E-Azam, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Howrah Bridge and Mahal. In her brief span of life she performed in 70 movies some of which were based on choices done arbitrarily to fend for her family members as she was the sole earning member of her family.
Born on the Valentine day of 1933, she came from a royal lineage of Kabul, Afghanisthan. Mumtaz Jahan Begum Dehlavi was her maiden name before she joined film industry and assumed the name "Madhubala" on the advice of Devika Rani, another well-known actress of that era. Fifth among 11 siblings, she entered films as a child artist at the age of 9. Her first film was Basant (1942) where she acted alongside the then famous actors Mumtaz Shanti and Ulhas. The film acquired whopping success in the box office but she had to wait till 1947 to bag the role of a leading lady. She was only 14 when the producer Kidar Sharma paired her against Raj Kapoor in the movie "Neel Kamal" (1947).The film didnot do well commercially but her impeccable beauty did not go unnoticed. Her first commercially successful movie was Mahal (1949) with Ashok Kumar, which earned her star status overnight. The song "Aayega Aanewala" was a haunting melody that propelled both Madhubala and Lata Mangeshkar rightaway into stardom.Encumbered with the burden of running her family as the only breadwinner she, in her initial years of career, chose movies randomly with the sole purpose of earning money.Financial desperation led her into compromising with the credibility of a serious actress and consequently she belched out a series of flop movies which earned her the sobriquet "Box-Office poison".
However, with her inimitable grace and matchless beauty, she notched a niche as one of the topmost heroines of that era starring opposite to an array of popular heroes of that time including Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Sunil Dutt and Pradip Kumar. She had worked with directors like Mehboob Khan, Guru Dutt, Kamal Amrohi and K. Asif who were notable and venerated in the genre of style and movie-making. Her role as an Anglo-Indian Cabaret dancer in Howrah Bridge, as Renu in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, as Anarkali in Mughal E Azam are some of the memorable characters she beautifully essayed, among others. True to the words of the soothsayer who predicted that despite attaining lot of success and fame, she would lead an unhappy life and die a premature death, Madhubala had her personal life strewn with frustrations.Madhubala's father Ataullah Khan had a predominating presence in her life.He was extremely possessive of her and didnot allow her to mingle with people outside shooting schedules. She was not allowed to attend any film premiere or any party involving film promotion and she rarely gave interviews. Hollywood director Frank Capra, mesmerized by her celestial beauty as she was featured in many American magazines including LIFE and Theatre Arts, wanted to meet her during his India visit.But her father turned down the proposal of Frank Capra wanting to discuss a Hollywood opening for Madhubala,thereby nipping her prospective Hollywood career in its bud.
Madhubala had a longstanding 7 years of courtship with actor Dilip Kumar. They first met each other on the set of Jwar Bhata way back in 1944 when Madhubala was barely 11 years old. But their feelings for each other developed during the shooting of Tarana (1951) when Madhubala expressed her love sending a flower attached with a note through her hairdresser to Dilip Kumar. Unfortunately, following a controversial court case with B.R Chopra during the making of Naya Daur, the two parted ways for good.
However, there is a dichotomy of opinions with regard to the separation of Dilip Kumar and Madhubala. Some say that it was the preponderant influence of Ataullah Khan on Madhubala which forced her distance from Dilip Kumar.Ataullah Khan disapproved of her liaison with Dilip Kumar as he didn't want her to get married and quit films as his family solely lived on Madhubala's earnings. During the filming of Naya Daur, the director B.R Chopra wanted to shoot a part of the film in Bhopal and hence he wanted the unit to travel there.Ataullah Khan conceived that as a ploy to help Dilip Kumar romance Madhubala and opposed to it. Eventually, Madhubala like a true obedient daughter quit the film and thereupon B.R Chopra sued Madhubala for not completing the film she accepted advance payment for. The case lasted one year and actor Dilip Kumar testified against Madhubala and her father during the court proceeding. This case badly jeopardized Madhubala's image and embittered her relationship with Dilip Kumar. But in a recent interview on Madhubala, her younger sister Madhur Bhushan opined that "The reason Madhubala broke up with Dilip Kumar was B R Chopra's film Naya Daur, not my father." She said "Chopra's production filed a case against her, which went on for a year. But this did not spoil their relationship.Dilipsaab told her to forget movies and get married to him. She said she would marry him, provided he apologised to her father. He refused, so Madhubala left him. That one 'sorry' could have changed her life. She loved Dilipsaab till the day she died."(If anyone is keen to read the whole interview, here goes the link: http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2008/mar/25sd1.htm)
Khatija Akbar in her biography about Madhubala wrote "Her father was a stern and dominating personality and Madhubala had been in awe of him all her life. When it came to the crunch, despite the depth of her feelings for Dilip Kumar, she did not have the courage to defy and over-ride her father and marry without his approval. Her happiness hinged on both Dilip Kumar's love, and her father's acceptance of it; that kind of emotional dependence is no longer seen or even understood." Shammi Kapoor believed ""She did not know when to break away. Geeta (Bali, Shammi Kapoor's wife) too was supporting her entire family, who similarly lived off her, but at one point she decided to leave. She left everything she had with them, broke away and married me. Madhubala could not leave her family."
Madhubala suffered from a serious heart ailment and during those days open heart surgery was not so widely prevalent.She had a hole in heart which was first discovered when she coughed blood during the shooting of Bahut Din Huwe (1954) in Chennai. However, not until 1957 during the shooting of Chalack when she passed out all of a sudden on the set that the seriousness of her disease was detected. Her sister said "She was advised bed rest for three months, but after a month of rest, Madhubala resumed work. Looking at her, one would not say that she was sick. She, herself, was not ready to believe that she was sick." Her last film was Mughal E Azam. Though some films were released after she became severely ill and after her death, but all of them were shot before she was taken ill and got bed-ridden in 1960. The shooting of Mughal E Azam took place through a long span of 9 years. The director K Asif, unaware of the severity of Madhubala's disease, slotted arduous shooting hours which proved detrimental to her health. Furthermore Madhubala's estranged relationship with Dilip Kumar drained her emotionally when she had to perform with him in romantic scenes. Reports say that apart from when dialogues were to be delivered, Dilip Kumar never exchanged a word with her. According to her sister "Madhubala married Kishore Kumar out of stubbornness, and anger towards Dilipsaab." Khatija Akbar in her biography about Madhubala wrote "Emotional to a fault, guileless in the bargain, she was simply not equipped to deal with the shock of the break-up." Like a fine actress she artfully hid the pain of her broken heart beneath the veneer of her effervescent smile. Filmfare in 1958 rightly observed: 'Her laughter is a becoming quality, not only because she comes to life as it were when she laughs but because a smile is the most charming cloak for a sob... Madhubala has had her share of struggle, suffering, disillusionment and emotional shock but no matter what lies beneath the surface she cloaks it with a graceful smile.'
After Mughal E Azam, she fell seriously ill. She even went to London for treatment in 1960 but her condition was in an advanced stage and doctors feared that she might not survive a surgery. The doctors announced that she would live more or less for a year only but defying their judgement, she continued to live for 9 years. Over the last few years of her life, she became completely bed bound and couldnot dress up. She died at a tender age of 36.
Below is shared the link to the magazine Theatre Arts, 1952 August issue which you would find in the blog of Dr. Surajit Singh. http://films.hindi-movies-songs.com/index-books.html
Her distracting glamour and infectious smile would always be missed in the movies.That we have never seen her grow old in front of our eyes the way we see other celebrities might be the fact that has etched her presence perennially in our minds. We find her a kind of riddle, a conundrum that is yet to be solved. At the same time her suffering and emotional hardship gnaw at out hearts arousing a wave of sympathy for her. That a coveted beauty like her had to perish at a tender age of mid-30s is a dreadful fact that has made her memory indelible, synonymous with the way we always rue over the untimely demise of Hollywood diva Marilyn Monroe.
Below is shared the link to the magazine Theatre Arts, 1952 August issue which you would find in the blog of Dr. Surajit Singh. http://films.hindi-movies-songs.com/index-books.html
Dr. Surajit Singh painstakingly collected not only the 1952 August issue of the magazine but also has shared a song sung by Madhubala in the film Pujari (1946).
Sources:
No comments:
Post a Comment