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Dilip Kumar slapped Madhubala on the set of Mughal-e-Azam with ‘full force’ after break-up, director said it ‘proves he still loves you’

Dilip Kumar turned a 'screen slap' into a 'real life slap' while filming a scene with Madhubala during Mughal-e-Azam.

Dilip Kumar and Madhubala in Mughal-e-Azam.

Dilip Kumar and Madhubala went from being lovers to being exes during the filming of K Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam. Their break up was caused because of many reasons which included interference from Madhubala’s father and later, the Naya Daur case where filmmaker BR Chopra sued Madhubala and called Dilip Kumar as his witness, was the final nail in the coffin. But through it all, the shoot of Mughal-e-Azam continued. During the shoot, there was a scene where Dilip Kumar’s Salim was required to slap Madhubala’s Anarkali. In films, while shooting such a scene, no one actually slaps the other person but just pretend to hit them but here, Dilip turned the ‘screen slap’ into a real life slap.

The incident is recapped in the book ‘I Want To Live: The Story Of Madhubala’, written by Khatija Akbar, via Ajit, who was their co-actor in Mughal-e-Azam. Ajit was also Dilip’s co-actor in Naya Daur. The book shared that Dilip “let go” and hit Madhubala’s face with “full force.” While the shot was approved, but there was an awkward silence on the set as no one saw it coming.

Ajit shared that as Madhubala stood there looking stunned, K Asif ran towards her and told her that this slap was proof that Dilip was still in love with her even though they had broken up. “I am very happy today for it is apparent he still loves you. Who, but a man in love, could have done something like this? It only proves he loved you and continues to love you whatever you may think,” he reportedly told her. This comment from the director did nothing for Madhubala as she was shocked that the man who once loved her, had slapped her while using acting as an excuse.

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In his memoirs, Dilip Kumar wrote that Madhubala’s father Ataullah Khan wanted to turn his proposed marriage with her into a business proposition. He had suggested that after their marriage, both Dilip and Madhubala will only work for his production company. “I explained to both of them that I had my own way of functioning and selecting projects and I would not show any laxity even if it were my own production house. It must have tilted the apple cart for him and he successfully convinced Madhu that I was being rude and presumptuous,” Dilip wrote in his biography.

The animosity between the two grew so much that they eventually stopped talking to each other altogether. They are still remembered for their on-screen love story as Salim and Anarkali, but their real life tragic love story was nothing less than a movie and for that, fans continue to take interest in their life.

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