Madhubala: India’s beloved who died at 36, pined for true love all her life

But Madhubala was dismissed as ‘dull’ after Mahal’s first screen test. Had Kamal Amrohi not been headstrong about casting Madhubala in Mahal, the world of cinema may have missed on an artiste par excellence. The seniors at Bombay Talkies wanted Suraiya to play the lead role opposite Ashok Kumar in Mahal, with attempts to “sabotage” Madhubala’s screen test.

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Amrohi’s son Tajdar told ETimes that the film’s cinematographer Josef Wirsching “deliberately shot her in bad light”, making the screen test look dull. Still, Amrohi convinced producers Ashok Kumar and Savak Vacha by shooting her screen test again, as per his instructions, leaving them stunned by her beauty. Mahal’s success shut the naysayers and nobody ever asked again, “Why Madhubala?”

Madhubala, an actor by compulsion

Like many other actresses of her time (Suraiya, Nutan), Madhubala became an actor not by choice, but by compulsion. Born Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi on February 14, 1933, to Begum Ayeesha and Ataullah Khan, she was burdened with the responsibility of fending for her family (she had 11 siblings) at the young age of eight, as her father lost his job at Imperial Tobacco Company in Delhi. Devika Rani and Rai Bahadur Chunilal’s Bombay Talkies hired baby Mumtaz as a child artist for their production, Basant (1942) at a salary of Rs 150, and her performance won over Devika Rani. She continued to play a child artiste till Kidar Sharma offered her a starring role in Neel Kamal (1947) when she was just 14.

By 1948, she was rechristened Madhubala by the ‘First Lady of Indian Cinema’ Devika Rani. Desperate to look after her family’s financial needs, she did almost 24 films in the first four years of her career, but success mostly evaded her. But those were the days when actors were not written off after just a few flops. With better films and her often underappreciated acting skills, by the late 1950s, Madhubala reached the pinnacle of success. She aced the social dramas, like Amar (1954), as finely as she did comedies and period dramas. She portrayed different characters with ease, be it a spoiled heiress in Mr. and Mrs. 55 (1955), a reporter investigating a murder in Kala Pani (1958), or a rebellious woman whose car breaks down in the rollicking comedy Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958).

Film producer-director Raj Khosla and Madhubala on the set of the film Kala Pani. (Express archive photo)

Dilip Kumar called Madhubala ‘obsessed with work’

While Dilip Kumar felt Madhubala did “more films than necessary”, she too complained about not getting time for her family, for whom she was working tirelessly. In one of her interviews, the young star said, “Time doesn’t give me time to meet myself. When I was five years old, nobody asked me about myself, and that was the time when I entered ‘Bhool Bhulaiya’ — I mean the film industry where the first lesson is to forget oneself and forget about everything…EVERYTHING because it is only when you have learned to forget yourself and everything that concerns yourself, so that you can act well.”

Work gave immense happiness to Madhubala or as Dilip Kumar described it, “She was obsessed with work”. In the 22 years she spent in showbiz, she acted in nearly 70 films. “People tell me I ought to get married,” she reportedly said in 1954. “But I am too busy right now, too much in love with my work.” It is said that Madhubala managed to bag more films as she charged Rs 7000 for a film in comparison to Suraiya’s Rs 45,000. She was also a disciplinarian, who would report to work sharp at 6 am and would leave sharp at 6 in the evening. In the late 40s, she reported to work braving the torrential Bombay rains and a journey in a local train, leaving her director Kidar Sharna stunned at her dedication and punctuality. Dev Anand once noted about her, “When Madhubala is on the set, one often goes much ahead in the schedule.”

“She never threw tantrums”, said producer-director Shakti Samanta, and Raj Khosla remembered her as “a warm, very affectionate person”.

Madhubala was a warm and affectionate person. (Express archive photo)

Living under her father’s shadow

But right through her life, the young star lived under the shadow of her father Attaullah Khan, who had rigid control over what films she would do, whom she would meet, what food she would eat on a film set and when she would be home. He also didn’t allow her to make a career in Hollywood when three-time Academy Award winner, American director Frank Capra, expressed his wish to meet ‘Venus of the Indian screen’ and cast her.

Actor Nimmi once shared, “She never went anywhere apart from the studios. No one could come on her sets, no guests, no journalists. She went to no one’s house, no one came to hers. She attended no filmland functions. Her father’s restrictions had created a certain aura around her.” Besides her father’s restrictions, it was Madhubala’s choice as well to leave her superstar aura at film studios once she left. “Once I have finished work at the studio, I do not want to be Madhubala the star,” she once clarified why she doesn’t attend premieres of even her films.

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Despite her absence from film parties and premieres, her co-stars and others who worked with her, always spoke highly of her. Dev Anand, her co-star in eight films, recalled his first meeting with her on the sets of Devendra Mukherjee’s Nirala (1950). He was quoted as saying in Khatija Akbar’s book ‘I Want to Live: The Story of Madhubala’, “I was immensely struck by her singular beauty which I discovered afterwards was more radiant in real life than could ever be on the screen.” Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray also once reminisced about his days when he worked at film studios, “On one occasion while I was busy with my work, Madhubala happened to pass by me. I was dumbstruck and stared at her like a zombie. That one incident made my day and my work as an assistant worthwhile.” Dilip Kumar found her to be a “vivacious artiste” as he said, “She was so instantaneous in her responses that the scenes became riveting even when they were being filmed.”

Mughal-e-Azam and beyond

Madhubala was born with a ventricular septal defect, a hole in her heart, diagnosed after she began working. There was no treatment for her condition then. She would often faint on the set while shooting, as happened on the sets of Singaar, Amar and Mughal-e-Azam. Dance director Sitara Devi once shared how the actor would need breaks every five or ten minutes during the shoot of dance sequences. “I’d tell her to go ahead and rest and not to overdo it. But when she danced, it was in great form; quick steps and then she’d sit down. The pick-up was very good,” Devi was quoted as saying in Madhubala’s biography ‘I Want to Live’. But the only time attention was paid to her health was when she coughed blood during Bahut Din Huwe (1954) shoot.

Till the mid-1950s she managed to handle her physical agony as she was emotionally in a good space, courtesy an all-consuming love affair with Dilip Kumar. It was an agonising affair, which began on sets of Tarana (1951) and left both their souls singed with its intensity. They met at the homes of their friends, away from the public eye. Kumar recommended Madhubala as his co-star for K Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam and would be there on the set even when he was not required to just stand there and look at her. However, this love affair was not meant to be. Madhubala’s father ruled over her with an iron hand and she could not take a stand against him.

Dilip Kumar shared in his biography that contrary to popular notion, Madhubala’s father Ataullah Khan wasn’t opposed to their match but wanted to turn this marriage into a business venture which did not land well with him. Despite immense love for each other, the two ended their nine-year relationship and Madhubala, who believed “No peace or happiness is possible in life without true love”, could not deal with it. Suddenly, her life began to disintegrate. Her films, even major ones like Mehboob Khan’s Amar, started flopping. She was thrown out of B R Chopra’s Naya Daur, after a scandalous court case.

Madhubala’s exit from Naya Daur came right around the time when her and Dilip Kumar’s break-up was all over the tabloids.

Shammi Kapoor believed Madhubala’s “biggest drawback” was her inability to leave her family. Khatija Akbar quoted him saying, “She did not know when to break away. Gita (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’s tragic death

Determined to move on, Madhubala plunged into a loveless marriage with Kishore Kumar in 1960. In a Rediff.com interview, Madhubala’s sister, Madhur, reflected on her marriage to Kumar, “Madhubala married Kishore Kumar out of stubbornness and anger towards Dilip Sahab.” Madhur also revealed that Kumar was never present for her sister as he was busy travelling for his shows and movies. “She cried a lot in loneliness,” she told ETimes.

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It was the same year that she experienced her greatest celluloid moment with the release of the much-awaited Mughal-e-Azam. Many, who knew the painful story of the actor, felt she was crying her true pain when she sang, “Katon ko murjhane ka khauf nahin,” after Dilip Kumar gave her thorns as a prize after the qawwali contest in the film. The film earned the status of a classic immediately after its release. Still, Madhubala couldn’t enjoy its success as her health deteriorated and doctors in London told her she only had a few years left.

From 1960 till 1969, when she died, she was restricted to her bed. In a 1957 interview with Filmfare, Madhubala summarised her life, “The sum total of my life is a bitter experience which is coiled tight like a spring within my heart, and when released hurts excruciatingly. I am very emotional. I have always lived with my heart. For that I have suffered, more than is necessary. I have been hurt. In the sacred books, in the Quran, and the Bible, it is said that if you do good, good will be done to you. With me, it has been otherwise.”

Madhubala passed away on February 23, 1969.

Dilip Kumar, who went to meet her when she sought his advice on a personal matter, recalled in an interview, “She didn’t want to die … I felt extremely sorry for her when she asked me, ‘Would you do another picture with me if I become alright?'” Even Madhur had shared that in her last days, Madhubala would pray, “Allah, main marna nahin chahti (God, I don’t want to die). I want to live… God, let me live.”

However, the ‘beauty queen’ succumbed to illness and died nine days after her 36th birthday on February 23, 1969. It’s been 55 years since her death, but she remains the biggest star of Indian cinema. Madhubala is immortalised in the memory of cinephiles but as she once sang in her 1956 film Shirin Farhad, “Guzra hua zamana aata nahin dobara…” Remembering her today, and forever.