Saturday, February 18, 2012

Popular Bollywood Actress Madhubala

By Katherine Kelly


Fate had everything designed for Mumtaz Jehan Begum who stepped into the world of movies as a child, only to be popular as Madhubala in the coming years and make many of her fans mad. But it was one that did not last for a long time, as poor health and a painful private life would before long consume her at a very young age. But she is thought to be one of the most beautiful and talented actresses ever in Hindi movie industry.

She was born in 1933 (14th February) as the 5th child in her family. She debuted in the movie industry at age nine as Baby Mumtaz in the movie Basant (1942), made by Amiya Chakravarty. She acted as a child artist again in a lot of movies that were made in the coming years. At the age of fourteen, she was offered the pivotal role in Neel Kamal directed by Kidar Sharma, a popular director of those times. She acted opposite to Raj Kapoor. The actual break, however, came with 'Mahal' (1949), which increased her and singer Lata Mangeshkar to nationwide fame. By this time, Mumtaz got popular as Madhubala.

In 1950, she was diagnosed with having a serious heart problem commonly known as a 'hole in the heart', when she spat blood on a film set. She was also involved in a passionate but painful affair with Dilip Kumar. In the first half of the 1950s she acted in a string of successful films like 'Taraana', 'Badal', 'Aaram' and 'Saiyan'. She also proved skilled at playing comedy characters by playing the lead opposite Guru Dutt in the film 'Mr and Mrs '55'.

The mid '50s were not good for career as most films could not entertain the public. It was also a sad time for her personally because her romantic relation with actor Dilip Kumar broke in addition to the case registered by B R Chopra against her. This could only aggravate the ailment she was diagnosed with.

However things changed favorably when her films Howrah Bridge, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Kala Pani and Phagun became super hits. With Kishore Kumar, her to-be life partner, she worked in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi.. Her most popular film though, was 'Mughal-E-Azam' made by K Asif and released in the year 1960. Exactly same year she got married to Kishore Kumar, but the marriage was not a happy one.

Following years saw her body giving up and she was admitted in a hospital in London for medication. However, medical experts predicted she will not be alive for long and the surgery proved fruitless. As a result of failing health, her film career dwindled till she succumbed to her illness on the 23rd of February, at age 36.




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