[Desi Masala] Charming Indian Actress Madhubala
Charming Indian Actress Madhubala
A story version by her younger Sister
Dinesh Vora
Last week, the gorgeous Madhubala was immortalised when the Indian
government released a stamp in her name.
We spoke to her youngest sister, Madhur Bhushan, who gave us a closer
insight into Madhubala's life, her romance with Dilip Kumar, her unhappy marriage
to Kishore Kumar, and her illness.
Madhur, whose real name is Zahida, is nine years younger than Madhubala. Out
of 10 children, she is one of the four still alive. Over to Madhur:
On Madhubala's entry into films:
My father, Ataullah Khan, was working in the Imperial Tobacco Company in
Peshawar, Pakistan, when he lost his job and decided to come to Mumbai.
Madhubala was seven at that time. Her real name was Mumtaz Begum. We called her
Mazliappa, as she was the fifth child.
My father started looking for a job. He also took Madhubala to film studios.
She got work in Basant (1942) at the age of nine. The leading lady's name
was Mumtaz Shanti, so Madhubala was called Baby Mumtaz, when she was a child
actress.
She got her first break in Kirdar Sharma's Neel Kamal. Kirdar's wife was
supposed to play the lead role but she passed away. As Madhubala knew the
dialogues, she became a heroine at the age of 13. From this film onwards, she was
credited as Madhubala. The film did not do well, but her work was appreciated.
Madhubala shot to fame in 1949 with Mahal. She was 16. At that time, no one
realized that she was sick, not even my father. Madhubala was a healthy
child, and very bubbly.
On Madhubala's illness
Madhubala first vomited blood when she was in Chennai shooting for S S
Vassan's Bahut Din Huwe (1954). She was treated, and she resumed shooting. Nobody
thought she was sick until she fainted on J K Nanda's sets while shooting
with Raj Kapoor on Chalack (1957). The film never got completed. That's when the
doctor said that she had a hole in her heart. She was 24 then.
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, which released in 1960. People think that
she worked after that too, but that's not true. She had completed all her
films in the 10 years that it took for Mughal-E-Azam to be made.
Some movies released after she was bedridden but she was in no condition to
work after Mughal-E-Azam. In fact, in some of the scenes, you will notice
that she looks pale and sick.
On her family:
People say that my family knew she was ill but we did not treat her; that we
hid this fact from producers to get work. But there was no technology back
then to check whether she had a hole in a heart, so how would any of us know?
We came to know only in 1957. After three years, she went to London for
treatment. But it was too late. Madhubala died after nine years.
Everybody blamed my father. But he was protective about his daughters since
his sons had died at the ages of five and six. He was an uneducated man but
he was like Madhubala's manager. He took care of her work but never interfered
on what films she should take up.
He never allowed Madhubala to attend movie premieres because he felt
overexposure would kill her career. He always wanted fans to crave for her.
On her romance with Dilip Kumar
The reason Madhubala broke up with Dilip Kumar was B R Chopra's film Naya
Daur. not my father.
Madhubala had shot a part of the film when the makers decided to go for an
outdoor shoot to Gwalior. The place was known for dacoits, so my father asked
them to change the location. They disagreed because they wanted a hilly
terrain. So my father asked her to quit the film. He was ready to pay the deficit.
Chopra asked Dilip Kumar for help. Dilipsaab and Madhubala were engaged
then. Dilipsaab tried to mediate but Madhubala refused to disobey her father.
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.
On Madhubala's marriage to Kishore Kumar
When Madhubala fell sick and was planning to go to London for treatment,
Kishore Kumar proposed marriage.
My father wanted her to wait and get a clean chit from the London doctors
first. But Madhubala married Kishore Kumar out of stubbornness, and anger
towards Dilipsaab. They got married in 1960. She was 27 years old.
Once the doctor gave his verdict -- that she would not live for long --
Kishorebhai brought her a house in Mumbai's Carter Road and dumped her there
alone, with a nurse and a driver. He would come once in about four months to see
her. He did not take her phone calls. Kishorebhai was madly in love with
Madhubala but once she returned from London, he dumped her. He was not a good
husband.
Madhubala was very depressed because no one came to meet her. Once upon a
time, she was hot property in the industry. But when she was bedridden and
dying, not a single person met her. Also, she could no longer dress up. She was
in night gowns most of the time. She died at the age of 36.
- Madhur
**************Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car
listings at AOL Autos.
(http://autos.aol.com/used?NCID=aolcmp00300000002851)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
Please forward this message to everyone who will love it! If you like such messages, you may want to join these fun lists by sending blank emails to:
Best Jokes & Great Masti: DesiMasala-Subscribe@YahooGroups.Com
Cosmopolitan Showtime: Chumma-Subscribe@YahooGroups.Com
Hindi Shayris & Ghazals: Shayris-Subscribe@YahooGroups.Com
---------------------------------------
@ THE DESI MASALA HUMOR LIST @
---------------------------------------
Group Email Addresses
Post message: DesiMasala@YahooGroups.Com
Moderator: TejasMehta@aol.com
To modify your list subscription, please send a blank email to:
SUBSCRIBE: DesiMasala-Subscribe@YahooGroups.Com
UNSUBSCRIBE: DesiMasala-Unsubscribe@YahooGroups.Com
INDIVIDUAL MAILS: DesiMasala-Normal@YahooGroups.Com
DAILY DIGEST: DesiMasala-Digest@YahooGroups.Com
VACATION HOLD: DesiMasala-Nomail@YahooGroups.Com
All of you are encouraged to submit your favorite jokes in simple text format to the list! You are requested to properly format your contribution, use a unique subject line, and avoid attachments, virus warnings, chain letters, commercial messages, disclaimers etc. The better you follow the guidelines, and the original or fresher you are, the higher are the chances of your jokes getting posted!
You will be banned from the group if you spam or flame fellow members, ignore posting guidelines routinely, send out auto replies, or post advertisements.
Fun URLs (May require a login with Yahoo ID)
Homepage: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DesiMasala
Masala Archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DesiMasala/messages
Mail Delivery: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DesiMasala/join
Polls: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DesiMasala/polls
Subscribe Box: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DesiMasala/promote
Graphical Funnies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chumma
Romantic Shayris: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shayris
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DesiMasala/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DesiMasala/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:DesiMasala-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:DesiMasala-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
DesiMasala-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
0 comments:
Post a Comment