Daily Times

Famous heroine of the silver screen Madhubala died on February 23, 1969 in Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra, India at the age of 36.

I was a student of Masters in the University of Birmingham in England. I read a very small news item ‘Madhubala mar gai’ (Madhubala died) in some Pakistan newspaper. I was hurt at this very discouraging coverage. After all she was a great star. She deserved better. If for nothing else, she had captured the hearts of millions of her fans for the portrayal of Anarkali in Mughal-e-Azam. As per news reaching her fans, she had been in agony because of tenacious heart disease that had confined her to a bed for almost nine agonizing years that finally consumed her life.

This information took me back on memory lane. It was in the mid-1950s when her film ‘Tarana’ was released in Sanober Cinema in Lahore. In those days Indian movies used to be exhibited in Pakistan as well. She was paired with Dilip Kumar in this film. This was their first film together. Both were very natural in their acting as though they were sincerely and innocently in love. Her calling her baby lamb Saiyyan (beloved) that made Dilip jealous as she declares she could not live without it if it was out of her sight for a minute was an interesting sequence. The sigh of relief on Dilip’s face on finding her beloved to be a pet and Madhubala’s innocence bringing him closer to her.

The filming of the duet ‘Nain Mile Nain Hue Banwere’ by Lata and Talat Mahmud is a consequence of this deep attachment. The melody and innocence surpasses the artificial glamour of nowadays cinema.

A young doctor returning home from abroad is stranded in a village as his plane develops trouble and crashes. He meets and falls in love with a beautiful local village girl, who happens to be the daughter of his blind host, a role played by Kumar. The romance is not looked upon with favour by the villagers, especially by a particular villager Gope who is trying to court her himself. He hatches a plot to drive the doctor out of the village and in the process defames the girl’s character. The lovers are separated and the doctor, due to a misleading event, believes his sweetheart to be dead and resigns himself to a dejected life and a loveless marriage. The girl, meanwhile, loses her father in a fire, and sets out in search of her separated lover and roams in the city looking for him.

About music of the film Tarana I shall borrow the introductory Para from my submission on Melody Maker Anil Biswas in my book Melody Makers. “I remember having gone to Sanober Cinema, later called Empire Cinema and now demolished, at least seven times to watch Dilip Kumar-Madhubala starrer movie ‘Tarana’ to listen to the song -‘Seeeny Mein Sulagtey Hein Armaan’ sung by Talat Mehmood and Lata Mangeshkar. The tranquil beauty of this song took me to the serene heights of mountains with the loveliness of its flowers and jungles. This movie, I am surprised didnot do well on box office in India in 1952 but was a roaring success in Pakistan. This movie showed frank and innocent, almost real love between the pair. The other beauty of this movie was music given by composer Anil Biswas. The movie’s music still bewitches many belonging to that generation; the earnest music lovers. The Dohra of the song ‘Kaya Khabar Thi Keh Muhabbat Mein Yeh Din’ followed by the asthai ‘Woh Din Kahan Bata Jab Iss Nazar Main Pyar Tha’ still haunts me because of simplicity of expression and melody and the innocence with which Madhubala pictured it. The depth of feelings emerged continues to haunt ardent music lovers, as and when this melody is played”.

A fan Misbah Rasheed observed “wonderful movie, strangely some predictions by Madhu Ji like “Mujhay Moti Sei Pehele Utha Laina Ishwar” (lift me before you lift Moti, O God) and “Wapis Lei Lei Yei Jawani, O Jawani Daine Walay” (take back my youth). Strange, very strange. Love you Madhu Ji”. Another fan Kamran Khan prayed that both Yousuf Khan and Mumtaz Jahen meet in the Heavens for togetherness (as they could not unite in this world).

In his biography, The Mystery and Mystique of Madhubala, freelance journalist and author, Mohan Deep wrote: “Dilip Kumar and Madhubala met each other on the sets of Tarana which starred them in lead roles. Her father Atta Ullah Khan stood between her and Dilip Kumar as he was worried that if Madhubala would get married to Dilip Kumar, he would lose the financial cushion that Madhubala had offered to her entire family as she was the sole breadwinner. Attaullah Khan was against the relationship as Madhubala had just started her career and was earning huge amount of money for her roles. It has been said that Dilip Kumar insisted that if they were to marry, Madhubala would have to sever all ties with her family. The authenticity of this statement is questionable. Attaullah Khan allowed his daughter to interact with Dilip Kumar only on the sets. Both Dilip Kumar and Madhubala had to take extreme care to their rendezvous hidden from the watchful eyes of Attaullah Khan. Dilip Kumar had felt it like a huge imposition. Commenting on her choice of films, Dilip Kumar regrets that “had she lived, and had she selected her films with more care, she would have been far superior to her contemporaries. Kumar also points out that “actresses those days faced a lot of difficulties and constraints in their career. Unable to assert themselves too much, they fell back on their families who became their caretakers and defined everything for them.”The final blow on their relationship came when Madhubala’s father did not give her permission to go to the deserts for the filming on his film ‘Naya Daur’. BR Chopra filed a case against Madhubala who was under contract with him and took Vyjantimala to complete this film which became a great hit. In 1956 when Dilip Kumar testified against Madhubala and her father in favour of director B.R. Chopra in open court, struck a lethal blow to the Dilip-Madhubala relationship. It ended any chance of compromise between Dilip Kumar and Madhubala’s father despite the fact that Attaullah had by now agreed to the marriage. He wanted to make business and produce films with this famous couple. This idea also had not appealed Dilip Kumar. Reflecting on this, while Dilip Kumar said he was “trapped”, Shammi Kapoor felt “this was something which went beyond him (Dilip) and he couldn’t control the whole situation.

Dilip Kumar and Madhubala met each other on the sets of ‘Tarana’ which starred them in lead roles. Her father Attaullah Khan stood between her and Dilip Kumar as he was worried that if Madhubala got married to Kumar, he would lose the financial cushion that Madhubala had offered to her entire family as she was the sole breadwinner

Madhubala was film name of Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehalvi who was born on February 23 1933 in Delhi, India. She must have been 18 when Tarana was made in 1951. The youth, laughter and figure matched with her age. She lived on Carter Road, Bandra, Mumbai when she was made to join acting in her childhood to support her family. She was the fifth of eleven children. Her father’s name was Attaullah Khan and her mother’s name was Aayesha Begum. Among her brothers and sisters only four survived.

Initially living in Peshawar, her father, Attaullah Khan belonged to the Yousafzai tribe of Pashtuns. He had lost his job in Imperial Tobacco Company in Peshawar and decided to move to Delhi and later on to Mumbai. Those were hardship days as Madhubala’s three sisters and two brothers had died at the ages of five or six. The dock explosion and fire of 14th April 1944 wiped out their small home. The family survived only because they had gone to see a film at a local theatre. We shall see during this discourse that the moment she was an established actress, her comparison with Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe earned her the name Marilyn Monroe of Bollywood for her blazing looks, the short career and the tragic ending.

As per reports appearing in the media, she also caught the interest of Hollywood when ace photographer James Burke visited India and photographed her for Life Magazine in 1951. This magazine named her “the biggest star” in the international film industry. James Burke photographed her extensively. “There was a remarkable similarity in the soft vulnerability of their faces”, writes Khatija Akbar in her biography of Madhubala. “The same abandoned to their laughter, head thrown back, that same incandescent glow”. She was an avid fan of Hollywood, and while visiting Bombay, Frank Capra was keen in giving her a break in Hollywood but her father refused. In most of such cases the top heroines had to bend before their families’ needs rather their own will.

Wikipedia states ‘Madhubala’s first movie Basant (1942), was a box office success. She acted as the daughter to the character played by actress Mumtaz Shanti and was credited as Baby Mumtaz in the film. Basant became the highest-grossing Indian film of that year”.

A nine year old child often roamed around various studios of Bombay in search of work. Another baby artist Mah Jabeen, later known as Meena Kumari also did the same ritual. Both became friends. Madhubala used to admire Meena Kumari’s voice and dialogue delivery.

Madhubala’s second film was Kidar Sharma’s 1945 film Dhanna Bhagat followed by films Pujari, Phoolwari and Rajputani in 1946. Phoolwari was the third highest grossing film of that year and starred Motilal and Khursheed Bano in lead roles. Now she started getting adult roles with Kidar Sharma’s Neel Kamal (1947) opposite Raj Kapoor. Actress Devika Rani advised her to assume the screen name “Madhubala”, literally meaning “honey belle”. Neel Kamal was the last film in which she was credited as Mumtaz before assuming her screen name “Madhubala”. Raj Kapoor and Madhubala again paired up for Dil Ki Rani (1947), a comedy film directed by Mohan Sinha.

I shall now dwell upon some of Madhubala’s films in which she sparkled. She worked in a total of 73 films. Despite scores of successful films, she only got one Filmfare Award nomination for Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and due to Bollywood politics the award instead was given to Bina Rai for her film Ghoonghat. Madhubala did not mix up with her contemporaries socially and preferred staying home after shootings despite hundreds of her fans desiring of her glimpse after the shooting used to be over. Her lack of public relations could be one reason. The film Mughal-e-Azam established Madhubala as an actress who knew how to act and was not just dependent on her beauty. Her love scenes with Dilip Kumar and her tragic character especially filmed in the dungeons with heavy chains on her body were just outstanding despite that she was ill during the shootings. She endured this agony just for her outstanding portrayal of the courtesan Anarkali. Some critics observed that before her death she had commented that since now she had learnt to act, her life span seemed to be over!

1954 film ‘Buhut Din Hue’ was directed by S.S. Vasan and was produced by Gemini Studios. The film stars Madhubala, Savitri and Lalita Pawar. All the songs of the film were sung by Lata Mangeshkar. The shooting of the film took place in Madras and during the shooting of this film, it was discovered that Madhubala was suffering from a congenital heart defect.

A role initially carved for Suraiya went to Madhubala after screen tests opposite Ashok Kumar. Khemchand Parkash’s music with Lata’s hit ‘Aaye Ga Aaye Ga Aana Waala’ was the hallmark of this film based on reincarnation. Madhubala never looked back thereafter. It was Kamal Amrohi’s first film as a director.

The movie Dulari based on gypsies life was also a 1949 release. Madhubala worked with Geeta Bali, Shyam, Jayant and Suresh in this film. There were plenty of songs composed by Naushad Ali in this film sung by Lata, Shamshad Begum and Muhammad Rafi (Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki). This film was the year’s eighth-highest-grossing film and was remade in Telugu as Sobha in 1958. It was a typical story involving kidnapping, love and reunion. Prem Shankar is the son of a rich businessman whose parents want him to marry into a rich family. Prem loves a gypsy girl, Dulari who was kidnapped by gypsies in her childhood. Her father does not agree to this union. Prem protests and leaves the house to marry Dulari. He brings Dulari to his other house to marry. The Sardar’s son is also interested in Dulari. He kidnaps her, the second kidnapping in the film. He also loots Dulari’s real father and ties him at his backyard. Another gypsy woman Kasturi (Geeta Bali) gets to know Dulari’s truth and frees her father. Prem, after fighting, frees Dulari again. His mother brings both back home, but his father refuses to bless them. Another gypsy, who knows Dulari’s truth and has her childhood photograph, comes to Prem’s rescue. They all discover that Dulari is daughter of another businessman friend of Prem’s friend. Dulari is reunited with her family and she and Prem get nod of their elders to unite.

Even thought, this film’s plot was weak, I liked it for its music. Premnath, the dejected lover, acted well especially in Mukesh’s song “Ae Jan-e-Jiger Dil May Samaane Aja” and for playing a piano on Madhubala songs “Dil May Kisi Ki Preet Jaga Le”. Like in the music of ‘Tarana’, Anil Biswas was at his best. It was a DD Kashyap film. Madhubala excelled in her innocence, smiles oozing out beauty opposite Dev Anand. Its story line is that Shyam is a struggling artist. While returning home one night, he encounters a young woman, Leela, who, for unknown reasons, is roaming the streets.

The writer is the recipient of the prestigious Pride of Performance award. He can be reached at doc_amjad@hotmail.com