Mumtaz Begum Jehan Dehlavi famously known as Madhubala was born on 14 February 1933 was an extremely popular Bollywood actress who made a mark in the industry which no other actress has managed to achieve so far.
Even with contemporaries like Nargis and Meena Kumari, she was regarded as the most talented and powerful actress that Hindi Cinema had ever seen.
Madhubala was born into a conservative Pathan family in New Delhi. When Madhubala's father lost his job at the Imperial Tobacco Company in Peshawar and she lost her four sisters and two brothers, life came to a standstill for her and her family moved to Mumbai in search of a better life. They frequented Mumbai's film studios in search of Work. After a lot of struggle, Mumtaz was made to enter the film industry at the age of nine.
first film of her Bollywood career, title Basant released in the year 1942 was a huge hit. In the movie, she played the daughter of actress Mumtaz Shanti. She continued playing a child artist in several other films. Her performance was noticed by celebrated actress of her times, Devika Rani who suggested her to change her name to Madhubala.Her performance and professionalism soon earned her fame and reputation in Bollywood. By the time she reached adolescence, she was chosen for lead roles due to her unmatched beauty and good looks.
Madhubala got her first big break in the movie Neelkamal released in the year 1947, directed by Kidar Sharma who cast her opposite Raj Kapoor. Until then she was always called out to as Mumtaz but this movie gave her the recognition of Madhubala. Though the movie did not do well at the box office, her performance was recognized.
She was known as the "Venus of the Screen" by the film media and her fans. However it was her role in Bombay Talkies production, Mahal(1949) that made her a household name. Audiences drooled over her presence on the screen and wanted to see more of her. She was only sixteen at the time when critics acknowledged her subtle and dexterous performance overshadowed veteran actor Ashok Kumar. The film went on to become a huge hit and the song "Ayega Anewala " gave the industry two new superstars- Madhubala and Lata Mangeshkar.
Madhubala gave many successful films following the movie Mahal. She acted in as much as twenty four films to secure the financial position of her family which greatly compromised her credibility as a actress.
During 1950's she proved herself as a versatile performer by appearing in movies like Badal(1959), Sangdil(1952), Gurudatt' sattirical movie .She faced a down swing in her career in the mid 50's but got back on her feet again with the movie Howrah Bridge where she played an unconventional role of a cabret singer ensnared in the underworld of China town in Calcutta (now kolkata). She made a big impact with her attire in the movie. She wore deep cut blouses, fitted pants that were a taboo during the time. the song "Aiyee Meherbaan" sung by Asha Bhosle became such a hit that it is on everybody's lips till date.
the most coveted role of her career,however was, Mughl-e-Azam where she played the role of Anarkali who faced capital punishment for the offence done by falling in love with the Emperor (Akbar's) son Salim.The film became an iconic one and no other film made after that could break its record of the biggest grossing film of Hindi Cinema until Sholay was released.
Madhubala had over 70 films to her credit.
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