Madhubala

Madhubala was a famous Indian actress of old classical Hindi films. She appeared in a huge number of films which enriched the film world of India. In fact, she was one of the most beautiful actresses of India and critics often called her The Venus of India.

Madhubala born on 14 February in 1933 in Delhi. Her childhood name was Mumtaz Jehan Dehlavi. Her father’s name was Ataullah Khan and mother’s name was Ayesha Begum. Because her family was not so rich, she passed her childhood through hardship. She along with her father came to Mumbai in order to find work to support the family where young Madhubala got the chance to become an actress.

Madhubala first appeared in the film ‘Basant’ in 1942. She first appeared as a lead role in the film ‘Neel Kamal’ in 1947. Famous actor Raj Kapoor acted in this film as her opposite. In 1949 she appeared in film ‘Mahal’ and it was very successful in box office. After that she acted in many other box office successful films like ‘Dulari’ in 1949, ‘Beqasoor’ in 1950, ‘Tarana’ and ‘Badal’ in 1951.

Later she also became a film producer and produced some films in which she appeared too. She produced ‘Naata’ in 1955 and ‘Mahion ke Khwab’ in 1960 in which she acted. But perhaps her most significant appearance was in the film ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ in which she acted as Anarkali. Many critics say that this film completed her stardom and helped her to become an ageless actress of India forever. ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ was a huge box office success and remained the most successful hit for many years. Her 1960 film ‘Barsaat ki Raat’ was also successful, but the films of following years like ‘Jhumroo’ in 1961 and ‘Half Ticket’ in 1962 didn’t perform well in box office.

Though her personal life, especially, love life was controversial, she married famous singer Kishore Kumar.

Madhubala died on 23 February in 1969 due to pulmonary pressure. Her fans regard her as the Marilyn Monroe of India even today.