Madhubala’s sister, Madhur Bhushan, narrates the late actress’ tragic life, unveils the details of her relationship with Dilip Kumar and her marriage to Kishore Kumar
Madhubala is still considered as one of the finest beauties in Indian cinema. The actress was full of grace and poise and is still praised for her looks and elegance. Forever etched in our hearts as Anarkali, Madhubala passed away at the age of 36, and her sister, Madhur Bhushan has opened up about her life’s personal and professional aspects. Yaser Khan based out in Karachi, Pakistan, shared what Madhur spoke in detail about how her sister led her life.
From beginning her career in Basant as a child artist to falling in love with Premnath, Madhur revealed that Madhubala’s relationship with him lasted only for 6 months and they broke up on the grounds of religion. She later fell in love with Dilip Kumar and they were together for nine years. Madhur still addresses him as Bhaijaan, a term usually used for addressing the older brother while she referred to Madhubala as Apa, an affectionate term used for elder sisters.
Dilip and Madhubala’s relationship ended due to their ego, as mentioned by her younger sister. They loved each other, but Dilip insisted that she leave her father and he would marry her. She refused to do so and their relationship soon ended. Madhubala later on married singer and actor Kishore Kumar but was soon diagnosed with a hole in her heart, ventricular septal defect. Kishore Kumar left her back at her family house after the doctor said she only had two years to live, even though he visited her once in two months, the reports of him abusing her were rendered false by Madhur.
She further spoke about how Madhubala would not leave the house without a burqa to avoid being mobbed and that she would cry saying she wants to live and would ask when would the doctor find a cure for her condition.
Take a look at the thread posted by Yaser Khan where other details are mentioned as well.
Madhubala's tragic life as narrated by her sister (a thread):
Apa first fell in love with Premnath. The relationship lasted six months. It broke on grounds of religion. He asked her to convert and she refused. The next relationship was with Dilip Kumar. pic.twitter.com/QXSMezKCRI
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
She met Bhaijan (Dilip Kumar) on the sets of Tarana. They later worked in Sangdil, Amar and Mughal-e-Azam. It was a nine year long affair. They even got engaged. Unki apa aayee thi, chunni lekar (his sister had come with a chunni as is the custom). Bhaijan was also a Pathan.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
Contrary to reports, my father never stopped her from getting married. We already had enough money by then and were financially secure. Apa and Bhaijan looked made for each other. He’d often come home. He has even seen me in my school uniform.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
He was respectful towards us children and addressed us with ‘aap’. The two would go for a drive or sit in the room and talk. The breakup with Dilip Kumar happened due to the court case during Naya Daur in the mid ’50s. The unit was to shoot somewhere in Gwalior.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
During the shooting of another film Jabeen Jaleel, at the same location, a mob had attacked the women and even torn their clothes off. My father was wary and just asked that the locale be changed. It’s not that he didn’t let her go outdoors.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
Apa had shot in Mahableshwar, Hyderabad and other places before. Bhaijan called my father ‘a dictator’ in court and sided with the Chopras (late BR Chopra was the director). Darare padh gayee, rishtey toot gaye (relationships were broken).
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
We love and respect Bhaijan but I have just one question, ‘Aapki mohabbat yahan thi, aapki chahat yahan thi, phir aapne aisa kyun kiya (why didn’t you side with your love)?’ Bhaijan could’ve simply said let’s change the location. Or remained neutral.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
Apa used to cry a lot those days. They had conversations on the phone trying to patch up. He kept saying, ‘Leave your father and I’ll marry you’. She’d say, ‘I’ll marry you but just come home, say sorry and hug him’. It was zid (ego) which destroyed their love.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
But my father never asked her to break the engagement or ever demanded an apology from him.“Right through my childhood, Apa (as she addressed Madhubala aka Mumtaz Jahan Begum Dehalvi) remained busy shooting.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
Coming from a conservative Muslim family of Pathans, my father (Ataullah Khan) wasn’t keen that we study. But fortunately, I was sent to St Joseph’s Convent, Bandra. Coming from a conservative Muslim family of Pathans, my father (Ataullah Khan) wasn’t keen that we study.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
But fortunately, I was sent to St Joseph’s Convent, Bandra. Yes, she was the only earning member. My father worked with the Imperial Tobacco Company in Peshawar with the British. But being a Pathan he was hot-headed and self-respecting.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
He couldn’t bear being badly treated and lost a 15-year-old job in seconds. He brought all of us to Mumbai. Apa, who was just seven, had talent; she could sing and dance. So she did her first film Basant as a child actor. She remained the earning member till the last.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
All that we are today, we owe it all to her. Abba (father) was a disciplinarian. Apa had to begin shooting at 9 am. At 6 pm, the car would be sent to the studio and she’d be brought home. My father never went to the studio. He was not difficult as is believed.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
He was disciplined and insisted on punctuality. That was what she imbibed too. Once she was to shoot at Ranjit Studio. But there were heavy rains. Abba said, ‘You must go; your name shouldn’t be tarnished’. Those days Ranjit Studio was a 15-minute drive from our home in Bandra.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
But it took her an hour and a half to reach. The gates were locked. No one had turned up. She waited for half an hour and returned. What do I say of her beauty? The fact that she’s spoken about even 42 years after she passed away is proof enough.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
We suffered from a complex when we stood beside her. Being Pathans we were all tall, fair and had long hair. But none of us sisters looked like her. Our mother was short. We had taken after our father. But we weren’t a patch on Apa. She loved wearing plain white sarees.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
At home she’d wear maxis. She loved mogras in her hair. She was fond of gold and kundan jewellery. She was also fond of sher shayri as she knew a bit of Urdu. An English tutor also came home to teach her. She loved eating chaat — ragda pattice, pani puri — and kulfi.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
She’d never diet. Those days actresses were healthy women, not size zero! She’d drive all of us to Chowpatty in her imported cars, Hillman, Buick and Station Wagon. But she’d wear a burqa to hide her identity. When she’d be pulled up by the traffic police for that, she’d plead,
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
‘Please let me wear it or else I’ll get mobbed’. She even went to watch movies in a burqa. Apa became a craze because she was never seen in public. She wasn’t allowed to attend any function, any premiere.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
She had no friends. But she never resisted, she was obedient. Being protective, my father earned the reputation of being domineering. He was asked why he’d made her join films in the first place. He’d say, ‘I had 12 children. We would’ve starved to death.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
She wasn’t religious but was God fearing. She didn’t fast but prayed once a day. On the rebound Apa got involved with Kishore Kumar who was going through a divorce with Ruma Devi Guha Thakurta (actor-singer). What attracted her to Kishore?
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
Maybe it was his singing or maybe his ability to make her laugh. Their love affair went on for three years through Chalti Ka Naam Gadi and Half Ticket. They got married in 1960, when she was 27. After marriage they flew to London where the doctor told her she had only two years
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
to live. After that Kishore left her at our house saying, ‘I can’t look after her. I’m on outdoors often’. But she wanted to be with him. He’d visit her once in two months though. Maybe he wanted to detach himself from her so that the final separation wouldn’t hurt.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
But he never abused her as was reported. He bore her medical expenses. They remained married for nine years. The hole in her heart (ventricular septal defect) was detected when she was shooting for SS Vasan’s Chalak in Madras 1954.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
She had vomited blood. She was advised bed rest for three months but continued working as her films would suffer. While shooting for Mughal-e-Azam she was tied with chains and had to walk around with them. That was stressful. By the end of the day her hands would turn blue.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
She’d even refuse food saying that she had to look anguished and weary for the jail scenes. The ‘feather scene’ between her and Bhaijan (considered the most romantic in Hindi cinema) was shot after the breakup. Due to her ailment, her body would produce extra blood.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
So it would spill out from the nose and mouth. The doctor would come home and extract bottles of blood. She also suffered from pulmonary pressure of the lungs. She coughed all the time. Every four to five hours she had to be given oxygen or else would get breathless.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
She was confined to bed for nine years and was reduced to just bones and skin. She’d keep crying, ‘Mujhe zinda rehna hai, mujhe marna nahin hai, doctor kab ilaaj nikalenge (I want to live, I don’t want to die, wonder when the doctors will find a cure). During her last days, I was
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
suffering from chicken pox and so was advised to stay away from her. But when the doctor said that she was sinking, I rushed up to see her. But she had passed away (February 23, 1969). She was only 36 to my 19. ‘‘Though Bhaijan never visited her when she was unwell, he flew down
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
from Madras to pay his last respects at the kabrastan (cemetery). Food was sent from his home to ours for three days (as is the custom).
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
I remember when Bhaijan married Saira Banu, Apa was sad because she loved him. She’d say, ‘Unke naseeb mein woh (Saira Banu) thi, main nahin’. But she’d also say, ‘He’s got married to a very pretty girl. She’s so devoted. I’m very happy for him’. But a vacuum remained in her
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
heart. A few years back her tomb was demolished as it was in a Wahabi (a Muslim sect that doesn’t allow building of tombs) cemetery. They wiped away the last memories of a legend.
Madhur Bhushan, Madhubala's sister.
Photo taken of Madhubala by James Burke.
— Yaser Khan (@greeneyedabyss) May 1, 2020
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