Down the Years( frame to frame) - Page 9

1959

Nutan and sunil dutt in sujata

Kagaz Ke Phool became India's first film in cinemascope.

Federation of Film Societies formed with Satyajit Ray as President and Smt. Indira Gandhi as Vice President.

Noor Jahan divorced her husband Shaukat Hussain and re-married to a young man Izaz Durrani.

Nutan tied knot with Rajnish Behl on 11th October.

Pather Panchali ran for over seven months at the Fifth Avenue Playhouse, New York and set a record for foreign films released in the United States.

1960

Mughal-e-azam

Film Finance Corporation (FFC) formed with authorized capital of Rs 1 crore.

Film and Television Institute established in Pune.

The Institute for Film Technology is started in Madras.

K. Asif's Mughal-e-Azam hit the screen after almost 10 years of making.

Death of famous vamp Kuldeep Kaur on 3rd February.

The Hindustan Photo Film Manufacturing Co. started making B & W X-ray film.

Madhubala ...The legend

Real Name : Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi
Born : 14 February 1933
Died : 23 February 1969

Profile

Madhubala dreamt of becoming a movie star from a young age. In fact a trusted holy man
had predicted that she would have fame and fortune but would lead an unhappy life
and die at a young age. Her jobless father took her to Bombay remembering the holy mans words. They struggled
for over a year when Mumtaz was chosen for a childhood role in Basant. Devika Rani
was impressed with her performance and changed her name to Madhubala, who was to
appear in Jwar Bhata, in which Dilip Kumar was playing the lead role. She was unable
to work in the movie but this was the moment the youngster first set eyes on Dilip Kumar. Mohan Sinha, a Producer-director taught her to drive at the age of twelve. Madhubala and her father had to struggle until she became a leading lady. She was
16 years old when her poularity started rising from 1949 onwards, however Mahal was
the movie that really established her star status. She was always puntual throughout
her career and would arrive at the studio at 7am and leave on the dot at 6pm. Madhubala's heart problem was discovered in a routine check up in 1950, when heart surgery was not available,
she had put on a brave face and her illness was kept a secret from the industry for many years. She
frequently used to cough up blood, nevertheless she tried to live life to it's fullest extent. She was a prankster and loved to laugh and giggle, once she started she found it difficult to control herself.
Madhubala never experienced childhood and was exploited by many men. She was very naive
in trusting people and was let down on many occassions. Madhubala was fascinated by hollywood movies and frequently watched them to pick up a few tips to enhance her
performance, she had a tutor to teach her English and had a good command of the language within a few months. Her talent and glamour was not fully utilised by some of her directors as movies were chosen for the
money and security they brought. However she has given outstanding performances in some of the greatest movies
ever to be produced. (Please see the movies section, the super hits are highlighted) Madhubala was a true romantic who craved for love. She had a clean heart and had the generous ability to forgive and
forget as she couldn't hold onto grudges. She was 21 years old when the doctors decalred uncertainty about her life. She was a generous person who donated to charity and continued to support her family till her dying days.
She had five sisters and made Ajit her rakhi brother in 1950.

She was the first moviestar that had a cold war with the media.

Marriage

Madhubala was proposed by three men and she turned to Nargis who was a
close friend for advice. Nargis suggested that Bharat Bhusan would respect her
as he was a widower whereas Pradeep Kumar and Kishor Kumar were both married.

However she had already made up her mind on Kishor Kumar as he was like a breath of
fresh air in her life. She accepted him as he was the first man who came into her life
on the rebound whilst shooting Chalti ka naam gadi and Jhumroo.

Her father had informed Kishor that Madhubala would be flying to London for a complicated
operation and he could marry her on her return but Kishor knew she wanted to get married
before she died and he wanted to fulfil her desire.

They had a civil marriage and Kishore converted to Islam and was renamed Karim Abdul.
His parents refused to attend the wedding and never really accepted Madhubala as they
thought she had broken their sons marriage. When Madhubala went to touch her father in
law's feet he moved away.

The doctors in London refused to operate on Madhubala as they thought she would die during
the operation and if she did survive it would only be for a year.

Madhubala and Kishor also had a hindu ceremony to please the parents but they were still not happy.
She moved back to her bungalow a couple of weeks or solater because her in laws attitude was upsetting her.

Madhubala realised that she had made a mistake in marrying Kishore.

Last days

Madhubala was confined to her bed in the last days of her life, she repeatedly watched
her favourite movies, Mudghal-e-Azam, Barsaat Ki Raat, Chalti ka naam gadi and Mahal.
She used to recite Urdu poems to herself and saw her 'pyar kiya to darna kya' over 500 times.

Kishor Kumar used to get upset with her for watching Dilip Movies and insisted she
watched Chalti ka naam gadi and Jhumroo. Her family made sure that someone would
keep an eye on the door to see if Kishor was coming in order to swop the Dilip movies.

She had a 105 degrees temperature a day before she died and expressed her desire to see
Dilip.

She died on 23 February 1969 on a Sunday morning and was buried with her diary at
Santacruz burial ground by her family and Kishor Kumar. Dilip Kumar wasn't at the funeral,
it's not known if he was informed.

However he did come to Ataullah Khan's aid in his last days as he faced financial ruins
even the family cars had to be sold of to cover Madhubala's expensive medical treatment.

Thank you Chalavanth for this marvellous coverage
Never heard the names of some of these oldies from before 1952, though I heard my mother and father speaking of the oldies like Achute Khaniya, Sindoor, Do Bhai etc, but I think anything before 1939 was before their time.
Once again, thank you for a very educational trip. 👏 👏 👏