In 1952, the American magazine Theatre Arts named Indian actress Madhubala as the ‘biggest star in the world’, beating Hollywood legends Clark Gable and Audrey Hepburn. Only 19 years old, Madhubala was already a reigning queen of Bollywood with big hits like Badal, Saiyan, and Tarana.
Though she was a world-wide celebrity, Madhubala refused an offer from Hollywood by great director Frank Capra, following her father who handled her career and rejected the offer for fear of the intimate scenes in American movies.
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Born Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi, Madhubala began her acting career at the age of eight and soon became a star by her teenage years. By 1951, she was earning Rs. 1.5 lakh per movie, and thus became the top-paid actress in India. She received additional global acclaim in Life magazine, and this led to Capra’s offer.
Her health started to deteriorate in 1954 when she was diagnosed with congenital heart disease. In spite of this, she made a comeback in a big way with Mr. & Mrs. ’55 and featured in the historic Mughal-e-Azam, India’s highest-grossing film then. Her health declined over the years, and she confined herself to less demanding roles. Madhubala’s final movie, Sharabi, which was released in 1964, ended her successful career. She died in 1969 at the age of 36. Her last film, Jwala, was released after her death in 1971.
