'Could Not Take My Eyes Off Her': When Shammi Kapoor Was Awestruck by Madhubala's Beauty

Madhubala was one of the iconic actresses of the Indian film industry who earned critical acclaim from the audience with her acting prowess. She was the epitome of beauty, style and grace. Madhubala’s counterparts – Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and others were greatly enamoured by her beauty. Shammi Kapoor had talked about it in an interview with Rediff.com. He said, “When I met her on the set of Rail Ka Dibba for the first time, I could not take my eyes off her. I was like hit by a thunderbolt. I was so nervous that I kept forgetting my lines. And she was fully aware of the effect she had been having on me and was relishing it thoroughly." One of the crew members on the film’s sets, including a lightman, was also reportedly confused with Shirin Farhad actress’ beauty. As per the reports, the lightman was so fixed in watching her, that he failed to maintain his balance and fell from his position to the ground.

According to the late actress Minoo Mumtaz, Madhubala’s complexion was so fair and translucent that when she ate paan you could almost see the red colour going down her throat.

These are some of the pictures that show the ethereal charm of Shirin Farhad’s actress.

Mughal-E-Azam

Mughal-E-Azam was one of the best works in Madhubala’s acting trajectory. She played the role of courtesan Anarkali who falls in love with Prince Saleem (Dilip Kumar). The audience loved Madhubala and Dilip Kumar’s on-screen chemistry in this film. One of the tracks titled Jab Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya became a major highlight of Mughal-E-Azam.

There is an interesting fact related to this track. Madhubala was reportedly not a good dancer, especially, when it came to girki (spinning one’s body), which required skill. As per the reports, a male dancer, Laxmi Narayan, performed the dance sequence during the song shoot, wearing a rubber mask matching her face. The mask was so perfect that people mistook the dancer for Madhubala herself.

Death

Madhubala died on February 23, 1969, at the age of 36.