'No photos did justice to Madhubala's beauty'

The name Madhubala conjures up so many images of the yesteryear actress in our minds. Her beauty, grace, comic timing -- everything about her has turned into a legend over the last 40 years.
Strangely, for a celebrity of her stature and repute there's hardly any documentation of the legendary actress' life and time.
That's what pushed Khatija Akbar to take up the task of writing a biography on Madhubala. In 'I Want To Live' The Story Of Madhubala the author has written about the lesser-known aspects of the actress' life.
Present here, are excerpts from the book:
Engraved on the collective consciousness of lovers of cinema the images remain fresh in every viewer's memory. She was perceived as the 'Venus of the Indian Screen' (Baburao Patel's appellation that stuck to her), but how was Madhubala viewed by those of her own generation in the film industry particularly the actress?
'She was ecstatically, exasperatingly beautiful', exclaimed Nadira in her characteristic style. 'She created a kind of reverence, she had such an aura about her.' Begum Para saw her sometimes in the mornings when she went out for a walk. 'You saw Madhubala's face and your day was made. She was a dream really '. Nirupa Roy recalled, 'She was perfect, right down to her toe-nails. There never was and never will be anyone with her looks'.
'Her complexion was so fair and translucent that when she ate a paan (betel leaf) you could almost see the red colour going down her throat', recollects Minu Mumtaz. Nimmi confessed to passing a sleepless night after her first meeting with Madhubala on the sets of their common starrer Amar. How would she fare in the film alongside 'this apparition, this angel in human shape?'

The feeling of being struck dumb was a normal first-time reaction to Madhubala whether the hapless one was Shammi Kapoor or a casual visitor on her sets. For his first picture with Madhubala, P N Arora's Rail Ka Dibba (1953), Shammi Kapoor, dialogue forgotten and his mind a blank, could only gaze tongue-tied and lost. His brother Shashi Kapoor regretted the fact that he never got to act with her:

'She had a porcelain beauty, like Dresden china, very fragile, very delicate with a gorgeous infectious smile and very expressive eyes. There was a mystery about her.' Producer-director Manmohan Desai remarked: 'She was the only true beauty to grace the Indian screen and she was beautiful in every film with no exceptions.' Well-known journalist B K Karanjia discovered on first meeting her that 'none of her published photographs did full justice to her quite extraordinary beauty.' Filmfare, the premier film magazine of the time, wrote:
Her complexion is moon-kissed and the smile an irresistible come-hither but stay-where-you-are smile. J H Thakker spoke from a photographer's viewpoint: 'You could photograph her from any angle without make-up and still come away with a masterpiece. She was a cameraman's delight.'

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