Biography

Arguably the most beautiful artiste to ever grace the Indian screen, Madhubala rose from humble beginnings to become the most captivating star India has ever produced. Madhubala was born Mumtaz Jehan Begum on Valentine's Day 1933, in a poor, conservative family of Pathan Muslims in Delhi, a part of a prolific brood of sisters, and entered the world of films at the tender age of eight. After about five years of playing child roles, Madhubala got her first break in a lead role in Neel Kamal (1947), produced anddirected by her mentor, veteran filmmaker Kidar Sharma. At the age of 14, she played a romantic lead against another fledgling star, Raj Kapoor, and Madhubala had finally arrived on the Indian screen. Over the next two years she had blossomed into a truly rapturous beauty (which earned her the sobriquet of the Venus Of the Indian Screen) and with the movie Mahal (1949), literally overnight, she was a superstar.

It has been often said that her beauty overshadowed her acting talents, which to an extent is true; however this was more due to poor judgement than lack of talent. Being encumbered by a large family to support, and forever living under the domination of an imperious father who, she made several poor choices in movies which seriously undermined her credibility as a serious performer, to the extent of being labelled "box-office poison". However, her more or less dismal repertoire in the 50s was marked by spots of true brilliance - movies like Tarana (1951), Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955) and of course her swansong Mughal-E-Azam (1960) showcased her remarkable talents as a serious artiste across several genres and revealed what this ethereal beauty was truly capable of.

Sadly, she was plagued by a persistent heart disease that confined her to a bed for almost nine torturous years, and eventually claimed her life on February 23 1969, nine days after her 36th birthday. In this short life, she had made over 70 movies, and to this day remains one of the most enduring legends of Indian cinema.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Hrishi Dixit <hud1@cornell.edu>

Madhubala sister Altaf Jahan was married to Homi Kotwal. He passed away on Tuesday, September 23, 2014 at 11:56 A.M. in Cherry Hill, NJ. Homi was born on September 6, 1932 in Bombay, India. He was 82 years old and was on Hospice at home after complications from his battle with rectal cancer. Homi is survived by his ever-loving wife Altaf (Khan) of 52 years of marriage, his loving children, son Neville and daughter Zarine, supportive son-in-law Michael Meyer, and his most precious grandsons Zubin and Zahan. Also his only two siblings, Khorshed Bhicaji and Rohinton Kotwal (and his wife Nargis), along with Altaf's family, all reside in Bombay, India and Auckland, New Zealand. Homi had the opportunity to come to America to practice medicine (something he always wanted to do) and so his family arrived in America on December 16, 1969 and lived in Cherry Hill, NJ. His specialty was OB/GYN where he delivered his own children and grandsons, along with countless years of bringing babies into this world. He worked at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, then went on to Hershey Medical Center in PA for his two year fellowship and then moved back to NJ, this time moving to Mt. Laurel in 1974 and resuming work at Hahnemann where he became Vice-Chairman of OB/GYN and Teaching Director of Residents. Homi then had an opportunity in 1987 to go to Staten Island University Hospital in New York to expand the OB/GYN department so he moved with his wife to Monroe Township, NJ and finally retired at the age of 73 in 2005. Homi's gift of teaching residents and his passion for being a doctor is GOD's gift to him that he utilized and passed onto others. He was humble, he was a gentleman, and an exceptional human being who will be missed greatly.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: abc123@live.ca