On Madhubala’s 92nd birth anniversary today, we dipped into the endless sea of articles and features in the Filmfare archives. What we found was a candid quote by Kishore Kumar in our issue from 1989. Though Kishore Kumar had passed away in 1987, this quote was referenced from an earlier interview of Kumar, which he gave many years after the passing of Madhubala in 1969.
In this old feature from Filmfare magazine from 1989, the author established the fact that Kishore Kumar made a crazy, but highly successful screen pair with Madhubala. But it was still a mystery to many why the two decided to get married in 1960.
The feature then quoted Kishore Kumar with the following – According to Kishore himself, “I was never in love with Madhubala. To me, she was my friend Dilip Kumar’s girlfriend and I used to act as a messenger for the two. It was she who proposed marriage to me and even insisted on it. Incidentally, even when Ruma was with me Madhu used to joke, ‘Never ever leave him, else I would take your place’.”
The author then assumed that Madhubala must have married Kishore Kumar on the rebound. The marriage lasted for nine years, till Madhubala’s death. She was very ill during the last phase and was forbidden to have children.
Kishore Kumar and Madhubala featured in some evergreen classics like Chalti Ka Naam Gadi (1958), Jhumroo (1961), Half-Ticket (1962) and many more.
By
