Mumtaz
From Extra to Super Star
Mumtaz first appeared in Shahid Lateef’s Sone ki
Chidiya (1958) as a child artist. Her mother, Naaz, was also an actress in
films. When her family faced financial crisis, Mumtaz agreed to act in films as
a junior artist and started appearing in group-scenes, at a very young age. She
appeared in front of camera in V. Shantaram’s Stree and Sehra but
she went almost unnoticed.
Mumtaz played the role of
sister of the hero in O. P. Ralhan’s Gehra Daag. Mumtaz then got the
lead role in Pathan being made by Ataullah Khan, Madhubala’s father, but
the film remained incomplete.
A large number of girls regularly flock to the tinsel city
of Bombay with a dream to become heroines and most of them end up as extras.
There is a union of these extras in Bombay, which provides the junior artists
to various films. The junior artist has to shell out a percentage of her income
to this union. Mumtaz also had to spend a few years as extra only. However,
because of her beauty and perseverance, she got an opportunity to act in lead
roles against Dara Singh. And then, she quickly established herself as the
heroine of B and C Grade movies. With Jawan Mard, Hercules, Samson, Tarzan
comes to Delhi Mumtaz was all over the film industry!
In her second phase, Mumtaz
got the roles of supporting actress in Kaajal, Khandaan, Sawan ki Ghata,
Hamraaz and Mere Sanam the coveted A Grade family movies. During
this phase, she fell in love with Shammi Kapoor, after the demise of his wife
Geeta Bali. Everybody expected that they would marry and because of this, she
lost the role in Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker to Padmini. Brahmchari with
Mumtaz and Shammi Kapoor was a super-hit and Mumtaz was established as a
heroine of A Grade big films! Though V. Shantaram’s Boond jo ban gayi Moti was
not very successful, but the acting of Mumtaz was appreciated. Mumtaz recorded
another big success in Baldev Raj Chopra’s Aadmi aur Insaan.
With the stupendous success of Do Raaste and Bandhan
starring Mumtaz and Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz became the number one heroine.
Unfortunately, Naaz could not see the success of her able daughter.
At one stage, Mumtaz was the
heroine in the films of all the top producers – Manmohan Desai’s Sachcha
Jhootha, Feroz Khan’s Apradh, Vijay Anand’s Tere mere Sapne,
Dev Anand’s Hare Ram Hare Krishna, L. V. Prasad’s Khilona, J.
Omprakash’s Aap ki Kasam, etc.
There was coyness in Mumtaz’s
acting. She showed extreme verve and energy in every scene. She was extremely
spontaneous and rhythmic in all her dance steps. She gave us the intoxicating
dances during the phase of supporting roles.
Mumtaz also portrayed the serious emotional roles in Khilona
and Tere Mere Sapne with extreme sensitivity. In fact, Mumtaz was so
proficient that she could never be tied down by any image and kept on
concentrating on diversity of roles.
Though she was not counted in
the league of great actresses in the firmament of Hindi Cinema, but she was the
top actress as well as was the favourite of all the viewers. She gave hits with
all the actors from Dara Singh in Faulad to Dilip Kumar in Ram aur
Shyam. Though Mumtaz traversed the path of disconsolate domain of an extra
to the sky of a top star, but during her odessy she never lost her spontaneity
and vivaciousness with which she groomed all her roles.
When Mumtaz was on the top of
her career, she fell in love with Mayur Madhwani, the richest man of Africa,
and she took a daring decision to leave the world of arc lights and painted
faces. Mayur’s family have been the richest in Africa who have palaces in
cities all over the world, along with personal Boeing jets. Madwanis own half
the properties in Kampala.
Mumtaz portrayed the role of
the daughter-in-law of a billionaire family successfully and with ease, and
gave birth to two daughters. Mumtaz travelled the Cinderella like dream path of
career starting from an extra, earning just Rs. 37 per day, to a queen,
rolling in Rs. 370 Crores… If a film on the life of Mumtaz were made, the
critics would term it artificial and impossible, because no normal girl can
possibly have a fate like that.
Troubles crept in her married
life after fifteen years. Though the reasons are not known, but not bearing a
son could be one of them. Mumtaz made a folly - trying to make a comeback at
that age. The audience did not accept her in Pahlaj Nihalani’s Aandhiyaan.
• Pramod (Pawan) Agrawal in Navrang,
1994
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