By Harjap Singh Aujla

Famous actress Madhubala died more than forty six years ago, but for her dedicated admirers, she is still alive. Her fans are not only in India, but in Pakistan too and their diaspora all over the world does not let her memories fade. During the eighties and nineties, I was a regular visitor to the studios of the Voice of America in Washington D.C. The most prominently displayed picture in the office of their Hindi Service was a poster of Madhubala. All the visitors to that office used to watch this large poster very curiously. One broadcaster of the Persian service kept watching it very intensely for about ten minutes and then asked Bhagwan Prakash of the Hindi service as to who this woman was. Bhagwan Prakash gave a brief introduction of the most loved actress. The guest was so much carried away that he asked for her address and phone number. But when Bhagwan Prakash divulged that she was dead, the guest started crying with tears rolling down his cheeks. He departed in utter disappointment saying “How can God be so cruel?”. 

Indian film archives have suffered two devastating fires decades ago. One fire was in the Film Archives in Pune and another was in the negatives of the film music stored by the Gramophone Company of India in Dum Dum Kolkata. Both these fires destroyed a lot of India’s most precious vintage music and film prints of the yore. But actress Madhubala’s memories did not suffer much. She has several ardent fans in Pakistan, especially in the city of Karachi. They have carefully stored their own private copies of imported prints of most of the Madhubala movies. Some of them in Pakistan and the UAE have put Madhubala’s films in entirety on the youtube. Most of the songs picturized on Madhubala have been separately loaded on to the youtube. Al Mansoor, a business house based in the United Arab Emirates has preserved a lot of films and music picturized on Madhubala on cassette tapes, CDs and now on youtube too.

Some of the song clips from the Madhubala movies have been painstakingly cut and pasted on songs of other actors and singers. Nayyara Noor is a very popular Ghazal singer in Pakistan. Mukhtar Sheikh of Lyallpur (now Faislabad) picked up the sound track of one of her Ghazals “Har chand sahara hai tere pyaar kaa mujhko” and then superimposed most appropriate video clips from different songs of Madhubala starrer films on it creating amazing results.

Mukhtar Sheikh has become one of the most prolific users of clips from Madhubala movies for enhancing the visual impact of other less popular artists. Lata Mangeshkar re-recorded an old number of Pankaj Mullick as a tribute to his memory. The song was “Ye raatein ye mausam ye hansna hasana, mujhe bhool jaana, unhe na bhulana”. The picture clips of Madhubala used by Mukhtar Sheikh looked so natural and appealing that the youtube piece has become a popular number. Most of the songs of film “Anarkali” (1955) were picturized on Bina Rai, who looked stunning in the movie. Mukhtar Sheikh most painstakingly substituted Bina Rai’s clips from the film by Madhubala’s plucked from other movies with amazing effect.

Film “Meri Soorat Teri Ankhen” (1963) was a highly acclaimed movie. One of its most popular songs was “Tere bin soone nayan hamare” rendered by Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi. Mukhtar Sheikh superimposed some old scenes from old Madhubala – Dilip Kumar movies for its youtube version. This altered youtube piece has become very popular.

Jaidev was a brilliant music director. He composed the music for film “Tumhare liye” (1978). One of its most popular songs recorded in the voice of Lata Mangeshkar was “Tumhein dekhti hoon to lagta hai aise ki jaise yugon se tumhein jaanti hoon”. The film is in color and the song is beautifully picturised on Vidya Sinha and Sanjeev Kumar. But Mukhtar Sheikh had his own designs, he kept the audio intact and substituted romantic scenes from old black and white Madhubala – Dilip Kumar starrer movies in it. The effect again was mind bogglingly pleasant.

Film “Bhakt Surdas” dates back to 1942. Its star-cast included legendry actor singer Kundan Lal Saigal and Khursheed Bano. Its film prints are perhaps too old and worn out thus unfit for use. Mukhtar Sheikh got hold of the audio of its once popular Khursheed Bano song “Panchhi bawra chand se preet lagaye”. The emotional lyrics were composed by Pandit D.N. Madhok and the tune was composed by Pandit Gian Dutt. While putting it on youtube, Mukhtar Sheikh once again used the videos of some of the Madhubala songs. I have seen the doctored video, the results are amazing.

These are some examples of how the admirers of Madhubala are keeping her memories alive. Her songs on youtube are immensely popular. I have followed the engineering improvisation feats of Mukhtar Sheikh, who knows how many like him are doing similar engineering? But nearly half a century after her untimely demise, Madhubala remains alive in the hearts and minds of her millions of admirers. It is true that “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever”.

arjapaujla@gmail.com