After she was diagnosed as having a hole in her heart, she put on a brave face and her illness was kept a secret from the industry for many years. She frequently used to cough up blood on sets, and eventually her illness forced her to end her career.
Daughter of Attaullah Khan.
Formed a popular screen couple with Dev Anand Dilip Kumar.
Screen name Madhubala given to her by veteran actress Devika Rani.
She and Dilip Kumar had a seven-year courtship, but abruptly ended when she could not face her father's opposition to Dilip and ultimately had to bow out of B.R. Chopra's film opposite him following a scandalous court case.
She and Dilip Kumar met on the set of Tarana (1951) when she was eighteen years-old. While filming, she sent her hairdresser with a note written in Urdu along with a red rose asking him to accept it if he loved her, which intrigued and amused him and so he accepted the rose.
She was proposed to by Bharat Bhushan, Pradeep Kumar, and Kishore Kumar. She eventually married the latter of the three, Kishore, who converted to Islam to marry her.
Sister of Chanchal.