Madhubala Death Anniversary: Lesser known facts about the 'Bollywood Beauty'

Madhubala the 'Venus of Bollywood' was born on 14th February 1933 in Delhi to Ataullah Khan and Ayesha Begum. She started her career in Bollywood as a child artist in 'Basant' and made her adult debut as a lead actress with 'Neel Kamal'.

Madhubala breathed her last on on 23rd February 1969 after a prolonged illness. She was diagnosed with Ventricular Septal defect due to which the renowned star left the world at the age of 36.

Here are some of the lesser known facts about the Bollywood beauty:

Madhubala was a true prodigy. Born in a time of turmoil, she wanted to work from a very early age in order to provide for the family after their house was burned down in 1944 Bombay Explosion.

Madhubala was just 9 years old at the time of her child debut and was credited as 'Baby Mumtaz'. Interestingly, she became friends with another famous child actor of that era, 'Baby Mahjabeen'.nMahjabeen went on to become Meena Kumari, one of the biggest stars of that time.

Kidar Sharma, the director and producer of 'Neel Kamal' her adult debut, went through a lot of troubles while filming this classic. Apparently the producers of the film were not happy with newcomers as the lead actors after which Kidar decided to produce the movie himself.

Madhubala's first few films tanked at the box-office and she was in dire need of a hit to revive her career. 'Lal Dupatta' was her first successful film but her big break came through Kamal Amrohi's 'Mahal'.

The leading lady made a few headlines when she was casted in 'Hanste Aansoo', the first ever Bollywood film which got Adults Only certification from the Censor Board.

Madhubala was a true global superstar. Many Hollywood magazines featured the talented actress. Reportedly, Academy Award winning director Frank Capra wanted to cast Madhubala in a film but the actress refused.

She dated Dilip Kumar before the relationship fell through. She married legendary playback singer Kishore Kumar back in 1960.