The veteran actor Mumtaz recalled the tragic piece of advice that she received from the legendary star Madhubala. In an interview, she said that Madhubala was on her deathbed when she advised her never to lose herself to love. Madhubala passed away at a young age, and was never able to fulfil her fairytale romance with Dilip Kumar. Knowing that she was dying of an illness, Dilip Kumar made the decision to leave her. Mumtaz said that she doesn’t blame him at all for it. She grew up in close proximity of Madhubala, having been taken in by her father.
In an interview with Filmibeat, she said, “The poor woman wasn’t well, and I don’t blame Yusuf saab. She was dying, there was nothing that he could’ve done. She was very, very ill, and there were no real cures for the heart condition that she had.” Asked if Madhubala ever gave her advice that she still remembers to this day, Mumtaz said, “I was very young, but I remember her telling me, ‘Zindagi mein sabse buri cheez jo hoti hai, mohabbat hoti hai. Kissi se pyaar mat karna. Karo, magar itna naa karo ke bechain ho jao (Love is the worst thing in the world. Never fall in love. If you do, don’t lose sleep over it).”
In an earlier interview with Vickey Lalwani, Mumtaz said that Dilip Kumar left Madhubala because she was too unwell to bear children. “She didn’t break up with him. He broke up with her because she couldn’t have children. Instead, he married Saira Banu, who is a very nice person. She took such great care of him till his dying breath. She was his fan originally. They had a huge age difference, but these things don’t matter when you’re in love,” she said.
He eventually married Saira Banu, and some time after their marriage, he received a call from Madhubala, asking him to meet her. In his autobiography, Dilip Kumar praised Saira for allowing him to meet Madhubala. “When I went to Madhu’s home, I was pained to see that she was frail and looked very weak. The pallor on her face not only belied her ill health, but her magnificent, impish smile seemed such an effort. She was happy to see me and said: ‘Hamarey shehzade ko unki shehzadi mil gayi hai, main bahut khush hoon!’ (Our prince has got his princess, I am very happy),” he wrote.
