She rose from the ranks to become a matinee goddess – our very own Marilyn Monroe stirring a million fantasies. From a stunt princess relegated to doing Dara Singh films to being the toast of tinselville in the ’70s... what worked for Mumtaz was perhaps her sense of abandonment. Not burdened by image and convention, she was as comfortable with her curves and pout as she was with her co-stars. Mumzy to Dev Anand, Puttu to Amitabh Bachchan and Mumu to all...
The crescendo in Mumtaz’s career coincided with that of Rajesh Khanna’s. While rival Sharmila Tagore was known for her ‘sophistication’, Mumtaz killed it with her engaging spontaneity. To placate the sulking audience after she quit films, directors, apparently urged actresses like Rekha and Neetu Singh to toe the Mumtaz template – even though her pug nose till date has found no replica.Younger actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar are her fanboys. Her pleated orange saree in Aaj kal tere mere pyaar ke still finds versions, her jig in Zindagi ittefaq hai provides fodder to choreographers as do her fish net stockings in Apna Desh, to costume designers. Today, at 70, she lives a quiet life in London with husband Mayur Madhvani. But yes, those 14 years of glory, lived 40 years ago, are enough for her to say, “I want to be reborn as Mumtaz again...”
Young breadwinner Mumtaz was born on July 31, 1947 to Abdul Sameed Askari and Sardar Begum Habib Agha aka Naaz, both of Iranian origin but settled in Mumbai. Her parents divorced when she was young. Her grandmother, mother and aunt raised Mumtaz and her sister Mallika. Later, her mother remarried and had two sons – Shahrukh and Shazhath. The late actor Roopesh Kumar was Mumtaz’s cousin. Between 1952-1961, she was seen as a child artiste in films like Sanskar, Yasmin, Lajwanti, Sone Ki Chidiya and Stree. To ease the family’s financial difficulties, she went on to work as a junior artiste. Her first adult role was that of a sister in O P Ralhan’s Gehra Daag (1963). She then paired up with action hero Dara Singh in a series of B-grade films including Faulad, Veer Bhimsen, Tarzan Comes To Delhi, Sikandar-E-Azam, Rustom-E-Hind, Raaka and Daku Mangal Singh between 1964-68. She also played a small role in V Shantaram’s Sehra and Sunil Dutt’s Mujhe Jeene Do both in 1963. Gradually through the ’60s, she began playing supporting roles in big banner films like Kaajal, Khandaan, Hamraaz, Suraj, Pathhar Ke Sanam, Aadmi Aur Insaan, Ram Aur Shyam and Brahmachari. Brahmachari with Shammi Kapoor also fuelled rumours about her romance with him. Years later she conceded in an interview saying, “I was all of 18. I was in love with Shammi Kapoor. He wanted me to give up my career. I had my family to look after. I had lost my mother,” she said. The Rajesh Khanna chapter It was Raj Khosla’s blockbuster Do Raaste (1969) with Rajesh Khanna that gave a spin to her career. Bandhan in the same year, with him, became a top grosser. Forming a legendary pair with the ‘phenomenon’ Rajesh Khanna, she gave 10 hits with him between 1963 to 1977. They included Manmohan Desai’s Roti and Sacha Jhutha, Dulal Guha’s Dushmun, Jambu’s Apna Desh, J Om Prakash’s Aap Ki Kasam between 1963 to 1977. And while Rajesh also made a popular pair with Sharmila Tagore, with Mumtaz he never had a flop.She once said about her hero in an interview, “Kaka (Rajesh) was choosy about his friends. I was flattered to be his close friend. I was voluptuous so he’d call me ‘Aye moti, idhar aa…’ He was a perennial latecomer.” She went on to recollect further, “He wasn’t strong on dance, so combination shots main sambhal leti thi. We had trouble doing the Chal dariya mein doob jaaye (Prem Kahani, 1975) song.”
Mumu Mania Initially, a lot of heroes had refused to work with Mumtaz. Apparently, Jeetendra was compelled to do Boond Jo Ban Gayi Moti (1967) with her because director V Shantaram refused to change his heroine. Later, her onscreen vibe with Jeetendra in Humjoli (1970) and Roop Tera Mastana (1972) was scorching but sadly the films didn’t work. Shashi Kapoor, who had earlier refused Sachaa Jhutha, because he didn’t wish to be paired opposite a ‘stunt-heroine’, was only too happy to work with her in Chor Machaye Shor (1973). She also made a great team with Dharmendra in hits like Loafer (Aaj mausam bada beimaan hai from the film is a cult romantic number) and Jheel Ke Us Paar (1973).
Mumtaz was electric with the Khan brothers – Feroz and Sanjay both in Upaasna and Mela in 1971. Her glamorous avatar in Feroz’s stylised thriller Apradh (1972) became the reference chart for Feroz’s subsequent heroines. She did Bandhe Haath (1973) with Amitabh Bachchan before he achieved his superstar status. She shared a special bond with Dev Anand with whom she first did Tere Mere Sapne and later Hare Rama Hare Krishna both in 1971. Mumtaz was under ‘a ceiling’ back then – where an actor could do only seven films at a time. Reportedly, Dev Anand challenged it and flew his heroine to Kathmandu with police protection! Mumtaz won critical acclaim for her performance in Chander Vohra’s Khilona (1970), where she played a courtesan-turned-caretaker to a deranged Sanjeev Kumar. The performance won her a Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She quit films after Aaina (1977) – where she played a girl, who takes to prostitution to support her family. She made a comeback 13 years later with her final film, David Dhawan’s Aandhiyan in 1990, based on the Pakistani film Dooriyan. The film’s failure ‘broke her heart’. The audiences perhaps didn’t accept her as a jeans-clad mother of an 18-year-old. Mumtaz was honoured with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. 
Marriage & Mayur She was the ‘Mumtaz’ of the matinee. Naturally, a hundred suitors lined up for her. “I was lucky that men wanted to marry me. There were attractions but I didn’t act upon them. I’d wake up at 4 am everyday; reach the studios at the dot of 9 am. I had too many responsibilities to have affairs. There was no time for romance,” she once confided. The superstar slipped in the role of a devoted wife effortlessly. She was only too happy to whip up dal dhokli, undhiyo and khandvi for her Gujarati hubby. She became a proud mother to daughters Natasha and Tanya albeit after difficult pregnancies. She has often mentioned that ‘unconditional love’ exists only between a mother and child. Her older daughter Natasha is married to actor Fardeen Khan. The couple has a daughter named Diani Isabella Khan. Tanya recently married her fiancé Marco in London. 
By the time she was in her early 20s, she was ‘fed up’ of the shenanigans of stardom. “There’s a time for every woman to get married and you should seize that. So I just chucked it all up,” said Mumtaz in an interview about her decision to get married to Uganda-based millionaire Mayur Madhvani in 1974. Her films with Rajesh Khanna - Prem Kahani, Roti and Aap Ki Kasam released a year after her marriage. That was the grand finale of her onscreen affair with Kaka. Reportedly, she refused Safar and Haathi Mere Saathi – both with Rajesh – as marriage was on the radar. 
Sunset Sheen Mumtaz’s fairytale marriage to millionaire Madhvani went through its fair share of turmoil when her husband reportedly strayed. But Mumtaz chose to be by his side and they tided the rough weather together. “I’m a practical woman. I had two beautiful daughters and a husband who loved me immensely. I was not going to give up my marriage just because of a stray incident,” she had then mentioned. Later, she not only survived cancer, she even battled a dysfunctional thyroid gland, an after effect of chemotherapy. “I bloated up. I was honest about my illness as I am honest about my age,” she said with candour. “For months my sister Mallika was by my side. My husband, who travels all over the world, dropped everything to stay by my side,” she said. 
Today she lives a regular life in London. “I go out for lunch with my friends, then stroll for a few hours. London is a perfect city for an afternoon walk. Then I’m back home. I watch television. I wake up at 7 am and I am asleep by 11 pm,” she was quoted saying. She once shared that she enjoys the ‘affluence’ but can’t help feeling ‘lonely’ at times. Yet, showbiz doesn’t lure her anymore. “I don’t want to play Shah Rukh Khan’s mom or Akshay Kumar ’s aunt. I had my time...Nothing is permanent,” she summed it up. But her memories surely are. 
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