Madhubala
Rise to prominence and stardom (1948–1957)

Madhubala found her first critical and commercial success in the drama Lal Dupatta, which The Indian Express mentioned as a breakthrough for her. Baburao Patel described the film as "the first milestone of her maturity in screen acting." She received further positive reviews for her supporting parts in Parai Aag (1948), Paras and Singaar (both 1949). In 1949, Madhubala played a femme fatale in Kamal Amrohi 's Mahal — the first horror film of Indian cinema. Several actresses including Suraiya were considered for the role but Amrohi insisted on casting Madhubala. Her character was that of Kamini, a servant girl in an ancient mansion, whose pretensions of an apparition lead to disastrous consequences. The film was produced on a modest budget due to financial constraints, with trade analysts predicting it to be a failure owing to its unconventional subject. Mahal was released in October 1949 and proved to be an immensely popular film among audience. In Beyond the Boundaries of Bollywood, Rachel Dwyer noted that Madhubala's ignorance among audience added to the mysterious nature of her character. The film, which would be Madhubala's first of many collaborations with actor and brother-in-law Ashok Kumar, emerged as the third biggest box-office success of the year, resulting in her signing a string of starring roles opposite the leading actors of the time.

Following another box office hit in Dulari (1949), Madhubala played Ajit 's love interest in K. Amarnath 's social drama Beqasoor (1950). The feature received positive reviews and ranked among the year's top-grossing Bollywood productions. Also in 1950, she appeared in the comedy-drama Hanste Aansoo, which became the first Indian film to be awarded an Adult certification. The following year, Madhubala starred in the Amiya Chakravarty -directed action film Badal (1951), a remake of The Adventures of Robin Hood. Her portrayal of a princess who ignorantly falls in love with Prem Nath 's character received mixed reviews; a critic praised her looks but advised her to "learn to speak her dialogue slowly, distinctly and effectively instead of rattling through her lines in a monotone." She subsequently played the titular part in M. Sadiq's romance Saiyan, which Roger Yue of The Singapore Free Press commented was played "to perfection". Both Badal and Saiyan proved to be major box-office successes. Madhubala then collaborated with actor Dilip Kumar twice in a row, on the 1951 comedy Tarana and the 1952 drama Sangdil. These films also performed well financially, popularizing the on and offscreen couple among wide audience. Baburao Patel's filmindia review of Tarana read, "Incidentally, Madhubala gives the best performance of her screen career in this picture. She seems to have discovered her soul at last in Dilip Kumar's company."

Madhubala was cast in the costume drama Shahehshah (1953) before Kamini Kaushal replaced her. In April 1953, Madhubala founded a production company called Madhubala Private Ltd. The following year, while shooting in Madras for S. S. Vasan 's Bahut Din Huwe (1954), she suffered a major health setback due to her heart disease. She returned to Bombay after completing the film and took a short-term medical leave from work, which led to her replacement (by Nimmi) in Uran Khatola (1955). Madhubala later starred in another film of 1954 — Mehboob Khan 's Amar, portraying a social worker involved in a love triangle along with Dilip Kumar and Nimmi. Madhubala improvised a scene from the film. It was unsuccessful at the box-office. Nevertheless, Rachit Gupta of Filmfare stated that Madhubala overshadowed her co-stars and "floored her role with a nuanced performance." Writing for Rediff.com in 2002, Dinesh Raheja described Amar as "arguably Madhubala's first truly mature performance" and particularly praised a dramatic scene featuring her and Dilip. Madhubala's next release was her own production venture, Naata (1955), in which she co-starred with her sister Chanchal. The film met with a tepid response and lost a lot of money, compelling Madhubala to sell her bungalow Kismet to recover the loss.

Madhubala made a comeback in 1955 with Guru Dutt 's comedy Mr. & Mrs. '55, which emerged as one of the year's highest-grossing films in India and her biggest success at that point of time. The film saw her playing Anita Verma, a naive heiress who is forced by her aunt into a sham marriage with Dutt's character. Harneet Singh of The Indian Express called Mr. & Mrs. '55 "a great ride" and acknowledged Madhubala's "impish charm and breezy comic timing" as one of its prime assests. In mid-1956, a conflict broke out between Madhubala–Khan and director B. R. Chopra over the location shoot of Naya Daur, in which Madhubala was cast to play the female protagonist. Citing her as uncooperative and unprofessional, Chopra replaced Madhubala with Vyjayanthimala and further sued the former for ₹ 30,000 in damages. The lawsuit continued for about eight months amidst public scrutiny before Chopra withdrew it after Naya Daur got released.

Subsequently in the years 1956–57, Madhubala reduced her workload due to the lawsuit and health issues. She and Nargis were approached by Guru Dutt to play either of the two female leads (an unfaithful girlfriend or a hooker with a heart of gold) in his production, Pyaasa (1957). Unable to choose between the two leading roles, the actresses passed over the film to the newcomers Mala Sinha and Waheeda Rehman. Madhubala appeared in two period films in 1956, Raj Hath and Shirin Farhad, both critical and commercial successes. The following year, she portrayed a runaway heiress in Om Prakash 's Gateway of India (1957), which critic Deepa Gahlot believed to be one of the finest performances of her career. Madhubala then starred in the drama Ek Saal (1957), which follows the love story of a terminally-ill ingenue.
combination:repeat_prompt, detectable_format:constrained_response