Following a brief setback, Madhubala found continued success with her roles in the comedies Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955), Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958) and Half Ticket (1962), the crime films Howrah Bridge and Kala Pani (both 1958), and the musical Barsaat Ki Raat (1960).

[a] Khan, who belonged to the Yusufzai tribe of Pashtuns from Peshawar valley, originating from Swabi District, North-West Frontier Province[9] was an employee at the Imperial Tobacco Company.

[15][16] An avid movie viewer since the beginning, she used to perform her favourite scenes in front of her mother and spend her time dancing and imitating film characters to entertain herself.

[21] Released in July 1942, Basant became a major success commercially,[18][22] but although Madhubala's work garnered appreciation, the studio dropped her contract as it did not require a child actor at that time.

[26] The family again returned to their temporary residence in Malad and Madhubala along with her father began paying frequent visits to film studios throughout the city in search of work.

[33] Eager to establish a foothold in the industry, in November 1946, Madhubala began shooting for two of Mohan Sinha's directorial ventures, Chittor Vijay and Mere Bhagwaan, which were supposed to be her introduction to the silver-screen in adult roles.

Her portrayal of a princess who ignorantly falls in love with Prem Nath's character received mixed reviews;[55] 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.

[78] 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 assets.

[88][85] Madhubala began the year 1958 with Raj Khosla's Kala Pani, in which she co-starred with Dev Anand and Nalini Jaywant, playing an intrepid journalist investigating a 15-year-old murder.

[92] In her final release of 1958, Madhubala portrayed a wealthy city woman involved in a love affair with Kishore Kumar in Satyen Bose's comedy Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi[93]—one of the biggest money-making films of the 1950s.

"[95] Writing for the same portral in 2012, columnist Rinki Roy mentioned Madhubala's character in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi as "a top favourite": "Her breezy performance stands out as that rare example of an independent, urban woman.

[108] She fell under the weight of iron chains, extinguished candles with her palm, starved herself for days to depict anguishness in particular scenes and had continuous water flung at her face and whole body painted.

[118] She further withdrew from some productions that were already underway, including Bombai Ka Babu, Naughty Boy, Jahan Ara, Yeh Basti Ye Log, Suhana Geet and an untitled film with Kishore Sahu.

[113] A critic for The Indian Express found her "enchanting",[123] while Venkat Parsa of The Siasat Daily noted the rebellious nature of her character, Shabnam, who elopes with her lover (played by Bharat Bhushan) after her parents object to the relationship.

[125] She subsequently discontinued her career and only preferred starring as love interests in a few films, including the comedies Jhumroo (1961), Boy Friend (1961) and Half Ticket (1962), and the dramas Passport (1961) and Sharabi (1964).

[136] She learnt driving at the age of 12 and by adulthood was the owner of five cars: Buick, Chevrolet, Station wagon, Hillman, and Town & Country (which was owned by only two people in India at that time, the other one being the Maharaja of Gwalior).

[148] Despite their professional rivalry, Madhubala shared a cordial relationship with Kumari as well as other female stars, such as Nargis, Nimmi, Begum Para, Geeta Bali, Nirupa Roy and Nadira.

"[7] In late June 1966,[183] Madhubala seemed to have partly recovered and decided to return to film again with J. K. Nanda's Chalaak, opposite Raj Kapoor, which was unfinished since she left the industry.

[7][14] After the Chalaak incident, Madhubala turned her attention to film direction and began preparing for her directorial debut, titled Farz aur Ishq, in February 1969.

[202][203] Her fame reached beyond India as well: director Frank Capra offered her a break in Hollywood (which her father declined)[201] and in August 1952, David Cort of Theatre Arts Magazine wrote of her as "the biggest star in the world—and she's not in the Beverley Hills.

"[204][2] Cort estimated Madhubala's Indian and Pakistani fan base equal to the combined population of the contemporary United States and western Europe, and also reported her popularity in countries such as Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia and East Africa.

[243][244] The author of Celebrities: A Comprehensive Biographical Thesaurus of Important Men and Women in India (1952), Jagdish Bhatia noted that Madhubala turned her disadvantages into advantage and despite her non-filmy background "rose to be one of the most talented female stars of the industry.

"[248] Writing retrospectively for The New York Times, Aisha Khan characterised Madhubala's acting style as "natural" and "understated", noting that she often portrayed roles of "modern young women testing the limits of traditions".

[252] Her roles in Amar (1954),[253] Gateway of India (1957),[87] and Barsaat Ki Raat (1960)[254] have also been noted by modern-day critics for being offbeat and significantly different from the usual portrayals of female characters in Indian cinema.

[258] Her screen time in leading roles was always equal to her male co-stars—which has otherwise been a rarity—and she has also been credited for being one of the earliest personalities who, in the era of mass communication, took the position of Indian cinema to global standards.

[261][262] A 2011 poll conducted by Rediff.com saw Madhubala receiving the third highest number of votes among "the hottest women who've ever scorched our screens"; the portal's writer commented, "In the end, I guess, it's about beauty.

"[280] Priya Ramani of Mint added: "You only had to slip her into a wet sari, ask her to lean invitingly into the camera or hand her co-star a feather, and you could comfortably forecast that the cinematic sigh would resonate for at least a hundred years.

[288] Research analyst Rohit Sharma has studied narratives about Madhubala and surmised the reason behind her continued relevancy among new generation: Today, teenagers identify with the insecurities she lived with in her youth, like acne and hair issues.

[266][301][153] Madhubala appeared in 72 films between 1942 and 1964, including Basant (1942), Neel Kamal (1947), Mahal (1949), Badal (1951), Tarana (1951), Amar (1954), Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955), Kala Pani (1958), Howrah Bridge (1958), Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Mughal-e-Azam (1960), Barsaat Ki Raat (1960), Half Ticket (1962) and Sharabi (1964).

[331] Actresses including Kriti Sanon,[332] Kangana Ranaut,[333] Kiara Advani,[334] and Janhvi Kapoor,[335] and Yami Gautam have expressed their wish to play Madhubala in a biopic.