Baby Madhuri

Baby Madhuri
Madhuri on a newspaper advertisement of Vishvas (1943)
Born
Mah Laqa
Died(1993-01-20)20 January 1993
Bombay, Maharashtra, India
Other nameMadhu Kumari
OccupationActress
Years active1940–1963
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1953; div. 1967)​

Kishore Sharma
Children4, including Lucky Ali and Macky Ali
RelativesMeena Kumari (sister)
Khursheed Jr. (sister)
Mehmood Ali family (by first marriage)

Mah Laqa[1] (died 20 January 1993), also known as Madhu Kumari, was an Indian actress who worked primarily as a child artist in Hindi films during the 1940s. She began her career at the age of three with Sandesha (1940), under the screen name "Baby Madhuri", and became one of the prominent child stars of the period, earning comparisons with Shirley Temple. Her notable films included Muqabala (1942), Vishvas (1943) and Bachpan (1945).[2]

Madhuri was the younger sister of actress Meena Kumari. She was initially married to actor Mehmood, with whom she had four sons, including Lucky Ali and Macky Ali. She later married lawyer Kishore Sharma and died in Bombay on 20 January 1993.[3]

Personal life and death

Madhuri was born as Mah Laqa[1] to the music director Master Ali Bux and Bengali actress and dancer Iqbal Begum. Her father was a Sunni Muslim, while Begum was originally a Christian who converted to Islam post-marriage.[4] Madhuri was nicknamed Madhu and was the couple's youngest child; her elder sisters were actresses Khurshid and Meena Kumari (1933–1972).[4] Madhuri studied up to the second standard at the English High School in Dadar but did not continue her formal education because of her early career in films.[1]

Madhuri married actor Mehmood Ali in a private nikah ceremony on 4 September 1953. They had four sons: Masood (born 1954), Maqsood (also known as Lucky, born 1958), Maqdoom (also known as Macky, born 1960), and Masoom (born 1961).[5] According to authors Hanif Zaveri and Mohan Deep, the marriage was troubled by Madhuri's extramarital affair with lawyer Kishore Sharma.[6][7]

Madhuri and Mehmood divorced in 1967.[8] She subsequently married Sharma, who had served as Meena Kumari's lawyer and, for a period, as her personal manager.[4]

Madhuri died in Bombay on 20 January 1993.[3]

Career

Madhuri was discovered by director Nazir of Hind Pictures when she was three years old. Impressed by her potential, Nazir consulted her parents and cast her in Sandesha (1940), marking her acting debut.[1] The film was a drama centered on Hindu–Muslim unity, and Madhuri's performance as Nazir's estranged daughter led critic Baburao Patel to describe her as "certainly a star of the future".[9]

She subsequently played younger versions of Fearless Nadia's characters in Muqabala and The Jungle Princess, both released in 1942.[10] Madhuri further appeared in Ekta (1942),[1] the first Sindhi-language film in Indian cinema. She was also part of the Hindi cast of Mahatma Vidur (1943), a bilingual Hindi-Marathi saint film directed by P. Y. Altekar.[11]

Madhuri received further positive reviews for her performance in Homi Wadia's Vishvas (1943), in which Mehtab played her mother. Patel praised her as "perhaps the sweetest child artiste recently seen on the Indian screen", describing her as "sparkling and precocious" and noting that she "steals every scene from her elders".[12] Advertisements for the film in The Bombay Chronicle promoted Madhuri as "India's Shirley Temple" and "Chick Little Girl that Bombay's Crazy about".[13][14] Contemporary journalist R. A. Shaikh similarly described her as one of India's leading child stars, writing that she was "acclaimed as the best among the baby artists" and could "safely be compared to any baby actress of Hollywood".[1] Shaikh also reported that she had received "numerous cups and medals" for her role in Vishvas.[1]

Madhuri (mid) with Shashi Kapoor (left) in Bachpan (1945)

Wadia subsequently directed Madhuri in Bachpan (1945), a social film built around her role.[15] She played Madhu, a girl estranged from her grandfather (Mazhar Khan) who is forced to become the companion of a wealthy disabled girl.[16] Her later roles included Nai Maa (1946) and Veer Babruwahan (1950), in which she appeared opposite Shashi Kapoor, then also a child actor.[17][18]

Madhuri later returned to films in the early 1960s in adult roles. She appeared opposite her then-husband Mehmood in Manzil (1960) and alongside her sister Meena Kumari in Kinare Kinare (1963). According to Hanif Zaveri, however, Madhuri failed to attract significant attention with these roles.[19]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleRef.
1940SandeshaMadhuri[9]
1942The Jungle Princess[10]
MuqabalaYoung Madhuri/Rani[20]
Ekta[1]
1943VishvasMadhuri[12]
Andhera[1]
Mahatma Vidur[11]
Paraya Dhan[21]
1945BachpanMadhu[16]
1946Nai Maa[17]
1950Veer Babruwahan[18]
1960Manzil[19]
1963Kinare KinareMalti[19]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Shaikh, R. A. (1946). "Baby Madhuri". Filmdom: The All-India Film Directory & Who's Who in the Indian Film Industry. pp. 28–29.
  2. ↑ Zaveri 2005, p. 31.
  3. 1 2 "Baby Madhuri". Cinemaazi. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 Mehta 2013.
  5. ↑ Zaveri 2005, pp. 35, 40, 65, 75.
  6. ↑ Zaveri 2005, pp. 86–89.
  7. ↑ Deep 1998, pp. 135, 159, 208.
  8. ↑ Zaveri 2005, p. 90.
  9. 1 2 Patel, Baburao (December 1940). "Sandesa" A Surprisingly Good Picture – Nazir And Yasmin Shine Out. Baby Madhuri, A Future Star". Filmindia: 47 – via Internet Archive.
  10. 1 2 Wenner, Dorothee (2005). Fearless Nadia: The True Story of Bollywood's Original Stunt Queen. Penguin Books. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-14-303270-0.
  11. 1 2 Rajadhyaksha & Willemen 1999, p. 298.
  12. 1 2 Patel, Baburao (May 1944). "Baby Madhuri Sustains Interest In "Vishvas"". Filmindia: 65–69 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ↑ "Vishvas". The Bombay Chronicle. 15 March 1944. p. 3. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  14. ↑ "Vishvas". The Bombay Chronicle. 18 March 1944. p. 3. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  15. ↑ Patel, Baburao (February 1945). "Basant Pictures (Bombay)". Filmindia: 43 – via Internet Archive.
  16. 1 2 Patel, Baburao (June 1946). ""Bachpan" A Good Idea Badly Produced! – Mazhar, Baby Madhuri And Dixit Do Well". Filmindia: 64–65 – via Internet Archive.
  17. 1 2 ""Nai Maa" Opens At Lamigton". The Times of India. 6 April 1946. p. 8. Retrieved 24 August 2026 – via ProQuest.
  18. 1 2 ""Veer Babruwahan" And "Shakti": OUR REVIEW". The Times of India. 28 October 1950. p. 8. Retrieved 24 August 2026 – via ProQuest.
  19. 1 2 3 Zaveri 2005, p. 62.
  20. ↑ Rajadhyaksha & Willemen 1999, p. 295.
  21. ↑ "Premiere Of Paraya Dhan At Kamal & Novelty Today". The Times of India. 16 June 1945. p. 8. Retrieved 24 August 2026 – via ProQuest.

Sources

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