What was her association with the superstar like?

"Just because u do a lot of films together, and vibe well, that doesn’t mean u are having an affair," exclaims Mumtaz. "I am sure Juhi and Shah Rukh have nothing to do with each other but there are rumours of an involvement, which I don’t think are true. Similarly, my friendship with Rajesh Khanna was also misunderstood. He was my neighbour and we got along very well. I would pull his leg and tease him about his fan following. Whenever Rajesh entered a hotel in Madras, there was a queue of 600 girls waiting to see him at midnight! As...

The oomph and spirit of Mumtaz

Dinesh Raheja

In the rollicking sixties comedy, Pyar Kiye Jaa, a still adolescent Mumtaz played a naive starlet who dreams of seeing her name up on billboards.

In hindsight, the role seemed to have a few semi-autobiographical shades.

Mumtaz started her career as a bit role player, made the transition to stunt hero's arm candy (Samson, Rustom-e-Hind), to vamp (Mere Sanam, Kaajal), to comedian's girl (Pyar Kiye Jaa), to seconde lead (Humraaz, Aadmi Aur Insaan), before finally striking it big as a much sought after leading lady who gave three hits with superstar Rajesh...