Many stars have died before their time, but they were usually felled by drugs or alcohol. Not Madhubala (1933-1969). Her tragedy was of a different sort: she was born with a heart defect that doomed her to an early death. Even in her twenties, before she had to retire completely from acting, she suffered on set from exhaustion and weakness. Yet her beauty and expressiveness were—and remain—incomparable. She lit up the Bollywood screen like no other.
The defining peak of her career was her role in Mughal-e-Azam as Anarkali, the dancer who loves the son of Emperor Akbar and offers to sacrifice her life for him. An entire fashion trend—the “Anarkali” suit—was inspired by the costume she wore for the song “Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya” (our main illustration above, and video below). If you have a party-wear suit in the Anarkali style, you can turn yourself into Madhubala with the addition of a few accessories. Here are the pieces you’ll need:
1. Anarkali-style kameez. This is the gold standard to shoot for: full skirt, chiffon, light minty blue or green.
2. Red churidars or leggings.
3. Turkish scoop vest in burgundy velvet.
4. Anarkali cap with feather. Also called a qawwali cap. If you’re in India you can probably order one of these online, but here in North America you’ll need to rig something up. This page provides a little tutorial on making one from scratch. But if you want to save time, we suggest putting together some pre-made items. Start with a dark red kufi hat:
Stick on a border of self-adhesive jewel trim in whatever color you like (this is literally peel and stick, no ironing or gluing required):
Finish it off by pinning a white feathered brooch to one side of the cap towards the front:
5. Red chiffon veil. You can pin this inside your cap and let it flow down your back.
6. Bollywood jewelry set with maroon stones. The more spectacular, the better!
Additional jewelry: Pretty much everything you can lay your hands on. Haul out all your party pieces (and anybody else’s you can borrow as well).
The “Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya” scene from Mughal-e-Azam:
