[…] The decade of the 1950’s saw her at her versatile best, whether as the conventionally fair lady in Amiya Chakravorthy‘s “Badal” (1951) or as the village belle in Tarana (1951) who falls in love with a doctor stranded in her village, a role played by Dilip Kumar, with whom she formed a great on-screen romantic pair. It was her great spontaneity and comic timing in Guru Dutt‘s “Mr. and Mrs. 55“, which saw her evolve and mature as an actress. It was this same flair for comedy which saw Madhubala at her exquisite best in “Chalti ka naam gadi” (1958) paired opposite singer-actor Kishore Kumar whom she married in 1960. The stunning visuals of Madhubala in yet another cult song picturized on her, “Ek ladki Bheegi Bhagi Si“, from this movie epitomize, as it were, her alluring beauty and her tremendous range of histrionics. Her versatility was at its best in her two other major hits of the year, the role of the club dancer in “Howrah Bridge” with Ashok Kumar and the crusading journalist in “Kaala Pani” with Dev Anand. […]