Flashback Friday: Madhubala’s Famous Floral Saree For A Magazine Photoshoot Decoded

Madhubala is considered among the most gorgeous divas in the Indian cinema. Known for her role in movies such as Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Mughal-E-Azam (1960), and Kala Pani (1958) among others, Madhubala has worked in 73 films. With her performance, she mesmerised the viewers and the late legendary actress was also quite a fashion connoisseur. Well, she made anarkalis famous with Mughal-E-Azam, where she played the role of Anarkali. While we have always appreciated her fashion in the movies, her off-screen fashion was a little less known. But Life Magazine did a photoshoot of Madhubala once and we were stunned to see her fashion game. Like the fashion game of the actresses in the 50s, her fashion sensibility was simple. We have decoded one of her saree looks for you from the magazine photoshoot for this Flashback Friday story.

So, posed against a backdrop of coconut trees, Madhubala was a vision in her saree. She looked gorgeous in her saree, which was accentuated by leaf patterns in white, grey, and red hues. Draped and tucked, Madhubala gave us a contemporary and practical fashion goal. Moreover, before colour-blocks became a trend, Madhubala popularised this trend by pairing her floral saree with a black blouse. Her blouse was half-sleeved and round-necked with embellished details on the neckline and sleeve ends. She also seemed to carry a small red-hued clutch with her.

Her makeup was minimally done and absolutely striking. She upped her look with red lip shade, pink cheekbones, and subtle eye makeup. The wind-swept softly-curled tresses spruced up her avatar. Madhubala looked amazing as ever. So, what do you think about her saree and look? Let us know that.

Picture Courtesy: James Burke for Life Magazine in 1951