This actress started working at 13, romanced her own elder brother on screen, lost her memory, Meena Kumari was her...

Born on April 26, 1942 to dancer and actor Mumtaz Ali and Latif-un-nisa Ali, Malikunnisa Ali had seven other siblings including the legendary comedian Mehmood, who was 10 years older than her. Mumtaz was an alcoholic and thus, the financial burden of the family fell on Mehmood and Malikunnisa. While Mehmood started working in the Hindi film industry as a child actor at 11 with the 1945 film Kismet, Malikunnisa also followed in his footsteps. She was so beautiful that the director Nanubhai Vakil offered her a role in his 1955 film Sakhi Hatim when she was just 13. By then, Mehmood was married to Meena Kumari's sister Madhu Kumari, whose real name was Mahliqa. The legendary actress Meena Kumari rechristened Malikunnisa Ali as Minoo Mumtaz.

Minoo Mumtaz became a successful character actor and dancer in the Bollywood in the 1950s and 1960s. She was seen in several famous films such as Kaagaz Ke Phool, Chaudhvin Ka Chand, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Yahudi, Ghungat, Taj Mahal, Ghar Basake Dekho, Sindbad Alibaba and Aladdin, and Preet Na Jane Reet among others. 

A huge controversy erupted in Minoo's career when she was seen romancing her elder brother Mehmood in the song Gora Rang, Chunariya Kali in the 1958 film Howrah Bridge. The sibling duo took this step because of their financial circumstances and had to face enormous public outrage and backlash. 

Talking about her personal life, Minoo tied the knot with director S. Ali Akbar in 1963 and the couple had three daughters and a son. She decided to leave the film industry to concentrate on her married life. As she had signed a few films such as Jahan Ara, Ghazal, Chitralekha, and Gaban before her marriage, she worked through her pregnancy to complete them. In 2003, the veteran actress lost her memory for a brief while as a four-inch tumour was discovered in her brain. She underwent treatment in Toronto for the same and recovered her memory. Her health deteriorated over the years and Minoo Mumtaz finally passed away on October 23, 2021, at the age of 79 in the Canadian city.

READ | Kalki 2898 AD director Nag Ashwin reveals he went into depression after watching Christopher Nolan's Inception: 'It affected me so...'