Mumtaz, one of the most popular actresses of the 1970s and 1980s, turns 79 on July 31. At the height of her career, her popularity was immense, with outfits she wore on screen often becoming fashion trends. Her beauty and charm also attracted marriage proposals from personalities like Yash Chopra and Shammi Kapoor. However, Mumtaz, who was deeply committed to her career, turned them all down. Ironically, there was a time when actors such as Shashi Kapoor and Jeetendra were reluctant to work with her because of her appearances in B-grade films. On her birthday, here's a look at some lesser-known stories from Mumtaz's life and career. Story-1 Watched Films Sitting on Lata Mangeshkar's Lap, Would Say, "Auntie, Call Me Next Time Too" Mumtaz was born on July 31, 1947, to Abdul Samad Akhsari, a dry-fruit vendor from Hyderabad. Her family had Iranian roots, and her father came from a lineage of imams. Her parents separated when she was just a year old, leaving her mother to raise Mumtaz and her elder sister, Malika, on her own. Her mother worked as a junior artist in films and eventually settled in Bombay. Mumtaz often accompanied her mother to film sets, where she would spend her time playing and watching films. Her frequent presence on sets eventually led to her first acting opportunity. At just five years old, she made her debut as a child artist in Sanskar. She later appeared as a child artist in films including Yasmin (1955), Sone Ki Chidiya (1958), Lajwanti (1958) and Talaq (1958). After getting work in films, the family's financial situation improved, and Mumtaz came to live with her mother in a building in Walkeshwar. Right above them was Lata Mangeshkar's house, where films were shown on 16MM. Being from the same industry, Lata showered a lot of affection on little Mumtaz. Whenever she started a film at home, she would call Mumtaz over. Lata would make her sit on her lap and watch the film, and she would soon fall asleep. But every time she left, she would say, "Aunty, whenever you watch a film, call me too." Many times, Lata Mangeshkar's brothers would drop her home while she was asleep. Story-2 Received news of mother's death on set, asked director - Can I leave? Spending the whole day on film sets, she soon started taking on family responsibilities. At the age of 12, she got a character role in 'Zameen Ke Tare' (1960). After seeing her performance in this film, famous director V. Shantaram gave her a good role in the film 'Stree'. One day, Mumtaz arrived on the set of the film 'Stree'. Mumtaz was giving a dance shot when news came from home - 'Mother is no more.' 13-year-old Mumtaz stood silently and after a while asked director V. Shantaram - 'What should I do, Anna?' V. Shantaram was flustered and said - 'You must go.' Mumtaz immediately left for Hyderabad. She attended the funeral and returned to the set the very next day. On this, Mumtaz had said in an interview given to Radio Nasha, 'In those days, even if someone died and the producer's set was ready, you had to go. You couldn't bankrupt the producer, because another producer's set was to be put up after them.' Anecdote - 3 Mehmood offered her a film after seeing her beauty, Shashi Kapoor rejected her calling her a B-grade actress At the age of 14, Mumtaz worked in the film 'Gehra Daag'. In the film, she played the role of hero Rajendra Kumar's sister. Around the same time, she got her first lead role with wrestler Dara Singh in the 1963 film 'Faulad'. Seeing Dara Singh's stature, no actress was ready to work with him, so Mumtaz was given this role. The pair was a hit, and then Mumtaz got a total of 16 films one after another with Dara Singh. Apart from these films, Mumtaz also worked in many B-grade films, although she did not gain much recognition. Mumtaz's elder sister Malika also entered films and did many films with comedian-actor Mehmood. One day, when Mehmood went to meet Malika for work, his eyes fell on Mumtaz. He kept staring at the extremely beautiful Mumtaz. When Mehmood was cast in the film 'Pyaar Kiye Jaa' alongside Shashi Kapoor and Kishore Kumar, he cast Mumtaz opposite him. However, her role in the film was small. One day, during a film shoot, Mehmood told Shashi Kapoor to cast Mumtaz in his upcoming films. Shashi Kapoor replied curtly, "No, I will never make that actress my heroine, who has done B-grade films with Dara Singh." Who knew that this actress from B-grade films would soon become a top and highest-paid actress. Story - 4 Mumtaz became Dilip Kumar's heroine at Mehmood's insistence After working together in the film 'Pyar Kiye Ja', Mehmood started casting Mumtaz in opposite roles in all his films. He had sensed that Mumtaz had the talent and passion to become a top actress. He also advised other heroes to work with Mumtaz. When Mehmood came to know that Dilip Kumar was doing the film 'Ram Aur Shyam', in which he had a double role, he directly went to recommend Mumtaz. At that time, Dilip Kumar was shooting at RK Studio. Mehmood went to him and said, "There's a new girl, very talented, please work with her." Dilip Kumar replied, "I am busy right now, bring the girl's photo during the lunch break." Mehmood, in a hurry, went to a studio and brought back the entire reel of Mumtaz's song. During the lunch break, when he showed Dilip Kumar Mumtaz's reel, he said, "Buddy Mehmood, the girl looks very good, she's beautiful, she dances too, she's a very lovely girl. I will do it. It's a double role, one is Waheeda, the other will be Mumtaz." The film 'Ram Aur Shyam' was a hit and Mumtaz gained recognition nationwide. Story- 5 Jeetendra refused to work together, Director said - If there is an objection, I will change the hero, not the heroine. Before the film Ram Aur Shyam was released, Mumtaz got work in the film Bandhan (1967). Jeetendra and director V. Shantaram's daughter Rajshree were in the lead roles, and Mumtaz had a side role. Just before the film's shooting began, Rajshree's marriage was fixed, and she left the film. In this scenario, V. Shantaram gave Mumtaz the lead role in the film. As soon as Jeetendra received this news, he immediately called the director and objected. He said, 'Why did you make her the heroine? Find another heroine.' The reply was, 'Mumtaz will be the heroine; if you have a problem, then you leave the film.' It was V. Shantaram who had made Jeetendra a hero, so Jeetendra was forced to do the film. Similarly, Shashi Kapoor was cast in the 1969 film Do Raaste. Later, when Mumtaz was cast, Shashi Kapoor left the film. Rajesh Khanna was later signed for this film. The film's song 'Bindiya Chamkegi, Choodi Khankegi' was a big hit. Story-6 Gave up Mercedes for Amitabh Amitabh Bachchan was new to the industry when he got work with Mumtaz in the film "Bandhe Haath". Mumtaz was quite popular by then. Her success can be gauged from the fact that while Amitabh Bachchan used to come in an ordinary car, Mumtaz would arrive on set in a Mercedes. Amitabh really liked her car. One day he told his co-workers, "I like this car, watch, one day I will also drive a Mercedes." Somehow, this remark reached Mumtaz's ears. That day, when she finished shooting and left, she took Amitabh's car and left her own on the set. When Amitabh came out, he couldn't find his car. When he asked around, the guard told him that Mumtaz had left her car for him so he could drive it. Amitabh took her car home, and in this way, Mumtaz fulfilled Amitabh's wish. Story - 7 When Shammi Kapoor proposed her, Raj Kapoor removed her from Mera Naam Joker Giving hit films, Mumtaz became a big actress. Around the same time in 1968, she was cast with Shammi Kapoor in the film Brahmachari. Working together, they started liking each other. After its release, the film became a superhit and its songs 'Aaj Kal Tere Mere Pyar Ke Charche', 'Chakke Mein Chakka', 'Chakke Pe Gaadi' became very popular. Some time after the film's release, Shammi Kapoor and Mumtaz got into a relationship. After some time, Shammi Kapoor proposed marriage to her. Mumtaz also wanted to get married, but Raj Kapoor put a condition that if she wanted to marry, Mumtaz would have to stop working in films; the daughters-in-law of our house do not work. Mumtaz was at the peak of her career at that time and did not want to quit work due to family responsibilities. Shammi Kapoor also promised to provide financial help to her family, but Mumtaz sacrificed love for her career. At the time when Mumtaz and Shammi Kapoor's marriage was being discussed, Raj Kapoor cast her in the role of a foreign woman in the film Mera Naam Joker. As soon as he found out that Shammi wanted to marry her, Raj Kapoor removed Mumtaz from the film. Raj Kapoor had told Mumtaz - I cannot take you. I will not give such an open role to family members. Later, Russian actress Ksenia was cast in place of Mumtaz. Story - 8 Refused to play Dev Anand's sister in the film Mumtaz worked with Dev Anand in the 1971 film Tere Mere Sapne. A few years later, she was offered the film Hare Rama Hare Krishna, but was told that she had to play Dev Sahab's sister. Mumtaz immediately refused. She said, "I will never play the role of a sister to such a romantic hero." Hearing this, Dev Anand laughed heartily and said, "You will work in the film, but as my heroine." Later, Zeenat Aman was given the role of the sister, and Mumtaz played the lead role opposite Dev Anand. This film was a huge hit. Anecdote - 9 Rajesh Khanna used to get upset when Mumtaz worked with other heroes Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz had a very deep friendship. Whenever Mumtaz signed a film with another actor, Rajesh Khanna would get upset about it. To this, Mumtaz would tell him - You also sign films with other actresses, I don't get upset. With this habit of hers, she used to pacify Rajesh Khanna. Story-10 Married at 24 and left films, in-laws stopped her from working Mumtaz was at the peak of her career when her family arranged her marriage with Mayur Madhvani, a wealthy businessman from Uganda. In conservative Muslim families, it was customary to marry early. When her family pressured her, Mumtaz couldn't say no. She returned the signing amounts for most of her films and completed the shooting of the unfinished ones. In 1974, she married Mayur and settled in Uganda. Even before the marriage, her husband's brother clearly stated that Mumtaz would have to quit working in films. After marriage, she had 3-4 miscarriages. She has two daughters, named Natasha and Tanya. Her elder daughter Natasha is married to actor Fardeen Khan. Fardeen's father Feroz Khan and Mumtaz are close friends. Story - 11 Before his death, Shammi Kapoor expressed a wish to meet Mumtaz; when they met, she broke down in tears In 2010, Mumtaz was in India when she received a call from Shammi Kapoor's wife, Neela Devi. Neela told her that Shammi Kapoor wished for her to come to his birthday party. Mumtaz replied, 'I will definitely come.' As soon as she arrived at the party, she saw Shammi Kapoor drinking alcohol. Everyone associated with the film industry knew that Shammi Kapoor's health had been deteriorating for several months. Mumtaz came closer and said- 'If you are not well, why are you drinking alcohol?' Shammi Kapoor replied- 'I am not going to live for long.' That day, Mumtaz learned that Shammi Kapoor had only a few months left. She became emotional and said- 'You can drink. Enjoy yourself.' After some time, Mumtaz left from there. As she left, she just said- 'Take care of yourself.'