Veteran actor Mumtaz was at the top of her career and among the highest-paid actors in the Hindi film industry when she decided to quit and settle down after marrying businessman from Uganda, Mayur Madhvani. In an old interaction, Mumtaz spoke about how her family asked her to give up her lucrative career to marry the multi-millionaire.
In an old interaction with E Times, Mumtaz admitted that she believed every woman should marry at a certain time and she seized that moment. She reflected on other female actors of her time and said, “Several heroines of that time didn’t get married. They’re still single. I found a good man who loved me, so I chucked it all. I was fed up of films.”
Mumtaz’s in-laws barred her from working
Mumtaz admitted that her in-laws didn’t want her to work, and she accepted their wishes despite being among the highest-paid actors at that time. “At the time of my marriage, the Madhvani family said that I couldn’t continue working. So I quit my job and got married at a time when I was the highest-paid actress. Who else charged Rs 7.5 lakh per film? Yet, when they said I can’t work anymore, I left the job,” she said in an interaction with Vicky Lalwani. Mumtaz was just 28 when she quit acting to focus on her family.
She also admitted that her family made her understand that heroines have a shelf life, and after a certain age, she would only be offered roles of an aunt or a mother. She alluded to her parents not being greedy and not forcing her to continue working just for money. She said, “My family members were not selfish people who kept pushing me to keep working to bring in more money. I actually respect my family for letting go of a girl who was making crores at that time.”
Mumtaz had multiple miscarriages
But marrying into Mayur Madhvani’s traditional Gujarati family required adjustment from Mumtaz. She admitted the same and said, “I learnt to make dal-dhokli, undhiyu and khandvi. Today, I’m a fairly good cook.” Bearing a child also wasn’t easy for Mumtaz. She admitted having “a string of miscarriages” before giving birth to her daughter Natasha Madhvani. “I spent six months of my pregnancy stuck in bed, staring at the ceiling. So my kids mean a lot to me,” she said.
Mumtaz spoke about husband’s infidelity
But not everything was hunky-dory in Mumtaz’s marriage. Her relationship hit a rough patch when her husband got involved with another woman. Mumtaz admitted to her husband’s affair but emphasised that she didn’t give up on her marriage because of one “stray incident.” Defending her husband, she said, “I was not going to give up a marriage because of a stray incident. My husband is not a flirt; he’s a good-looking man. He made a mistake. Rather than dumping him, I chose to be by his side.”
In another interaction with Pinkvilla, Mumtaz shared her thoughts and admitted that “it’s quite common for men to have affairs discreetly.” She said, “My husband had only one.” In the same interaction, Mumtaz revealed that her husband had confessed to liking a girl in the US but had assured her that he would never leave her. “I respect him for being honest with me,” she said.
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Mumtaz on her affair
Mumtaz also admitted that she was so hurt by her husband’s infidelity that she flew down to India and ended up having a brief affair. She said, “After the episode, I began feeling lonely. Main thodi rubabwali thi. I felt hurt. So, I flew down to India. When you’re amidst thorns and someone comes along with a rose, you do get carried away. But it was nothing serious. Just a temporary phase, which ended soon.”
Mumtaz tried to make a comeback in films with the 1990 release Aandhiyan. However, the film bombed at the box office, and she never returned to the big screen again.
