ElenaEbersbacher at 06:14, 29 April 2026

2026-04-29T06:14:25Z

New page

{{short description|Indian former film actress}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}
{{Infobox actress
| name = Chanchal
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Zeb Ataullah
| birth_date = 1934
| birth_place = [[Delhi]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| relatives = [[Madhubala]] (sister)<br />[[Kishore Kumar]] (brother-in-law)
| spouse = S. K. Prabhakar (died)<br />Ibrahim
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1950–1961
| works = [[Chanchal (actress)#Filmography|See below]]
}}

'''Zeb Ataullah'''<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wY6AQAAIAAJ |title=Asian Film Directory and Who's who |date=1952 |pages=363, 370 |language=en}}</ref> (born 1934), better known by the stage name '''Chanchal''',<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |title=मधुबाला की बहन ने राज कपूर के साथ किया था काम, सुनील दत्त की बनी थी पत्नी, ऑस्कर के लिए गई थी फिल्म |url=https://ndtv.in/bollywood/madhubala-sister-had-worked-with-raj-kapoor-was-sunil-dutt-wife-in-film-mother-india-film-went-for-oscar-8092084/amp/1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250406235001/https://ndtv.in/bollywood/madhubala-sister-had-worked-with-raj-kapoor-was-sunil-dutt-wife-in-film-mother-india-film-went-for-oscar-8092084/amp/1 |archive-date=2025-04-06 |access-date=2025-09-06 |work=NDTV |language=hi}}</ref> is a former Indian actress who appeared in [[Hindi cinema|Hindi]]-language films. The sister of [[Madhubala]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gahlot |first=Deepa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JEqwDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT134 |title=Take-2: 50 Films That Deserve a New Audience |date=2015-10-01 |publisher=Hay House, Inc |isbn=978-93-84544-85-0 |language=en}}</ref> she is best known for portraying Rupa in [[Mehboob Khan]]'s blockbuster ''[[Mother India]]'' (1957).

== Early life ==
Born as Zeb Ataullah<ref name=":4" /> in 1934 in [[Delhi]], Chanchal was one of eleven children of Ataullah Khan and Ayesha Begum. Her parents were of [[Muslims|Muslim]] [[Pashtuns|Pathan]] descent.<ref name=":3" /> Chanchal's five sisters included Mumtaz, better known by her stage name [[Madhubala]], who became one of the most celebrated Bollywood actresses of the 1950s and 1960s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Madhubala's sister, Madhur Bhushan, reveals the most shocking details about the late actor's life {{!}} Filmfare.com |url=https://www.filmfare.com/news/bollywood/madhubalas-sister-madhur-bhushan-reveals-the-most-shocking-details-about-the-late-actors-life-25267.html |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=www.filmfare.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jain |first=Shashi Bhan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uxjgEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA28 |title=India's Past and Present |date=2023-10-31 |publisher=Blue Rose Publishers |pages=28 |language=en}}</ref>

== Career ==
Chanchal appeared in four films headlined by Madhubala: ''[[Pardes (1950 film)|Pardes]]'' (1950), ''[[Naata (film)|Naata]]'' (1955), ''[[Mehlon Ke Khwab]]'' (1960) and ''[[Jhumroo]]'' (1961).<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Akbar |first=Khatija |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0SRlAAAAMAAJ |title=Madhubala: Her Life, Her Films |date=1997 |publisher=UBS Publishers' Distributors |isbn=978-81-7476-153-8 |pages=61 |language=en}}</ref> Of these, ''Naata'' and ''Mehlon Ke Khwab'' were produced by Madhubala and Ataullah Khan. Chanchal's work in the former was praised by critics, with a reviewer for ''Thought'' noting her "lively" performance despite poor direction.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JBbmAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA48-PA19 |title=Thought |date=1955 |publisher=Siddhartha Publications |pages=19 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> However, in ''Mehlon Ke Khwab'' she drew criticism from ''[[filmindia]]'''s [[Baburao Patel]], who remarked that she "just fills the role of a crazy looking filly".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G5dKj4D84egC |title=Filmindia |date=1960 |publisher=Filmindia Publications |pages=56 |language=en}}</ref> In 1960, Chanchal finished another film produced by Khan, ''Ghar Jawai'', opposite [[Kishore Kumar]]; however, it failed to garner any distributor interest and remained unreleased.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dhar |first=Parthiv |url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=A_KIEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=kishore+kumar&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=kishore%20kumar&f=false |title=Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography, Winner of the National Award for Best Book on Cinema, 2022 |last2=Bhattacharjee |first2=Anirudha |date=27 October 2022 |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=978-93-5629-172-0 |pages=267 |language=en}}</ref>

Chanchal's most prominent roles were in [[Mehboob Khan]]'s ''[[Mother India]]'' (1957), as Sukhilala's "wild and tempestuous" daughter Rupa,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Reuben |first=Bunny |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ExhlAAAAMAAJ |title=Mehboob, India's DeMille: The First Biography |date=1994 |publisher=Indus |isbn=978-81-7223-153-8 |pages=218 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Chatterjee |first=Gayatri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MiXODwAAQBAJ&pg=PA82 |title=Mother India |date=2020-05-14 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-83871-967-8 |pages=82 |language=en}}</ref> and in ''[[Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai]]'' (1960), in which she played the village ''belle'' Bijli.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Reuben |first=Bunny |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xdlAAAAMAAJ |title=Raj Kapur, the Fabulous Showman: An Intimate Biography |date=1988 |publisher=National Film Development Corporation |isbn=978-81-85304-03-8 |pages=131 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rajendra |first=Ashish |date=25 February 2025 |title=बड़ी बहन मधुबाला की तरह छोटी ने भी सिनेमा में किया था राज, ऑस्कर के लिए नॉमिनेट हुई थी फिल्म |url=https://www.jagran.com/entertainment/bollywood-madhubala-sister-chanchal-well-known-actress-of-bollywood-her-movie-was-nominated-for-oscar-awards-23890464.html |access-date=6 September 2025 |website=[[Dainik Jagran]] |language=hi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tomar |first=Nancy |date=25 February 2025 |title=Madhubala की बहन की वो फिल्म, जो Oscar के लिए हुई नॉमिनेट, साइड रोल से जीता था दर्शकों का दिल |url=https://hindi.news24online.com/entertainment/madhubala-sister-chanchal-film-mother-india-oscar-nominated/1083366/ |access-date=6 September 2025 |website=News24 Hindi |language=hi}}</ref>

After Madhubala became ill in the early 1960s, Chanchal completed the filming of ''[[Boy Friend (1961 film)|Boy Friend]]'' (1961) as Madhubala's body double.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Patel |first=Bhaichand |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6yQYcxZ8wmsC&pg=PT111 |title=Bollywood's Top 20: Superstars of Indian Cinema |date=2016-01-15 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-81-8475-598-5 |language=en}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Chanchal first married S. K. Prabhakar, a film director and editor, of [[Hindus|Hindu]] background.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deep |first=Mohan |url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=DCVlAAAAMAAJ |title=The Mystery and Mystique of Madhubala |date=1996 |publisher=Magna Books |pages=14 |language=en}}</ref> Prabhakar had worked alongside Madhubala in the films ''[[Kal Hamara Hai (film)|Kal Hamara Hai]]'' and ''[[Do Ustad (1959 film)|Do Ustad]]'' (both 1959).<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Kal Hamara Hai (1959) |url=https://k-amarnath-movie-producer-director.com/kal-hamara-hai-1959/ |access-date=6 September 2025 |website=K. Amarnath Productions |date=17 November 2018 }}</ref> He died early due to a [[ventricular septal defect]].<ref name=":5" />

Chanchal later married Ibrahim.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kumar |first=Dr Ravinder |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mFlCEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA157 |title=Did You Know Indian Film Industry Interesring Facts Circa 1913 And After |date=2025-01-29 |publisher=OrangeBooks Publication |pages=157 |language=en}}</ref> As of 2017, she resided in [[Dubai]], [[United Arab Emirates]].<ref name=":0" />

== Filmography ==
* ''[[Pardes (1950 film)|Pardes]]'' (1950) as Chanchal
* ''[[Nazneen (film)|Nazneen]]'' (1951)
* ''[[Naata (film)|Naata]]'' (1955) as Beena<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y2UPAQAAIAAJ |title=Swatantra |date=1955 |pages=47–48 |language=en}}</ref>
* ''[[Teerandaz (film)|Teerandaz]]'' (1955)
* ''[[Mother India]]'' (1957) as Rupa
* ''[[Mehlon Ke Khwab]]'' (1960) as Bela
* ''[[Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai]]'' (1960) as Bijli
* ''[[Jhumroo]]'' (1961) as Chamki<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Rajadhyaksha |first1=Ashish |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rF8ABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1977-IA1213 |title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema |last2=Willemen |first2=Paul |date=2014-07-10 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-94325-7 |pages=1977 |language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb name|0151266}}

[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:Indian film actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses in Hindi cinema]]
[[Category:Actresses from Delhi]]
[[Category:Pashtun actresses]]
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Indian people of Pashtun descent]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian actresses]]
[[Category:Possibly living people]]

Chanchal actress - Revision history

ElenaEbersbacher at 06:14, 29 April 2026