Madhubala and Dilip Kumar’s relationship remains one of the most remembered romances in Hindi cinema, with their separation continuing to invite speculation decades later. Several accounts have emerged over the years about what led to their breakup. Veteran actress Mumtaz recently suggested that Dilip Kumar ended the relationship after learning about Madhubala’s heart condition and her inability to conceive. However, Madhubala’s sister, Madhur Bhushan, has now disputed the claim, insisting that the actor’s illness was diagnosed much later.Madhur described the circumstances surrounding the breakup and said Mumtaz’s account was inaccurate. “This is a very big story,” she remarked before clarifying that Madhubala’s heart condition had developed after her relationship with Dilip Kumar had ended. “She got heart problem much later. Dilip Kumar was nowhere in the picture,” she said in an interview with Vickey Lalwani.Madhur said Madhubala began experiencing heart complications around the time she was shooting for ‘Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi’ (1958). Rejecting Mumtaz’s version of events, she added, “The statement is completely wrong.” She also revealed that Madhubala and Dilip Kumar are buried close to each other at Mumbai’s Juhu Muslim Kabrastan. “They are buried very close to each other. Just five to 10 metres apart.”Madhubala and Dilip Kumar’s relationship reportedly came to an end in 1957, while they were working on ‘Mughal-E-Azam’. Their separation is widely attributed to differences between Dilip Kumar and Madhubala’s father, Ataullah Khan, who opposed their relationship.In his autobiography, ‘Dilip Kumar: The Substance and the Shadow’, the veteran actor recalled that Ataullah Khan had initially planned to set up a film studio with Dilip Kumar and Madhubala as its leading stars. However, Dilip Kumar was uncomfortable with the proposal, adding to the differences between them. By the time they were working on ‘Mughal-E-Azam’, the former couple were reportedly no longer speaking to each other.Dilip Kumar also made it clear in his book that Madhubala’s heart condition was not responsible for their separation.Recalling the onset of her sister’s illness, Madhur said Madhubala fainted while shooting for ‘Bahut Din Huwe’. She also vomited blood for the first time during this period. “When we visited the doctor, they said we feel there is something wrong in the chest,” Madhur recalled.Her account, however, appeared to differ from her earlier statement that Madhubala’s heart complications began during the filming of ‘Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi’. While the latter was released in 1958, ‘Bahut Din Huwe’ came out in 1954. Madhur acknowledged that she could not recall the film titles accurately, explaining, “I don’t remember these film names as Abba didn’t allow all this.”Madhubala was shooting in Chennai at the time and returned to Mumbai for further medical examinations on her doctor’s advice. It was then that she learnt she had a hole in her heart.“No doctor in Bombay was capable to treat her as technology wasn’t so advanced then. It was a complicated surgery. Madhubala and Kishore Kumar were in a romantic relationship by then. They had even starred in multiple movies together,” Madhur said.According to Madhur, Kishore Kumar decided to marry Madhubala after her diagnosis and later took her to London for medical consultations. Recalling the visit, she said, “When they went to London, the doctor within fifteen minutes of meeting her said she had a hole in her heart and she had another two years to live. There is no cure to this and no doctor would take the risk,” she recalled.Madhur said several doctors consulted by the family reached similar conclusions, but Madhubala found it difficult to accept the diagnosis. “Madhubala didn’t believe them. She said, ‘Sab bakwas karte hai. There is no hole in my heart. I can run, I can dance.’ However, she fainted during the Mughal-E-Azam song where she is in chains,” Madhur said.Madhubala’s condition reportedly worsened after the incident, and she lost a considerable amount of weight. Recalling the final years of her sister’s life, Madhur said, “She was critically ill. She struggled breathing. That’s why she died. She was bedridden even before the age of 30. As soon as she turned 36, she died.”Madhubala died in 1969 at the age of 36 after years of battling her heart condition.When asked how Kishore Kumar responded to Madhubala’s illness, Madhur declined to discuss her personal experiences with him. “I don’t want to speak about the kind of attitude and behaviour he had. I have been taught to let the dead be in peace. I don’t want to speak about him,” she said.In an interview with The Illustrated Weekly of India, Kishore Kumar had acknowledged that he knew Madhubala was “very sick” when he married her.