When Madhubala was a child, she had a friend called Latif. Before leaving for Mumbai, Madhubala gave him a red rose and an indication for their love. After she left, he became depressed. He kept the rose with himself and later became an Indian Administrative Service officer. When Madhubala died, he placed that red rose on her grave. He used to keep a red rose in her grave on 23 February every year until it was demolished. This episode has been independently verified by another retired IAS officer, Manohar Subrahmanyam, who knew the real Latif as a fellow bureaucrat and who confirmed the story as true.