Madhubala rarely had any financial succees between 1948 and early 1949 but her performances were regularly praised by film critics. Her first release of 1949 was the thriller "Sipahiya", in which she, according to Baburao Patel, gave an "excellent performance as a romantic maiden." Films which followed were the musical "Paras," in which she played a supporting role alongside Kamini Kaushal and Rehman, and another thriller "Aparadhi," where her enactment of an independent woman garnered her positive reviews. It was stated that she made Kaushal "look like an amateur" in the former, and was called the "only silver lining" of the latter.