Mughal-e-Azam
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Mughal-e-Azam is an Indian romance film, a product of the Bollywood movie industry. It was produced and directed by K. Asif and released in 1960. It was nine years in the making and was a lavish production for its time.
Its most famous dance sequence takes place in the Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors) of the Agra Fort, where a defiant slave-girl (played by Madhubala) dances for the Mughal Emperor and his court, singing Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya, "What is there to fear? All I have done is to love." This song was one of three sequences shot on Eastman Kodak color film, while the rest of the movie was in black and white. The singing is, of course, playback singing, in which Madhubala mouths the words which are actually sung by the queen of Indian playback singers, Lata Mangeshkar.
The film is a re-telling of a popular Indian tale, previously filmed as Loves of a Mughal Prince (1928) and Anarkali (1953). It is loosely based on an episode in the life of the Mughal prince Jehangir. In the movie, the great conqueror Akbar (played by Prithviraj Kapoor) and his Rajput wife have but one son, a weak and pleasure-loving prince named Salim (Dilip Kumar). Salim falls in love with Anarkali (Madhubala), a slave and court-dancer. He wants to marry her; his father objects, and throws Anarkali into prison. Anarkali refuses to reject Salim. Salim revolts against his father, is beaten in battle, and sentenced to death. Anarkali buys his life with her own and is condemned to be walled up alive. However, the emperor relents at the last moment.
The film is excellent on many counts. The acting is top-notch, the score, by Naushad, is memorable, the singing and dancing are well-done, and the cinematography (by R.D. Mathur) is stylish. The film evokes the glorious days of the Mughal empire, with its lavish palaces, Persian-style gardens, jeweled costumes, and courtly dialogue (in poetic, Persian-influenced Urdu).
In 2004, a colorized version of the movie was released. The movie brought back massive crowds into the cinema halls, and has steadily remained at the top of the hit lists. It is a success all over again.
External links
- Template:Imdb title
- Article in Dawn, Karachi, discussing the historicity of the incident (http://www.dawn.com/weekly/images/images13.htm)