Mughal-E-Azam (1960)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

K. Asif

Writers:

Aman (dialogue)
Aman (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 April 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Musical | Romance | War

Plot:

Set in the 16th century AD, the movie brings to life the tale of the doomed love affair between the Mughal Crown Prince Saleem and the beautiful...

Plot Keywords:

Prince | Mughal | Love | Empire | Muslim

Awards:

3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Prithviraj Kapoor	...	Badshah Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar (as Prithviraj)
Dilip Kumar	...	Shehzada Nooruddin Mohammad Saleem
Madhubala	...	Anarkali
Durga Khote	...	Empress Jodha Bai
Nigar Sultana	...	Bahar
Ajit	...	Durjan Singh
M. Kumar	...	Sculptor Sangtaraash (as Kumar)
Murad	...	Raja Mann Singh
Jilloo Maa	...	Anarkali's Mother (as Jillo Bai)
Vijayalaxmi
S. Nazir
Sheela Delaya	...	Suraiya, Anarkali's Sister
Surendra		(as Surinder)
Johnny Walker
Jalal Agha	...	Young Prince Saleem

Also Known As:

The Emperor of the Mughals
The Great Mughal

Runtime:

173 min | 185 min (2004 colorized version)

Country:

India

Language:

Urdu

Colour:

Black and White | Colour (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (2004 re-release) | Mono

Certification:

UK:PG

Company:

Sterling Investment Corp.

Trivia:

K. Asif initially cast Sapru, Chandramohan and Nargis for the roles of Akbar, Salim and Anarkali.

Quotes:

[Salim is on his way to be sealed in a brick wall]
Prince Saleem: Do you see any fear in your son's face?
Empress Jodha Bai: Absolutely not, I have trust in my blood. I came to congratulate you - a true Rajput prince may even have death as his bride.
[she places a garland Bahar gives her on his neck. Bahar's face is tear-stained]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Haseena Maan Jaayegi (1999)

Soundtrack:

Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya

Art!

I haven't seen the black and white original of Mughal E Azam since the '80's, but I recently saw the restored revived colourised 2004 re-release for the first time and was astounded by the results. I'm not a believer in messing around with the originals, but bearing in mind director Asif always wanted to make the whole film in colour but didn't have enough money the "final" product is amazing to see - such is technology! It was incredibly expensive to make as it was, the restoration process must have cost a fabulous amount too.

Seminal Indian epic purporting to deal with events from about 400 years ago around Prince Saleem (Dilip Kumar) falling in love with a court dancer Anarkali (Madhubala) to his father Akbar's utter opposition and eventually causing a rift leading to all out war. The drama and war spectacle scenes are memorable enough, with thousands of humans and animals as extras, and the music is uniformly superb too. But it's Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya (If I have loved someone>why should I be afraid?) sung by Anarkali (Lata) to the 2 of them in the Hall Of Mirrors that is absolutely stunning - I will have to get the original and compare, because the remaster seems to have turned this song into something even more magical and mesmerising than I remembered. It took Naushad and Shakeel Badayuni one night to compose music and lyrics so timeless - a colourful piece of poetry in motion, with the insistent kaleidoscopic climax added by Asif. Awesome! According to the legend it was supposed to have an unhappy ending - needless to say I'm glad it was altered here to a happy one after such a roller-coaster ride!

A tremendous work of Art, showing the very best of Indian cinema.