 APRIL 23 - Indian movie Mughal-e-Azam or The Great Mughal was screened at Gulistan Cinema
in Lahore Sunday morning and with it the forbidden love of Pakistanis for Indian movies was allowed into
the open.
The public screening after 41 years of a 1960 Indian classic beloved
on both sides of the border will go nationwide from June 2.
The movie, a historical romance with a
tragic ending, may have been made in Bombay, as Mumbai was known
until a few years ago, but was set in Lahore at a time when Muslims
ruled India.
The film’s premiere was held on Saturday April 22 for selected
government officials, socialites and other important personalities.
The Punjab governor was also invited.
 Akbar beats Shah Jahan
Hunt begins for new-age Anarkali
"I've seen it a dozen times on video, but watching Mughal-e-Azam on
the big screen was special," said Abdul Waheed, a long-haired,
bearded pensioner of 75, after buying his ticket for the first
screening in Pakistan of the 1960 classic.
The story of a doomed love affair between Prince Salim, the wayward
son of Emperor Akbar, and a slave girl called Arnakali, Mughal-e-Azam
is often characterized by critics as India's answer to the American
Civil War epic "Gone With The Wind".
It took nine years to make, but the project would have been started
sooner had the Muslim family who first put up money for the film not
decided to opt for Pakistan in the partition of India that
accompanied independence from Britain in 1947.
 Despite the mass exodus of Muslims 59 years ago, there are around
145 million in India today, almost as many as in Pakistan, and they
remain prominent in Bollywood.
Mughal-e-Azam's romantic leads were both played by stars whose
Hindu-sounding screen names belied their Muslim origins.
Dilip Kumar was born Yusuf Khan, in Peshawar, capital of modern-day
Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.
Madhubala, whose face was as iconic to Indian audiences as Greta
Garbo's had been in the West, was born Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi.
"I just wanted to see Dilip Kumar and Madhubala on the big screen,"
one middle-aged housewife beamed as she took her seat along with her
family and some 400 other fans as the lights dimmed and the curtains
rose.
Trivia on Mughal-e-Azam
* Famed qawwali singer Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan sang several songs
for the movie, as the voice of Tansen. He reportedly charged Rs.
25,000 per song. At that time, the going rate for popular Indian
playback singers such as Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi was below
Rs. 500 per song.
* Although the dance sequence Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya is set
in the Shish Mahal (Mirror Room) of the Lahore Fort, it was actually
filmed in the Shish Mahal of the Agra Fort. The Sikh Golden Temple
also has a Shish Mahal, a mirror room. Decoration with mirrors
(known as Aleppo glass) was a recurring theme in early Mughal-period
architecture.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore on Friday, film
distributor Nadeem
Mandviwala said that Rs 20 million had been given to the government
for the film’s rights and now it was up to the government to decide
how much money it wanted to give to the October 8 earthquake victims
in Kashmir. Piracy could be brought to an end by screening Indian
films in Pakistan legally, for which the film industry had also
sought the government’s help, he added.
 He said the film has been launched in Pakistan because of Akbar Asif
who wanted his father’s masterpiece to be the first-ever Indian film
screened in Pakistan over two decades. Mughal-e-Azam is a historical
masterpiece based on the legend of ‘Salim and Anarkali’, the icons
of a common heritage between India and Pakistan. The film was
originally released in India by K Asif in 1960. The print was a gift
to President Pervez Musharraf from Akbar Asif during the president's
visit to London in 2004.
Members of the Pakistani film industry hope the exceptions made for Mughal-e-Azam
and Taj Mahal, a brand new epic from Bollywood that will be released
in Pakistani cinemas later this week, will lead to a general
lowering of barriers. Indian films are banned in Pakistan.
Says Akbar Asif, "The proceeds fro Mughal-e-Azam will go towards
the earthquake-affected victims in Pakistan. But this is just the
beginning of an Indo-Pak bridge. There is a lot in the offing.
Anarkali will bring together India and Pakistan. I want to create a
sense of friendship that would last beyond our lifetime".
Related stories
'Taj
Mahal' ready for release
Mughal-e-Azam allowed
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mughal-e-Azam (Urdu: مغلِ اعظم, Devanagari: मुग़ल-ए आज़म) 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.
The film initially had a lacklustre opening, but quickly gathered
momentum, eventually becoming one of India's most celebrated movies.
Its most famous dance sequence takes place in the Sheesh Mahal
(Palace of Mirrors) of the Lahore Fort, where a defiant slave-girl
(played by Madhubala) dances for the Mughal Emperor and his court,
singing Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya, "I have loved, so what is there to
fear?" 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 by Lata Mangeshkar and
lip-synched by Madhubala.
In 2004, a colorized version of the movie was released by Legend
Films. The movie was again a success.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending
details follow.
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
Jahangir. 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. |
Articles/Opinions
