Striking veracity abaft making of Mughal-E-Azam an epic
Striking veracity abaft making of Mughal-E-Azam an epic
The epic magnum opus “Mughal-E-Azam” has blossomed again like the Phoenix of ancient Greek mythology and is holding the world audience as spellbound as it had done with the Indian audience in the past.
The Phoenix is an immortal bird in Greek mythology born again and again.
Recently the memories of the film came alive at one of the best recognised venues in the world. At New York’s Times Square spectators were a witness to a moment of Bollywood magic and the place was taken over by a flash mob that grooved to the memorable lilting tunes of the song “Jab Pyaar Kiya to Darna Kya”.
The most popular song has an queer history to it. It cost one crore rupees to shoot at a time when an entire film could be shot for much less. It was scripted and revised no less than 105 times by the lyricist Shakeel Badayuni prior to the approval by the renowned music director and composer Naushad. The set for the song was based on the Sheesh Mahal in Lahore fort.
The set was massive in size and ever made measuring 150 feet in length, 80 feet in width and 35 feet in height. There were immeasurable small mirrors made of Belgian glass, crafted and designed by specialist workers from Firozabad in UP. However, even then the set took two years to construct. As the months passed by the makers got more and more worried on the escalating costs.
The high costs gave rise to fears that the financiers of the film would become penniless if the film flopped. Only Asif displayed a rare courage and passion and charged ahead notwithstanding all apprehensions.
The idea of the film took birth in 1944 when K. Asif read a play called Anarkali scripted by Imtiaz Ali Taj. Asif’s original plan had been to cast an actor by the name of Chandramohan and the popular actress Nargis in the lead roles. But before the film could begin, Chandramohan died. Asif put his plans on hold for some time.
Later he began working on it again and finally, 16 years after he had thought of it, the film saw its completion.
Captivating Madhubala
In every way the film depicted authenticity. The heavy chains that Madhubala had to wear in the film were real, not lightweight models. For her it was a great ordeal and she was bedridden for days, nursing the bruises caused by wearing those chains. Madhubala had extremely delicate and sensitive skin and the chains left marks on her for weeks after the filming. Her sister Shahida once said: “What can I say about her beauty? None of us came close to Aapa.”
When she signed the film, Madhubala was paid one lakh rupees which is a small amount these days for a star, but at that time it was the highest amount ever paid to a top actress.
Many years later Dilip Kumar revealed that Asif wanted to capitalise on the emotional involvement between himself and Madhubala so as to bring reality to the screen. But he said that many of the romantic scenes were shot when the two of them were in a highly frictional stage of their relationship and were not even speaking to each other. But on screen everything appeared extraordinarily true.
Specialists in their craft were brought since the film was the most expensive ever made in Indian history. Tailors were brought from Delhi to stitch the costumes, specialists from Surat were employed for the embroidery, Hyderabad goldsmiths made the jewellery, Kolhapur craftsmen designed the crowns, Rajasthan ironsmiths crafted the weapons, and the elaborate footwear came from Agra.
K.Asif had roped in Soldiers from the Indian Army those who fought real battles for the battle scenes to give authenticity to the story.
There were 8000 extras who were involved in the battles and many of them were real life army men. For the battles, 2000 camels and 4000 horses were also used. These animals had to be properly fed and housed in stables and this too sent costs skyrocketing.
If no exaggeration Mughal-E-Azam was the Titanic of the film world
We need to doff our hats to Asif who conceived this grand spectacle and to those who helped him. On its maiden voyage to the USA, the Titanic sank to the bottom of the sea. But Mughal-E-Azam sails on even today.
With its sails billowing in the wind, the film has traversed the oceans and reached the shores of America to make the people aware of the glorious history and culture of India.
News input KV Raman
