Mughal-e-azam (1960)

मुग़ल-ए-आज़म 

This classic film has its flaws, but after I saw it I found myself obsessed with it – and its gorgeous heroine – and had to watch it again just a week later. Hailed as “The biggest Indian film ever made,” this dazzling period piece took nearly a decade to make and was, at the time of its release in 1960, the most expensive film in the history of Hindi cinema.

Mughal-e-azam ("The Greatest Emperor") relates the rebellion of Prince Salim (Dilip Kumar) against his father, the great Mughal emperor Akbar (Prithviraj Kapoor). The rebellion was real, but its cause, as told in the film, is legendary: Salim’s wild love for a maid of the court, Anarkali (Madhubala). Not satisfied with the prospect of Anarkali in his harem, he wants her for his queen, a state of affairs that his father cannot tolerate.  Akbar tosses Anarkali in his dungeon, and the internecine struggle is underway.

What makes this film so mesmerizing is the opulence of the glittering sets, the brilliant costumes, a wonderful soundtrack – and Madhubala, who is heart-stoppingly beautiful. The greatest weakness of the film is that the heady whiff of propaganda blows consistently through it; Mughal-e-Azam tells a 15th century tale that is palpably an allegory for the issues that divided post-Partition India.  At the film's opening, a giant map of India - modern, post-Partition India, not the Mughal empire - rises like the sun over a vast landscape, unsubtly defining the terms on which the film is to be interpreted.  But the political message is only a little distracting, because the dominant concerns of post-Partition India map well onto the famously ecumenical court of Emperor Akbar, and the film takes full advantage of the symbolic possibilities afforded by that history.  Akbar is a Muslim; his wife, Queen Jodha, is Hindu, and so the religion of the rebellious Prince is ambiguous - he represents both, and neither.  In the royal court the traditions of both are observed.   In one sequence, for example, Krishna's birthday is celebrated with a musical performance, with the lead role of Radha played by Anarkali, a Muslim.  The film is loaded with other scenes carrying the message of ecumenical religion and secularist politics. 

At any rate, the political allegory is easily outweighed by the film’s highlights. My favorite parts include Madhubala’s performance at the celebration of Krishna's birthday, the stunningly sexy "Mohe panghat pe."  The film also features the famous “feather scene,” among the most erotic moments I’ve encountered in Hindi cinema.   Other highlights of the brilliant, evergreen soundtrack include Anarkali's bold declaration of defiance, "Pyar kiya to darna kya" ("I have loved so what is there to fear?"), her imprisoned lament "Mohabbat ki jhoothi,"  and a musical debate over the nature of love, argued by Anarkali and her chief rival Bahaar, "Teri mehfil mein."

Note that Mughal-e-azam was originally released in black-and-white (except for two color scenes); a 2004 colorized re-release is trippy and pushes the opulence of the film completely over the top.  Both versions are available on DVD.

Comments

[RAMESH GOYAL]

IS THERE ANY MOVIE IN THE NAME OF 'BUS YUN HI'

[carla]

Rameshji - I know of one movie by that name - it's also written as "Bas yun hi" - it is a fairly recent movie with Nandita Das. I bought it for 99 cents not that long ago but I haven't yet watched it - I've been told that it's only redeeming feature is that Nandita is very pretty in it. ;-)

[Sanket]

Just did a post on this movie over on my blog and I asked my dad & grandfather if they thought there were any post-partition messages in the movie. They said maybe but that this movie is remembered first and foremost for the oft-repeated dialogues that people still go into the movie theater to recite along with to this day.

On that note I was asking some Muslim friends of mine (both Indian & Pakistani) about their thoughts on Muslim actors in Bollywood. The overwhelming majority said that Muslims in India don't really care if their favorite Bollywood actor/actress is Muslim or not - they just like them. Likewise, Pakistani friends have told me that just because a Muslim actor makes it big in Bollywood does not really do anything for them - they chose to stay in India and that is how they are defined.

Have you read a book called 'Freedom at Midnight'? A non-fiction book that reads like fiction about the story of India's Partition - incredible read.

[bawa]

A list for the 60s you have not yet seen/reviewed -really like your reviews by the way, and its a great compilation.

Bandini (a must, but keep kleenexes handy) with one of the best Asha numbers ever;
Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam, Haqueeqat (possibly the best war-films of Indian cinema despite its defects and a songs to die for), Teri Soorat Meri Ankhen,
Gumraah (didn't like the ending), Waqt.

[bawa]

Sorry that should be Meri surat teri ankhen! if only to see Ashok Kumar's daring to take the role at all...

[carla]

Thank you for the suggestions bawa! *Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam* and *Waqt* are already in my collection waiting their turn to be viewed. I'm always happy for more recommendations. :) Glad you are here and enjoy the reviews.

[bawa]

okay, will look forward to your "dissections" of the films. I have to say, you are a lot more forgiving than me regarding the films!

[gauri]

I always check here after watching any oldie.
Just watched this (encouraged by Jodhaa Akbar, which I loved). Completely mesmerizing.
I don't think the communal harmony angle was political - it was social, and many old films of 60s and 70s had it (Amar Akbar Anthony).
Nor did I see it as dominating it as you seem to have.
Akbar's secularism was no joke. We already know he was illiterate, which points to a very indifferent religious education (otherwise he would read and write).
At the point in the film he was even dabbling with his own religion incorporating teachings from the two religions.
His secularisn extended to his courtiers. One of the great Indian poets, a muslim, called kalidas was one of the 9 jewels. He learned sanskrit and wrote 2 books on astrology, and was even the friend of Tulsidas who wrote the Hindu holy book Ram charitra manas.

As for the map of India - I guess they couldn't have shown Pakistan because the voiceover was saying 'I am India (main hindustan hoon).

But at the end they show a pre-partition map.

[gauri]

Sorry, I just realised that I wrote the wrong poet's name. It should be Rahimdas. People are so surprised that he was a devotee of Krishna that they think they are two different people.

[Greg Cameron]

I saw the colourized version of "Mughal-E-Azam" - while I'm usually a stickler for seeing things in their original format, I concede the colourization here was done lovingly and tastefully. I really loved this movie - it's a classic that should be seen any way you can get it. I loved the performance of the woman playing Anarkali, the romantic lead - slave girl/dancing girl/courtesan(as the box would have it). Even in the scenes where she looks as if she had been dragged face-first around a farmyard, she still looks radiant. Is this the face that launched, dot, dot, dot? Indeed. I also loved the performance of the gentleman playing Emperor Akbar. He was full of outraged dignity, imperial bluster, and yet paternal tenderness. A great performance. The best scene for the actor playing Prince Salim was the scene where he had just come back from war - he really did look as if he had been swimming in pools of blood, so to speak. Forgive me for putting it this way, but when the father and the son take to the field to wage war on each other it seems positively Oeidipal. Grandly staged and photographed. The battle scenes are without parallel. Greg Cameron, Surrey, B.C., Canada

[carla]

Thanks for the comments Gauri, and Greg.

Gauri: I'm not entirely clear on the distinction you are drawing between the "political" and the "social" - this may be a subtlety that eludes me as an outsider. Your comparison to Amar Akbar Anthony seems entirely in line with what I was saying about Mughal-e-Azam - the merging of syncretic and patriotic messages is, to me, the defining (and most delightful) characteristic of Amar Akbar Anthony.

Greg: There remain great unforgivable holes in my knowledge of Hindu mythology, but I wonder if there isn't some story analogous to that of Oedipus lurking in the foundations of Indian lore as well. It seems potentially a very universal sort of tension.