There’s a grave in Lahore claimed to be Anarkali’s. Asif pitches it as a historical epic the fact is that there’s no historical basis for the enchanting figure of Anarkali. The film opens with a map of India, with the mighty Hindustan of Himalaya and Ganga as the narrator. Incidentally, at the heart of Mughal-E-Azam is a powerful father figure. (Meena Kumari being a shining example and victim of an oppressive father.) He was perhaps afraid that he would lose Madhubala/Baby Mumtaz who had been the sole bread winner for the large family from her days as a child artiste, a theme that was common in Hindi cinema of that time. Admitting that Madhubala did “have some of the attributes I hoped to find in a woman at that age and time,” the reason they could no longer be together was her greedy father’s alleged attempts at making a business venture out of their marriage. In his autobiography, Kumar also confirmed what many fans already knew – the reason Madhubala’s marriage with Dilip Kumar fell through. The classic scene with the feather coming between our lips, which set a million imaginations on fire, was shot when we had completely stopped even greeting each other.” As Kumar revealed in his autobiography The Substance and The Shadow, “The outcome was that halfway through the production of Mughal-e-Azam we were not even talking to each other. And yet, look at their professionalism! The most erotically-charged scene in the film – the feather sequence – was shot when the couple were separated and didn’t even see each other in the eye. Mughal-E-Azam’s frame quivers with their passionate chemistry. It helped that Dilip Kumar was in love with her. Nargis, who would go on to immortalise the long-suffering but strong mother figure in Mother India, gave way to Madhubala, who was already working with all the leading superstars of the day including Dilip Kumar (Tarana, Amar and Sangdil), Ashok Kumar (Mahal and Howrah Bridge), Guru Dutt (Mr and Mrs 55), Kishore Kumar (Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi) and Dev Anand (Kala Pani, Nirala, Armaan). The stars originally signed up were no longer in currency. The original cast was Sapru, Chandramohan and Nargis but when its Jinnah-leaning producer left for Pakistan post-Partition the film got stuck until rescued by Shapoorji Pallonji, a Parsi millionaire from Bombay. Asif, that era’s Sanjay Leela Bhansali multiplied by ten. The film was believed to be first conceived in mid-1940s by K. Hindi cinema viewers have long known that Mughal-E-Azam was in the making for over 12 years and went through several change of hands. There’s no point in repeating the near-mythic stories related to the making of the film. Yet, it is the fourth version, Mughal-E-Azam from 1960 with an unrepeatable star cast of Madhubala, Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Durga Khote and Ajit that has become a cultural touchstone.
In fact, Bina Rai’s Anarkali with Pradeep Kumar was the highest grossing Hindi film of that year.
Records suggest all versions of Anarkali were runaway hits.