My favorite movies: Mughal-e-Azam

It took eleven hours to watch this movie. Every scene was played twice, and sometimes thrice.

When you haven’t seen a very popular movie, you always wonder what all the hoopla is about. Every now and then I would watch a movie and wonder who the hell are Salim and Anarkali? Akbar’s son was Jehangir – according to class VIII history book (ICSE certified) for crying out loud.

Then the day arrived. Dad bought VCD (yes, it was that late) of Mughal-e-Azam – three VCDs actually, since DVD was yet to be invented. It was sometime in March 2001, the next day was my Chemistry exam and I was seeing benzene rings instead of those irritating worm-like strands every time I closed my eyes. I put the CD in the player deciding to take a half hour break. Ten minutes later, I heard this:

“Insaaf ke is mukaddas taraazu ki kasam, zindagi mein ek baar Akbar se jo bhi maangogi….ataa kiya jayega..”

I shook my head like a dog after an unwanted bath. What the fuck did he just say?  I paused the movie, went to the phone, called my cousin Peeyush and told him to come home right now. We both shared the passion for music and were starting to realize that songs have lyrics too. We were in the process of migrating from “Oonchi hai building..” and “Chalti hai kya nau se baarah..” to Kishore and Rafi oldies - hence my decision to call him and invite him to watch the movie together. For me, the fun of appreciating something, movies for example, doubles with a partner. And Peeyush was the ideal one. His “O bhaisaab..!!” and “Ye kya bola bh*****d..??” like anecdotes may lack lateral thinking but pack a punch with the same impact as Sunny paaji’s dhai kilo ka haath.

So when after a mind-blowing qawwali, Salim offers flowers to Bahaar and says to Anarkali,

“…tumhare hisse mein ye kaante aaye hain..” (Peeyush: “Kya chutiyapa hai..”)

And Anarkali replies,

“Zahe-naseeb…kaanto ko murjhaane ka khauf nahi hota...”, even the anecdotes were silenced.

To call this movie successful would be like calling Sachin Tendulkar a successful batsman. It just doesn’t do justice. It’s a cult classic (which, incidentally, is the highest rating I have for movies). However, to achieve such success (and rating from me), there cannot be just one or a couple of contributing factors. There has to be many, which I would like to list below.

The grandeur: Dad always said about Mughal-e-Azam that K. Asif’s greatest regret was that he didn’t make the whole movie in Technicolor. The first thing that came to mind was that he was right. The grandeur of the sets was unmatchable, and probably still is. The sheesh mahal can anytime give the titanic a run for its money. Simply said, you will just have to see it to believe it.

The cast: Because I saw this movie so late in my life, I had the chance to see different actors play the role of Akbar in various movies and tele-series, and some were actually impressive – like Vikram Gokhale in the TV series Akbar Birbal. After watching Prithviraj Kapoor, they all seemed laughable. How can you even imagine any other actor portraying that role? You literally start to shit bricks when you see him catch Salim and Anarkali red-handed.

Dilip Kumar is, well, Dilip Kumar. It was difficult for the first few minutes to watch him playing the role of a youngster (having not watched his earlier movies). The challenge was – it was not only the role of a crowned-prince, it was more a role of a dissatisfied son who, after so many years, still carried a pinch of grudge towards his father for sending him to battles as punishment instead of having a dad-to-son talk.

And o you beautiful Madhubala. A thousand Marilyns fade before you. She was the reason. If you ever, ever get a chance to see beyond her face, see her eyes. They are full of mischief in “Mohe panghat pe..”, innocent in “Teri mehfil mein..”, defiant in “Pyar kiya to darna kya..” and blank in “Mohabbat ki jhoothi kahaani..”. I rest my case.

THAT scene: Even when she closes her eyes. Damn it. People debate about the most erotic scene in the movies. Ladies and gentlemen, forget Basic Instinct, I give you Salim, Anarkali…and the feather.

The lines: Right from a one-word “Takhliya..” to the entire dialogue of Salim and Anarkali –

“Meri aankhon se mere khwaab na chheeniye shahzade..main mar jaaungi..”

- every line in this movie was poetry. For me, this was the real highlight. That’s why it took such a long time to watch it. Check this out, a meesenger comes to the court bearing news from Salim and asks permission to read the message. Akbar could have said something like “Go ahead dude..” or a simple “Padho..”, but hell no. What, instead, he says is,

“Ba-aawaaze-buland padha jaye..”. Damn. Another rewind.

1. Akbar: “Insaaf ke is mukaddas taraazu ki kasam, zindagi mein ek baar Akbar se jo bhi maangogi….ataa kiya jayega..”

2. Anarkali: “Zahe-naseeb…kaanto ko murjhaane ka khauf nahi hota..”

3. Salim: “Mohabbat jo chhup ke ki jaaye, wo aiyyashi hai..”

4. Anarkali: “Shahenshah ki inn behisaab baksheeshon ke badle ek kaneez Jallaluddin Mohammed Akbar ko apna khoon muaf karti hai...”

5. Akbar: “Tumhari maujoodgi naafarmaani ki daleel hai..”

6. Jodha: ”Ye hindustan koi tumhara dil nahi..koi laundi jispe huqumat kare..”

    Salim: ”To mera dil bhi koi aapka hindustan nahi..jispe aap huqumat karein..”

7. Akbar: ”Agar aisa hua, to Salim tujhe marne nahi dega, aur hum, Anarkali, tujhe jeene nahi denge..”

8. Salim: "Be-khauf hokar kaho. Kabhi kabhi daave dilchasp bhi hua karte hain.." 


9. Anarkali: "Unke huzoor mein tamannaayein bhi gustaakh nai ho paati.."

Classic. Cult classic.