MADHUBALA, DILIP KUMAR, K.ASIF & MUGHAL-e-AZAM....
Posted Mar 9th, 2009 at 03:09 AM by arjay
MADHUBALA, DILIP KUMAR, K.ASIF & MUGHAL-e-AZAM....
THE STORY UNTOLD!
(Full Version) .
When I sent my research papers to Sanjit & Raja in India--the article I had written when MUGHAL-e-AZAM was digitally converted into a full length color movie---Raja was baffled when he called on phone and said that it was amazing on how close to the truth my article was. Sanjit laughed and said that he could be my doosra janam--Hindus strongly believe in.
Nevertheless, what I am to scribe below on subtitle---contains 60% of Sanjit's submission upon my request, 20% Raja's and the rest belongs to my own study--having watched almost ALL of Dilip's movies and surfed every bit of website and article and magazines on the great actor
(Raju Jamil)
THE STORY UNTOLD!
(Full Version) .
When I sent my research papers to Sanjit & Raja in India--the article I had written when MUGHAL-e-AZAM was digitally converted into a full length color movie---Raja was baffled when he called on phone and said that it was amazing on how close to the truth my article was. Sanjit laughed and said that he could be my doosra janam--Hindus strongly believe in.
Nevertheless, what I am to scribe below on subtitle---contains 60% of Sanjit's submission upon my request, 20% Raja's and the rest belongs to my own study--having watched almost ALL of Dilip's movies and surfed every bit of website and article and magazines on the great actor
(Raju Jamil)
----------
Dilip Kumar almost missed being in MUGHAL-e-AZAM (1960). The film was planned by K.Asif in the mid-1940s and its main financial backer was Shiraz Ali Hakim, as informs my cousin from Jaipur, who had recently given the young film maker a break with PHOOL in 1945 right after the end of World War-II.
He also recommended Dilip Kumar for the role of Prince Salim but K. asif, even then the master of spectacle, was not keen on signing up a rank new comer. He knew (like they do currently in private -TV- productions of Pakistan!) that without stars no one would even look at the film. He, therefore, signed up Sapru, Nargis and Chandramohan to play the roles of Prince Salim, Anarkali and Emperor Akbar. Asif also signed up the famous Urdu writer Imtiaz Ali Taj (father of Yasmin Tahir) to script the film from his own original drama ANARKALI written in 1920s. Upcoming film writer Kamal Amrohi was signed to write the dialogues -- the success of MAHAL was still four years away. Anil Biswas, then at his height of creativity, was signed to score the music.
MUGHAL-e-AZAM went on the floors, a few reels even shot and then, the Partition-1947 intervened. Shiraz Ali Hakim, who had led a public meeting in the early 1940s to felicitate Muhammad Ali Jinnah, thought he would be victimized for it and so, decided to migrate to Pakistan after selling the FAMOUS CINE STUDIOS and other assets to Jangmohan Rangta. Among other things and films, MUGHAL-e-AZAM also came to a standstill.
However-----when the project revived in the early 1950s -- thanks to the financial backing provided by the construction magnate and multi-millionaire Shapurji Pallanji -- the scenario had changed completely. The actor selected to play King Akbar, Chandramohan, had died in 1949 at the young age of 44 years. Sapru was no longer the major star that he had been in the pre-Partition days. But another young actor who was making major strides in post-Independent cinema had just come within the K.Asif ambit. DILIP KUMAR was playing the lead in his own production HULCHUL, being directed by S.K.Ojha. But if K. Asif gained a hero on the sets of HULCHUL he also lost his heroine there. Nargis and Dilip fell out while shooting for HULCHUL and Nargis swore that it was the last film she would do with Dilip. She backed out of MUGHAL-e-AZAM and the hunt for a heroine was on again.
In the meantime the other stars were replaced. Prithivraj with his rich baritone voice was signed to play King Akbar. Ajit (Mona Darling fame of Zanjeer), whose own career as a leading man (remember the hit song MUFT HUAY BADNAAM on him!) was coming to close, was selected to play the loyal aide to Prince Salim as Durjan Singh while Asif's third wife Nigar Sultana was to play Bahar. Durge Khote was the only one who continued to play the role she had been initially signed for; Jodhabai...Akbar's Rajput wife and Prince salim's mother. The film went on the floor in real earnest in 1951 with no heroine in sight. The hunt was still on but something happened before another heroine could be found......?
Two other films on the same subject were announced. One was to be made under the M & T Studios banner and directed by Kamal Amrohi, who, thinking MUGHAL-e-AZAM had been shelved, had sold the story to the studio. The other was to be produced by S. Mukherji under the Filmistan banner and directed by the veteran director Nandlal Jaswantlal. Asif had a measure of control over Kamal Amrohi and so his version was quickly brought to a halt. Not so the Filmistan version! The studio went ahead with Bina Rai and Pradeep Kumar playing ANARKALI and SALIM. The film ANARKALI was released within a year and proved to be a major musical hit.
Things weren't easier for Asif who had a much grander opera-style film in his mind. A year of shooting later he finally shouted EUREKA when he found his heroine in one of Dilip's co-stars; MADHUBALA !!. She was Dilip Kumar's leading lady in two of his under production films. Ram Daryani's TARANA (1951) and R.C.Talwar's SANGDIL (1952). More than that, she was also the girl Dilip Kumar was in love with. She was the one about whom Dilip was to say in open court "She is the only woman I have loved in my life and I shall love her till my dying day" The unfortunate fact which history hadn't disclosed as yet was that their love would run its course during the production of the film which would take a full nine years to make.
Khatija Akbar in her book on MSDHUBALA writes; "During the making of MUGHAL-e-AZAM, Dilip Kumar was in the habit of dropping by to see Madhu even when he was not required for the day's shooting. He came on her sets and, if she was working, nothing was said. He stood watching; wordless glances were exchanged and he left, but his very presence was enough to transport Madhu to a world of happiness. She looked forward to these few moments with all her heart, her eyes searching for him. When she saw him, her day was made"
The passion for each other translated very well into the big screen ----- not only in the film they had done together but more so in an innately romantic film like MUGHAL-e-AZAM. Many film observers of the day believe that the film captures the actual stages of Dilip's own romance with Madhubala. Which is why the romantic scenes of the film are some of the most intimate ever shot in the history of Indian cinema that which has not yet been superceded by another till date--particularly (I wrote this part elaborately in my article also) the scene in which Dilip Kumar caresses Madhubala's ecstatic face with ruffles from an ostrich-feather. The story goes---that Asif realized it wouldn't happen with Madhubala's father Attaullah Khan on the set. Asif took his PR man, Taraknath Gandhi, aside and laid it down for him: "Buddhe Ko Phuttao....Jab Tak Buddha Yehan Rahega...Madhu Shooting Nahin Karsakti!.....Take the money and play cards with him...Loose.." It is said that Gandhi spent entire day in a remote office of the studio loosing rummy hands to Khan while asif filmed the love scene.
But even as the scene was being shot it was apparent that the lovers had fallen out with each other!!!!!
WHY Dilip & Madhu fell out with each other is a mystery. Unlike his other loves this affair could not have been socially forbidden. Both of them were Pathans. Both were compatible in age. Both were at the height of their film careers. More important, both were single and hence, there were no social impediments to their union. Many are of the opinion that it was Madhubala's fanatically stern father Khan Attaullah Khan who stood in the way of the marraige for fear of loosing Madhubala, who was, after all, the breadwinner for the entire brood of sisters the old man had sired. So---while the filming continued, K. Asif grew more and more impatient. The lovers were no longer talking to each other. If that wasn't bad enough. Madhubala's health began to deteriorate. She'd been diagnosed with "an enlarged heart with a hole in it." Paranoid to the core Attaullah Khan now even refused to allow his daughter to take part in important outdoor shots, out of fear she would get infected. Her illness was now so bad that she was suffering uncontrollable coughing fits. And yet, she continued to shoot.
Asif was a dreamer of huge ornate dreams but he was also a stickler to reality. When he wanted to show Anarkali in chains at the end of MUGHAL-e-AZAM he got her to don real chains made of iron and which weighed kilos rather than the rubber chains which filmmakers generally use. And to think that Madhubala was in the final stages of the heart ailment which would eventually claim her life.
By the time the climatic scenes were shot the romance was also at an end. So, not only were the chains real but the pangs of separating from one's beloved were also real because Dilip Kumar, as told by Thappar, barely looked at Madhubala (which was also noted by the cameramen and the makeup girl close to Madhu always on the sets----that make up girl was the mousi of Raja Thappar-----she died two years back at 78 of age) once the shots were done. And how true were the words of the song "Muhabbat Ki Jhooti Kahani Pe Ro'ye"
Madhubala suffered during these scenes but she refused to quit. For Madhubala, the film was a challenge. Having come up the hard way in life she knew that whatever she had done as an actress till then would pale in comparison to the film which she was making. In the final run she wanted to be the best of the ANARKALIs in Dindi cinema --- better than Salouchna (Ruby Meyers) and Bina Rai.It was her passport to immortality. So, even after the romance had died down, she continued to give priority to the film --- also hoping against hope that there would be some responsive spark from her former lover Dilip Kumar but he had moved on to other films...and other women. In spite of this tragic end to a wonderful love story the film celebrated LOVE and the song "Pyar Kiya Tou Darna Kiya" has, since then, become the anthem for defiant lovers of Indo-Pakistan.
MUGHAL-e-AZAM was released on August 5, 1960 and instantly captivated the heart of audiences all over India. Historically the film was inaccurate. Prince Salim (later to become Jehangir) had accumulated a total of 18 wives (Shaikh Zayed of Abudhabi beat him by a large margin..though!) during the course of his promiscruity but there never was an ANARKALI in sight! But who cared? The film's ornate and opulent settings (in particular, the Sheesh Mahal set which is rumored to have, then, cost Rs.15 Lakhs, its soulfully classical-based music (scored by Dilip favourite Naushad...who came to be known as 'Naushad-e-Azam' after the movie) and above all, its larger-than-life performances have placed the film in the all-time TOP TEN of Indian cinema.
Asif claimed to have spent 20 years and Rs.1.25 Crores (of that time---safely Rs.100 crores now) in the making of MUGHAL-e-AZAM.
As usual FILM INDIA, giving thumbs down to everyone in the film, had the last word. It wrote, "MUGHAL-e-AZAM must be seen to realise how much a man can do in 20 years and with Rs.1.25 crores belonging to a PARSI-multi millionaire"
-END
-Raju Jamil (Karachi)
Research assistance: Sanjit Narwekar, Pune and Raja Thappar-Delhi.
(Both my friends from India)
Madhubala suffered during these scenes but she refused to quit. For Madhubala, the film was a challenge. Having come up the hard way in life she knew that whatever she had done as an actress till then would pale in comparison to the film which she was making. In the final run she wanted to be the best of the ANARKALIs in Dindi cinema --- better than Salouchna (Ruby Meyers) and Bina Rai.It was her passport to immortality. So, even after the romance had died down, she continued to give priority to the film --- also hoping against hope that there would be some responsive spark from her former lover Dilip Kumar but he had moved on to other films...and other women. In spite of this tragic end to a wonderful love story the film celebrated LOVE and the song "Pyar Kiya Tou Darna Kiya" has, since then, become the anthem for defiant lovers of Indo-Pakistan.
MUGHAL-e-AZAM was released on August 5, 1960 and instantly captivated the heart of audiences all over India. Historically the film was inaccurate. Prince Salim (later to become Jehangir) had accumulated a total of 18 wives (Shaikh Zayed of Abudhabi beat him by a large margin..though!) during the course of his promiscruity but there never was an ANARKALI in sight! But who cared? The film's ornate and opulent settings (in particular, the Sheesh Mahal set which is rumored to have, then, cost Rs.15 Lakhs, its soulfully classical-based music (scored by Dilip favourite Naushad...who came to be known as 'Naushad-e-Azam' after the movie) and above all, its larger-than-life performances have placed the film in the all-time TOP TEN of Indian cinema.
Asif claimed to have spent 20 years and Rs.1.25 Crores (of that time---safely Rs.100 crores now) in the making of MUGHAL-e-AZAM.
As usual FILM INDIA, giving thumbs down to everyone in the film, had the last word. It wrote, "MUGHAL-e-AZAM must be seen to realise how much a man can do in 20 years and with Rs.1.25 crores belonging to a PARSI-multi millionaire"
-END
-Raju Jamil (Karachi)
Research assistance: Sanjit Narwekar, Pune and Raja Thappar-Delhi.
(Both my friends from India)
Some memorable scenes/clips from; Mughal e Azam;
The story goes---that Asif realized it wouldn't happen with Madhubala's father Attaullah Khan on the set. Asif took his PR man, Taraknath Gandhi, aside and laid it down for him: "Buddhe Ko Phuttao....Jab Tak Buddha Yehan Rahega...Madhu Shooting Nahin Karsakti!.....Take the money and play cards with him...Loose.." It is said that Gandhi spent entire day in a remote office of the studio loosing rummy hands to Khan while asif filmed the love scene.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=plsRqFDk-2A
AND
MADHUBALA.....1933-1969
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