Mughal-e-Azam: 50 years in 50 pics

As Bollywood's eternal love story Mughal-e-Azam completes 50 glorious years we take you back in time…

The epic, which was released on Aug 5, 1960, chronicles the love story of Prince Salim, who went on to become Mughal emperor Jehangir, and Anarkali, a court dancer. The movie begins by showing Akbar on a pilgrimage seeking an heir to the Mughal dynasty.

Salim is born, but he grows up to become a spoilt prince. Akbar then sends Salim away to the battlefield to enable him to become a good king.

Actor Prithviraj Kapoor's royal sketch of Emperor Akbar, Naushad's music, Shakeel Badayuni's unforgettable lyrics and the sizzling chemistry between the lead pair Madhubala and Dilip Kumar are part of film legend in India now. The film was loosely based on an episode in the life of Mughal Prince Salim, who went on to become Emperor Jehangir.

Salim - played by Dilip Kumar, falls in love with Anarkali (Madhubala), a court-dancer. He wants to meet her secretly.

Madhubala's performance at Lord Krishna's birthday, where she sings Mohe panghat pe nandlal ched gayo rey.... is just breath taking. The lord Krishna idol in one scene was actually made out of real gold.

The two lovers - Salim and Anarkali, meet secretly for the first time.

But the jealous Bahaar (played by Nigar Sultan), a dancer of a higher rank, wants the crown of India by marrying Salim.

But trouble for her starts when she finds out about Salim and Anarkali.

Out of jealousy she exposes the love between Salim and Anarkali to Emperor Akbar.

Angry Akbar throws Anarkali into a prison.

Bahaar tries to convince Salim that Anarkali does not love him and all she wants is money.

Infuriated Salim confronts Anarkali.

A defiant Anarkali is back with this iconic song Jab pyar kiya toh darna kya in front of a crowded darbar when released.

The song Pyar kiya to darna kiya has a history to it. It was made a cost of Rs 10 lakh at a time when a film would be made for less than a million.

It was written and re-written 105 times by lyricist Shakeel Badayuni, before music director, Naushad, could approve of it.

A scene from the song.

In those days of sound recording, editing and mixing, as there was no way to provide the reverberation of sound, Lata Mangeshkar was asked to sing the song in a studio bathroom.

A scene from the song.

A scene from the song.

The elaborate sets of Akbar's palace and choice of clothes of all characters were as authentic as possible.

Actor Prithviraj Kapoor's royal sketch of Emperor Akbar, Naushad's music, Shakeel Badayuni's unforgettable lyrics and the sizzling chemistry between the lead pair Madhubala and Dilip Kumar are part of film legend in India now.

It took director K Asif 10 long years to finish the film, which is till date remembered for lavish sets and grandeur.

It is said when K Asif first began work on Mughal-e-Azam in 1944, with financier, Shiraz Ali, he had originally casted Chandramohan, Sapru and Nargis for the roles of Akbar, Salim and Anarkali respectively, but the project had to be shelved because of the political movement during that time.

After partition in 1947, Shiraz Ali migrated to Pakistan and Asif did not have a financier and it was then that business tycoon Shapoorji Pallonji stepped in still it took Asif over four years to get the film on the floor.

The jewellery that Rani Jodhabhai, played by late actress Durga Khote, wore was designed in the authentic Rajasthani style of that era - such was the magnitude of the film 50 years ago.

Reports are that by the time K Asif was about to finish the film, both Madhubala and Dilip Kumar had stopped talking to each other.

The elaborate sets of Akbar's palace and choice of clothes of all characters were as authentic as possible.

Immense care was taken to ensure that the film seemed close to chronicled reality.

Tailors were especially hired from Delhi to stitch the costumes and specialists from Surat-Khambayat were employed for the embroidery, even as goldsmiths from Hyderabad designed the period jewellery.

Kolhapuri craftsmen designed the crowns adorned by the actors, Rajasthani ironsmiths crafted the weapons and the elaborate footwear was ordered from Agra.

The original film shot by the inimitable RD Mathur was largely in black-and-white, with only a few scenes in colour. But the film was re-released across the country in full colour version in 2009.

This eternal love story was complete in itself with incredible songs, amazing photography and outstanding acting from not only its lead actors but others including Nigar Sultan (Bahar) and Ajit (Durjan Singh) to name a few.

When one talks of love stories, Mughal-e-Azam is the first name that comes to one's mind.

It was the legendary Prithviraj Kapoor who eventually gave Mughal-e-Azam and Emperor Akbar a magical authority.

According to reports, once Dilip Kumar fell ill during the shoot and retired to his make-up room and fell asleep but when he woke up, he saw to his surprise that Prithviraj Kapoor was sitting by his bedside massaging his head and shoulders.

For the battle sequence, 2,000 camels, 4,000 horses and 8,000 men were used.

Out of the 8000 men many of them were soldiers on loan from the Army, which was arranged through special permission through the Defence ministry.

The soldiers were from the Jaipur regiment.

The movie was originally shot thrice, once each for lips moving for Hindi, Tamil and English dialogues.

Since the Tamil version did very poorly, so the dubbing in English was dropped.

The film was released in 150 theatres all over the country simultaneously, which itself was a record in those days.

It became an instant hit and collected a record revenue which remained unsurpassed till GP Sippy's Sholay broke it 15 years later.

During the re-release the film ran for 25 weeks and probably there is no other example of any film running for 25 weeks in its re-release.

In 2006, Mughal-e-Azam opened the doors for release of Indian films in Pakistan which had banned such releases since 1956.

In November 2004, the whole movie was restored and colorised in a year-long process by its original financiers.

This was the first full feature-length movie to be revived/colorized for a theatrical re-release in the history of world cinema.

A scene from the movie.

A scene from the movie.

A scene from the movie.

A scene from the movie.