Anarkali (1953)

Director:

Nandlal Jaswantlal

Writers:

Hamid Dutt (assistant dialogue)
Hamid Dutt (dialogue director)

Genre:

History | Musical | Romance

Plot:

Shahenshah Jalaudin Akbar is the grandson of Babbar, and the son of Humayun. He is known to have ruled over Hindustan with a humane and just heart...

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Cast

Bina Rai	...	Nadira
Pradeep Kumar	...	Shehzada Salim
Kuldip Kaur
Ruby Mayer	...	Rani Joda Bai (as Sulochana)
S.L. Puri	...	Raja Man Singh
Manmohan Krishna	...	Parvez (as Manmohan Krishan)
Noor Jehan		(as Nur Jehan)
Mubarak	...	Shahenshah Jalaudin Akbar

Runtime:

175 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Filming Locations:

Bombay Studios Limited, Goregaon, India

Company:

Filmistan

Trivia:

Vasant Prakash began work as music director, but died having recorded just one song with Geeta Dutt. C. Ramchandra took over as composer and insisted not only that all songs be sung by Lata Mangeshkar but that the Geeta number be removed from the film. Although the Filmistan people agreed, the Geeta song stayed in the movie and was the famous "Aa Jaane Wafaa".

Soundtrack:

Mohabbat Aisi Dhadkan Hai

A melodramatic movie with memorable songs

"Aye bad-e-saba ahista chal, yeha soi huyi hai Anarkali": this 1953 version of the legendary romance between Salim and Anarkali is marked timeless by C. Ramachandra's music. Hemanta Kumar and Lata's melodies render the tune of this musical evergreen, and mark the crest and fall of the drama.

The movie is too melodramatic, and unlike the K. Asif's 1960 version (Mughal-E-Azem), the characters lack fortitude. A well-known conflict between the different class of people ends up in Anarkali being buried alive, with "Alvida..." in Lata's haunting voice.