Redefining the Memories

Mumbai, August 05: Stylish and spectacular, Mughal-e-Azam is the grandest historical ever in Hindi films. And even 50 years after director K Asif's magnum opus was first released on August 5, 1960, the film’s hero Dilip Kumar remembers every last detail of the movie. So does his wife, Saira Banu, but for other reasons.

Set in 16th century Mughal era, the film told the love story of Emperor Akbar’s son Salim and a courtesan Anarkali. "Mughal-e-Azam was an altogether different experience. Asif trusted me enough to leave the delineation of Salim completely to me. The shooting in Rajasthan was most memorable. Imagine my state with my body covered by armour in the desert heat!" the 87-year-old actor said.

Mughal-e-Azam took nine years to make. But Yusuf Sahab, as Kumar is fondly called, says he never felt the film took too long to complete. “Such was the all-round commitment that nobody saw the delay as tiresome. We were experienced enough to know that a film involving such overwhelming craftsmanship, minute detailing, massive gathering of artistes and unit hands, strenuous schedules with large units of artistes and trained animals, day and night shoots cannot be a simple affair," says the thespian.

The actor adds, "We were acutely conscious of the hard work we would have to put in as well as the responsibility we would have to shoulder while evoking a historical period that shaped the cultural, political and social ethos of the years that followed. It's indeed wonderful to know that the film is being taken as seriously today as it was when it was first released."

His wife Saira Banu too has very evocative memories of the film but for different reasons. She says, "I must tell you about a love story that was quietly unfolding while the love story of Salim and Anarkali was being filmed. For an entire week before the premiere of Mughal-e-Azam, I prepared myself for the event, draping my mother’s saris, applying and reapplying nail varnish, wearing high heels and practising to walk confidently in them just to be noticed and acknowledged by Dilip sahab."

"After all my preparation, when we arrived at the venue, we learnt from the hosts that Dilip sahab would not be gracing the occasion. I was so disappointed. Needless to say I sat through the film in a mood that was anything but bright. I did not know then that God had a splendid plan up his sleeve for me," she recalled. The two were married six years later in 1966.

The film is considered a benchmark for its screenplay, dialogue, acting and scale.

-Agencies