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Historical as history
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More than 40 years after it kissed the silver screen, "Mughal-e-Azam" is back. This time in all colour, ready to take on the challenge of "Veer-Zaara", "Naach" and "Aitraaz". Will history work again, wonders SURESH KOHLI.
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WHEN FIRST released with a record 165 prints at the newly opened Maratha Mandir on August 5, 1960, it was, perhaps, the greatest thing to have happened to Indian cinema. The theatre had been specially illuminated; prints were carried on elephants' back; the invitations were in the form of a shahi farman, or a royal order; the premiere was filmed and used as a sequence in a film, Kala Bazaar, later. Made at a cost of Rs.1.5 crores, it took nine years (it was launched in 1951 at Mohan Studios, and completed in early 1960) in the making, and had the last three reels in colour. Aspects that made the K. Asif-directed Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, Prithviraj Kapoor starrer film as history making historical. The story goes that when the legendary director saw the results of his obsession in colour, he wanted to shoot the film all over again in technicolour. Before he created the casting coup of pairing Dilip Kumar-Madhubala, the real life lovers, Asif had first launched the film in 1944 with Chandermohan, Nargis and Sapru but postponed indefinitely when the hero died in 1946 and the financier migrated to Pakistan. Shahpoorji Pallonji Mistry - one of the biggest building contractors of the time - eventually bankrolled it.
Many legends
Asif's obsession with detail and perfection resulted in unlimited use of footage (it is believed three films could have been made out of the discarded negative). It was the first time that a nationwide talent hunt was launched for the heroine, and eventually the choice had zeroed down to Nutan. The film had been shot for almost 50 days without the heroine. Eventually the coveted role went to Madhubala. The making of Mughal-e-Azam is a treasure house of told and untold stories. The film went on to become one of the top 10 hits of all time, and is among the few black and white movies that continues to draw crowds.
This historical of epic proportions has been in the news for a while now. Restored as a colourful extravaganza, Mughal-e-Azam is being re-released in the theatres after 44 years, 27-minutes shorter in length, including two chopped off songs, with dolby digital sound and a fresh background score by Naushad which cost a whopping Rs.1.5 crores and almost two years. The colour restoration process is reported to have cost anything between two and three crore rupees, which means the producers have spent almost Rs.5 crores on the colour version. Sold at Rs.1.75 crore per major territory (the Mumbai sector distributors Dinesh Gandhi and Boney Kapoor are releasing the film with 65 prints), the producers Shapoorji and company have supposedly made a table profit of Rs.10 crores, or more.
While the box office response is being speculated, Mughal-e-Azam will certainly miss a date with history. It will not be released again at Maratha Mandir where 44 years ago cinemagoers queued up to two kilometres to buy Re.1.60 tickets, and thousands spent an anxious night waiting for the booking windows to open. Instead, Maratha Mandir will premiere Aitraaz, a modern make-believe bold love story.
The industry has been divided about the likely box-office response especially because it will be vying for the moolah with Yash Chopra's Shah Rukh Khan-starrer, Veer-Zaara, Subhash Ghai's Abbas-Mustan film Aitraaz with Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor, and Ram Gopal Varma's remake of Rangeela called Naach with Abhishek Bachchan. It is literally a competition between the young and the old.
Scoring points
Filmmaker Akbar Khan who has delayed the release of his 50-crore magnum opus Taj Mahal, the love story of Shahjahan and Mumtaz Mahal, feels optimistic about the response to Mughal-e-Azam. "It is one of the greatest films ever made, and people would jump the queues to watch it in colour. I am sure the response will be positive. It may be a bit slow. It has immortal music unlike Yash Chopra's film this time." But writer Suraj Saneem is pessimistic about the box-office response to all four. He feels the length will be a major deciding factor. Veer-Zaara is more than three hours long with uninspiring music." Disagrees broker Rajendra Rana. "Veer-Zara is a winner all the way in the first round at least. Mughal-e-Azam will settle down to a definite rhythm in the long run." Veteran composer Naushad, who has spent sleepless nights in restoring the music in Dolby digital, feels "Mughal-e-Azam is in a league of its own. It is an immortal classic. The distributors' faith shows it." One's gut feeling is that Mughal-e-Azam will be a slow but steady winner. After the sheen of others wears off, even the young will throng the theatres to enjoy the classic. Reportedly, schools in Mumbai are already going for block bookings. They wanted the children of today watch history unfold on the big screen, and may be, in the process, recreate history for the immortal film as well.
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