Synopsis
Anarkali looks at the mythical
and legendary love for Prince Salim (Pradeep
Kumar), the son of Akbar with the court
dancer Anarkali (Bina Rai), a commoner.
When his father Emperor Akbar (Mubarak)
finds out, he is furious and does his best
to thwart the romance saying a commoner
could never be the empress of India. Salim
nevertheless is adamant and rebelliously
leads an army against his father. He is
defeated in battle and brought before Akbar
who sentences both, him and Anarkali to
death. At the last moment however Akbar
is unable to give the final order to the
executioner to behead Salim and while freeing
him tells him that Anarkali also is free.
However, Anarkali has been s taken to be
entombed alive in a brick wall and by the
time Salim reaches there, she is already
sealed alive…
The film
 Even
as K Asif had begun his magnum opus Mughal-e-Azam
based on the legendary Salim–Anarkali
romance, years earlier, Filmistan though
beginning their rival version much later
came out with their presentation, Anarkali,
in 1953, a good seven years before K Asif’s
masterpiece! The film starring Bina Rai,
Pradeep Kumar and Mubarak was also a huge
success at the box office whose highlight
is a scintillating musical score by C. Ramachndra.
The Anarkali-Salim legend is unsupported
by historic evidence but the story of thwarted
youthful love in conflict with convention
and authority provides rich dramatic material
with immense popular appeal. It is no surprise
therefore that this popular legend has been
filmed many times on the silver screen.
But while in Imitiaz Ali Taj’s play
of 1922 she was a slave girl, K Asif used
her as a court attendant in Mughal-e-Azam
while Anarkali does not acknowledge
the play and claims to be a direct, unmediated
treatment of the Mughal legend.
The film is directed by Nandlal Jaswantlal
who assisted the great Chandulal
Shah and directed films for his Ranjit
Studio from 1929–1933 before joining
Imperial Film Company where he in fact directed
Sulochana
in several of her films. However Jaswantlal
remains best known for his two immensely
successful musicals for Filmistan, Anarkali
and Nagin (1954). Jaswantlal was
known for his sophisticated lighting and
use of extreme close-ups and unusual angles.
In Anarkali too he sustains his
use of emphatic close ups throughout with
the visual flair his work had attracted
in his Imperial films standing out.
While comparisons with Mughal-e-Azam
are inevitable, though coming definitely
second, Anarkali stands alone on
its own merit as well. The film capably
handles its emotional episodes and its high
voltage dramatic scenes while the war scenes
are choreographed elaborately enough. However,
the sets and backdrops however come nowhere
close to Asif’s magnum opus. In fact
it is here that the film looks too ‘set
like’ and stagy.
Anarkali sees Bina Rai play the
most famous role of her career. Introduced
to Hindi films by Kishore Sahu with Kaali
Ghata in 1951, Bina Rai went on to
a pretty successful career as heroine in
the 1950s and early 1960s acting with most
of the top heroes of her time but she will
always be remembered and associated with
Anarkali. To her credit, though
always unfavourably compared with Madhubala’s
finely modulated performance in Mughal-e-Azam,
Bina Rai does a good enough job playing
the title role in her own right although
the less said of her dancing skills, the
better. Pradeep Kumar is just about adequate
enough as Salim. Anarkali is one
of the films that set him on the road to
playing leading men in various historical
romances like Durgesh Nandini (1956),
Shirin Farhad (1956), Rajhath
(1956) and Taj Mahal (1963).
Of the supporting cast, Mubarak leaves
a strong impact as Akbar making splendid
use of his strong powerful personality and
rich voice while Kuldeep Kaur effectively
vamps it up in the role of Bahar who tries
to thwart the Salim-Anarkali romance at
every level. Sulochana,
the silent film superstar plays Rani Joddabai.
For Sulochana this was the third Anarkali
she has worked in, having played the title
role in a silent version of the film in
1928 and then in its talkie remake in 1935.
The music of the film is by C Ramachandra
with lyrics by Rajinder Kishen and is without
doubt the MAJOR standout highlight of the
film. The music in Anarkali represents
some of the finest work in C. Ramchandra’s
career and represents some of the best singing
that Lata Mangeshkar
did in her entire career. While every song
is an unquestioned masterpiece, the number
that still rises above the others and stands
out in both its versions and was by far
the most popular song of the film in both
its versions is Yeh Zindagi Usiki Hai.
It is a pity that an extremely versatile
composer like Ramchandra is more remembered
for being among the earliest utilizers of
western sounds and instruments like the
saxophone or the bongo drums and is known
for his light hearted musical scores like
Patanga (1949), Sargam (1950), Albela
(1951) and Sagai (1952). In
fact Ramchandra had a strong classical base
and was one of the finest composers of the
ghazal in Hindi films. Anarkali
proves just how effectively ‘Indian’
Ramchandra could be when he wanted to.
Apart from Yeh Zindagi Usiki Hai,
the other Lata Mangeshkar masterpieces in
the film include Mujhse Mat Puch Mere
Ishq Mein Kya Rakha Hai, Aaja Ab to Aaja,
Mohabbat Aisi Dhadkan Hai, Zamana Yeh Samjha
ki Hum Peeke Aaye and O Aasman waale Shikwa
Hai Zindagi Ka besides the duet Jaag Dard-e-Ishq
Jaag with Hemant Kumar who also renders
Zindagi Pyaar ki Do Char Ghadi Hoti
Hai. Interestingly there is one female
solo in the film that is not sung by Lata
Mangeshkar. Aa Jaan-e-wafa is rendered
by Geeta
Dutt. C Ramchandra had a falling out
with S. Mukherjee over the music in Anarkali
and left the film since Ramchandra wanted
Lata for all the female songs in the film
but Mukherjee was more keen on fellow Bengali
Geeta Dutt. He was then replaced by Basant
Prakash who recorded one song written by
Jan Nissar Akhtar for the film but soon
Prakash found himself out of favour as well.
Finally Ramchandra came back into the film
on the condition that Lata would sing all
the songs but Filmistan still decided to
include this Basant Prakash composition
as well and incorporated it in the film.
It is to Geeta Dutt’s credit that
in spite of the whole film being an out
and out Lata show, she leaves her unique
vocal impress with Aa Jaan-e-Wafaa.
Following the debacle of Razia Sultan
(1983), the historical genre had all
but died. After years an Asoka
was made and today Hrithik
Roshan and Aishwarya Rai are hoping
to recreate the magic of the historical
with Jodhaa Akbar. Films like Anarkali,
released in 1953, and Mughal-e-Azam
represent an era when the historical romances
were an integral part of Hindi Cinema and
were mighty successful films too.
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