Historical Inaccuracy – 1

In this song Anarkali (Madhubala) is performing in front of  Mughal Emperor Akbar with the famous Sheesh Mahal shown (The Palace of Mirrors) in the background. However, it should be kept in mind that Sheesh Mahal didn’t even exist during Akbar’s reign (23 November 1542  – 27 October 1605). It was constructed under the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in 1631-32.

Film :- Mughal-e-Azam (1960), Country:- India

Some Info on Sheesh Mahal:-

The Sheesh Mahal (The Palace of Mirrors) is located within the Shah Burj block in northern-western corner of Lahore Fort. It was constructed under the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in 1631-32. The ornate white marble pavilion is inlaid with pietra dura and complex mirror-work of the finest quality. The hall was reserved for personal use by the imperial family and close aides. It is among the 21 monuments that were built by successive Mughal emperors inside Lahore Fort, and forms the jewel in the Fort’s crown. As part of the larger Lahore Fort Complex, it has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981. (Source :- Wikipedia)

_________________________________________________________________

Historical Inaccuracy – 2

This film was based on the life of Mahmoud of Ghazni (November 2, 971 – April 30, 1030), and his servant Ayaz. However, in the clip above, Nayyar Sultana can be seen singing in front of Shalimar Gardens. Shalimar Gardens of Lahore didn’t came into existence until 1641 A.D. (during the reign of Shah Jehan), long after Mahmoud of Ghazni was dead!

Film:- Ayaz (1960), Country:- Pakistan

Some Info on Mahmoud of Ghazni :-

Mahmoud of Ghazni was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty and ruled from 997 until his death in 1030. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni (now in Afghanistan) into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which extended from Afghanistan into most of Iran as well as Pakistan and regions of North-West India. He was also the first ruler to carry the title Sultan (“authority”), signifying the extent of his power, though preserving the ideological link to the suzerainty of the Caliph. (Source :- Wikipedia)

Some Info on Shalimar Gardens of Lahore:-

The Shalimar Gardens, sometimes written Shalamar Gardens, is a Persian garden and it was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in Lahore, modern day Pakistan. Construction began in 1641 A.D. (1051 A.H.) and was completed the following year. The project management was carried out under the superintendence of Khalilullah Khan, a noble of Shah Jahan’s court, in cooperation with Ali Mardan Khan and Mulla Alaul Maulk Tuni. The Shalimar Gardens are located near Baghbanpura along the Grand Trunk Road some 5 kilometers northeast of the main Lahore city. (Source :- Wikipedia)

-by Ummer Siddique

Madhubala in Mughal-e-Azam (1960)

Nargis, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar in Andaz (1949)

Mehboob Khan’s Andaz opened the prestigious new Liberty cinema in Bombay. Nargis plays the role of Neeta, a modern woman who mixes freely with men, rides horses and wears western clothes. She seems to be falling in love with her father’s manager, Dilip Kumar, while we ignore all the signs that become so apparent on a second viewing of the film, namely that she has another man in her life. This is her fiancé, Rajan, played by Raj Kapoor, with whom Nargis starred in many hit films of the 1940s and 50s, and whose choice of an image of the pair together as his company’s logo supports the widely held belief that she was his lover as well as his inspiration. Rajan is an infantile, spoilt brat of a man, and many in the audience hope that she will change her mind and end their relationship. However, the film’s text seems to say that she never loved Dilip, but that he misinterpreted their friendship. While the text supports the latter, conservative argument, the film shows clearly that Neeta has indeed fallen in love with the more sophisticated Dilip. Neeta marries Rajan, and they have a child. Rajan begins to suspect an affair and has a fight with Dilip, who is thoroughly beaten. Dilip seems to go a little mad, and finally declares his love to Neeta, who responds by shooting him dead. This is driven by the narrative, in that he has ignobly threatened her family, but it is also part of the subtext that she loves him and is punishing them both for this transgression. The justification for murder is that the family can never be threatened, so Dilip is punished by death, whereas Neeta, whose complicity is more dubious, is jailed for murder. In many Hindi films, the law of the state is inadequate, and Rajan’s forgiveness of Neeta would be all that is required, but here the state is in control and she is incarcerated. She does not regret her action, but rather blames it on her westernized behaviour, protesting that ‘Foreign flowers cannot flourish on Indian soil.’ This rejection of westernization goes against much of the film, in which the viewer is invited to enjoy the western decor of colonial-style houses, where lovers dressed in western clothes gather around pianos, and play tennis and other sports.

This is one of Mehboob’s last black-and-white films, before he became one of the first in Bombay to experiment with color, as he did in his 1952 film Aan (‘Savage Princess’). His filming of Nargis is particularly striking, and she shines in this luminous performance as daughter, lover, wife, mother and modern woman. She did not act with Mehboob again until her last film, Mehboob’s Mother India in which she played the eponymous heroine. During these intervening years, Nargis is best remembered for her roles with Raj Kapoor, in which they played some of the most memorable romantic characters, including in Barsaat, which was released in the same year as Andaz. Yet in this film, it is her partnership with the great tragic actor Dilip Kumar that is most remembered. The film also reverses norms, in that Mukesh sings for Dilip Kumar and Mohammed Rafi for Raj Kapoor. The romantic feel was supported by Naushad’s music (with lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri), which was a major hit, in particular the songs of Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar.

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 1949, Genre – Drama, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Mehboob Production, Director – Mehboob Khan, Music Director – Naushad, Cast – Dilip Kumar, Nargis, Raj Kapoor, Cuckoo, V. H. Desai, Anwari Bai, Jamshedji, Abbas, Amir Banu, Murad, Wasker

Bollywood Dancer Cuckoo in Aan (1952) – perhaps her only dance sequence picturized in color ]]> http://cineplot.com/cuckoo-in-aan-1952/feed/ 0