DhooL.com Song Of The Day

Song of the Day # 936

From: bb on: Thu Apr 03, 2008 10:27 pm  

Song of the Day: Anarkali in Cinema - Part II.

http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/936.html

- Saravanan writes:

Anaarkali in Cinema- Part II


The next movie adaptation of the legend of Anaarkali was in Urdu and from across the border. ‘Anaarkali’ (1958) starred the famed Noorjehan in the title role. Along with her husband Shukat Hussain Rizvi, Noorjerhan had migrated to Pakistan in 1949. They established the Shahnoor Studios at Lahore and commenced making movies. Chan Ve (Directed by Noorjehan herself), Dopatta, Gulnar and Intezaar were some of the movies that were graced by Noorjehan’s on-screen performances and songs during the 50s. In 1958, Director Anwar Kamal Pasha made his movie ‘Anaarkali’ with Noorjehan, Sudhir and Shamim Ara in the cast. Music was by Rasheed Attre and the lyrics were by Qateel Shifai. Noorejehan’s songs such as ‘sada hoon apnE pyaar’, ‘kahaan tak sunOgE’, ‘tumhaari aarzoo mEin’, and ‘bewafaa hum na bhoolE’ found widespread popularity even in India.



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As we saw earlier, Kareemuddin Asif had been fascinated by the tragic tale of Anaarkali ever since he chanced to see Imtiaz Ali Taj’s famous stage play. He first commenced on ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ in 1944 at Bombay’s Minerva Movietone Studio with Nargis (Anaarkali), Sapru (Salim), Chandramohan (Akbar) and Himalaywallah (Durjan Singh). The project seemed doomed, as Asif stumbled upon one hurdle after other. Ten reels had been shot when Chandermohan passed away suddenly in 1946. Asif was trying to revive the movie when the country was partitioned and Himalaywallah and the project’s financier Shiraz Ali Hakim migrated to Pakistan. Even as Asif was reeling from this blow, the ensuing communal riots brought all film making activities to a standstill. Though Asif gave up that particular movie, his obsession with Anaarkali continued to haunt him. He was infatuated by the theme and brooded over it night and day. In 1951, Asif commenced afresh on the project, with a new cast and crew, with the financial backing of Sterling Investment Corporation Pvt. Ltd. owned by Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, the famous Parsi business tycoon. The release of Filmistan’s ‘Anaarkali’ in the meantime and its massive success did not deter Asif. If anything, he was even more determined to get on with his project. He realized more than before the infinite possibilities that the story offered, and had brought in some innovative variations to the original theme.

For starters, though the love story of Anaar and Salim was pivotal to the plot, Asif had centered his version on Akbar, the Mughal-e-Azam. The proceedings were, for most part, narrated from the angle of a just ruler, who was forced to be cruel to his own son for the larger interests of the nation. Scandalized at the very thought of a lowly courtesan aspiring to become the Queen of Hindustan, he endeavors to make Salim and Anaarkali see reason. But sensing the impregnable strength of their love, he is coerced to adopt extreme measures…but even then, he honours the promise given to a maid, and allows Anaarkali to escape through a secret tunnel, with a rider that she would never come Salim’s way ever again….And Asif inserted into the proceedings characters such as the rebel sculptor Sangtarash who presents Anaarkali as a live figurine, Bahaar who finds her dreams of marrying Salim shattered and resorts to machinations to destroy Anaarkali, Durjan Singh who makes the ultimate sacrifice for his friend….

He got the best of the actors to work in the movie- Prithviraj Kapoor (Akbar), Dilip Kumar (Salim), Madhubala (Anaarkali), Durga Khote (Jodhabai), Ajit (Durjan Singh), Nigar Sultana (Bahar), M. Kumar (Sangtarash) and Jalal Agha (young Salim- Ustad Zakir Hussain was first considered for this role!). Prithviraj Kapoor epitomized the great ruler in all his majesty, his every glance, gait and gesture conveyed with a million nuances both the authoritarian and humane side of the emperor, and as the agonized father wanting to wean his beloved son from an unsuitable alliance, his performance was magnificent. Dilip Kapoor, with his restrained and understanding portrayal was the perfect foil to Prithviraj Kapoor’s histrionics. Durga Khote brought to empathetic life the helpless despair of a queen torn between her husband and son. But the movie clearly belongs to the bewitching Madhubala…. with her smile that was a magical blend of innocence and seduction, she simply stole the show….. as the wretched courtesan who falls in love with the prince, her performance was outstanding. And as the brave woman who takes on the emperor out of the sheer conviction of her love, she showed a rare inner strength. Perhaps the disappointments that life meted to Madhubala brought out these myriad subtleties in her on-screen delineation?

Asif got a talented team of Kamal Amrohi, Aman, Ehsan Rizvi and Wajahat Mirza to collaborate on the dialogues, while along with Aman, Asif himself worked painstakingly on the screenplay. The dialogues written for the verbal sparring between Akbar and Salim, the anguished outbursts of Jodhabai and the confrontation between Akbar and Anaarkali are not mere conversations, they are poetic lines glittering in the luminous beauty of Urdu. The handpicked technical crew consisted of R.D. Mathur (Cinematography), Dharamveer (Editing) and M.K. Syed (Art Direction).

Like a man possessed, Asif thought of nothing else but his movie, and worked on it for 9 long years. He took on lease two floors in Mohan Studios in Andheri, Bombay in 1951, and held on them till 1960 when the movie was finally released. He was determined that his movie, even while portraying the tragic tale of Anaarkali, would be such a scintillating work of art that generations to come would view with awe. Hence he set about working on it, chiseling each frame to absolute perfection. The Mughal Empire was portrayed in all its glory…the imposing grandeur and imperial accouterments were brought to life with meticulous detail. A movie such as this that made history has a history behind its making as well. Ironsmiths from Rajasthan worked night and day to make the weapons that were used in the battle sequences, goldsmiths from Hyderabad were employed to work on the intricate jewellery, craftsmen from Kolhapur designed the dazzling crowns, tailors were sent for from Delhi to create the carefully researched costumes, experts from Surat- Khambayat were engaged for patterning the delicate Zardosi embroidery on the costumes, and the famed cobblers of Agra were given the responsibility of making the ornate footwear in large numbers! Dilip Kumar was sent to London to be fitted with an appropriate wig. The frail Madhubala was shackled with real iron chains for the ‘beqas pE karam keejiyE’ song sequence. The statute of Lord Krishna that Durga Khote is seen worshipping was made wholly of gold. For the battle sequence, 2000 camels, 4000 horses and 8000 troops were used, many of them soldiers on loan from Jaipur contingent of the Indian Army. As though this was not sufficient, Asif used his contacts with Defence Minister Krishna Menon and got a whole infantry division from Delhi!

Mounted on such an opulent scale, the project nonchalantly overran its initial budget, and the final cost amounted to over Rs. 1.5 crores, a staggering amount at the time. During the period the movie was being made, Asif was paid a monthly salary by Shapoorji, but he spent it wholly on the project, even while sleeping (only for a couple hours each day!) on a straw mat on the floors of Mohan Studios. But where his dream project was concerned, compromise on even a minute detail he would not. When for the final entombment sequence, Asif would not accept Shapoorji’s reasoning that plaster of Paris would look just as good as real marble and was relentless in his demand for a real marble, Shapoorji, at the end of his tether, is said to have asked Asif, “Do you want real marble to make Anaarkali’s tomb, or mine?”

When the movie was finally completed to Asif’s exacting standards, they were saddled with more than 80,000 feet of negative film, and a marathon editing exercise was carried out resulting in many painstakingly crafted sequences being left out. But Asif’s unassailable conviction in his movie was not in the vain…. Beginning with a spectacular premier on August 5, 1960 at Bombay’s Maratha Mandir, where the film has an uninterrupted run for three years in full shows, Mughal-e-Azam went on to become the most successful blockbuster of all times, till Sholay broke its box-office record 15 years later. It is said that the movie grossed more than Rs. 10 crores within 2 years of its release, and every rerun continued to fill in the coffers.



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The music, of course, was the pièce de résistance. One of the numerous legends that abound the making of the movie is the way Asif went about appointing Naushad as his composer. Ignoring the pleas of Naushad’s family members that the composer could not be disturbed, Asif barged into Naushad’s room and announced that he was making ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ and Naushad would be composing the songs. Engrossed in the finer nuances of an intricate composition he was crafting, Naushad did not hear Asif. Asif then proceeded to throw a bundle of currency notes on Naushad’s harmonium. Far from being pleasantly surprised, Naushad glared at Asif angrily. And a servant who came to the room ran downstairs shouting that the floor was strewn with rupee notes!

But once Naushad accepted the assignment, he went about his work with excitement and enthusiasm, for he realized only too well that this was an opportunity of a lifetime. And Naushad’s involvement in the project went far beyond that of a mere composer and he evinced keen interest in the making of the movie. For instance it was Naushad who managed to convince the critics who scoffed at the song ‘mohE panghat pE’ celebrating Janmashtami as ludicrous in Akbar’s palace- Naushad argued that with Jodhabai as Akbar’s queen, there was no reason why Janmashtami should not have been celebrated in the palace. And so the song was retained in the movie. Further, it was Naushad who suggested that none other than Lachchu Maharaj could do justice to the choreography of the song, and thus the famed Kathak exponent came to choreograph the dance sequence of Radha pining for her beloved.

Naushad picked Shakeel Badayuni to pen the chaste Urdu lyrics, and the gifted lyricist dipped his pen in the cornucopia of the poetic flourishes of that ancient language, and the lines came unbeckoned, filled with grace, majesty and angst… And of course, Lata was the singer to bring alive the sheer poetry of the lines in the sweetest of tones, soaking her lines with the sheer rapture of love and then with the trial, tribulation and torment of a doomed woman…. Songs such as ‘mohe panghat pE, ‘ae ishq yeh sab duniyawalE’, ‘khuda nigehbaan hO’, ‘muhabbat ki jhooti kahaani’, ‘pyaar kiya toh darna kyaa’, ‘jab raat hai aisi matwaali’, ‘bekas pe karam keejiye’, ‘humsE kaash tumsE mohabbat na hOthi’ are immortal keepsakes, bespeaking the splendour of a bygone era where the composers and singers worked together to create melodies that transcend time…



'teri mehfil mein kismat aazmakar' is another unforgettable qawwali featuring a competition between Anaarkali and Bahar, sung by Lata and Shamshad Begum. As for the rousing ‘ae mohabbat zindabad’, it created a record when Naushad got 100 chorus singers to accompany Mohammed Rafi. And Naushad and Asif pulled off a coup of sorts when they managed to persuade none other than the redoubtable Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan to render 2 songs for the movie. This was the only instance of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan singing for a movie, and how this came about is another interesting tale. For a moonlit rendezvous of Anaar with Salim, Asif did not want any dialogues. He envisaged the notes of Tansen’s song wafting softly across the palace courtyards in the background. Naushad came up with ‘prEm jOgan ban jaaoon’ in Raag Sohni and wished aloud that Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan would sing it. Asif, the ever optimist, pulled Naushad along and went forthwith to the Ustad’s house. Apparently, put of by the arrogance of the filmmaker who dared to smoke in his house and appalled at the thought of singing a film song, the renowned vocalist tried to put them off by demanding an astronomical sum of Rs. 25,000. He was speechless when Asif readily agreed to pay the amount and it was thus that he found himself encumbered with an unwanted film assignment. Even then he demanded that he be shown the sequence before he sang it. Luckily the sequence had already been filmed, and the Ustad was speechless again…this time it was the sheer enchantment of the scene… the beautiful Anaarkali in the embrace of her handsome prince, and Salim gently caressing the cheeks of his beloved with a feather….the moon the only witness to this sensuous spectacle…. The Ustad was cajoled to sing another song as well for the sequence wherein Tansen sings a song hailing the triumphant return of Salim. The song was ‘shubh din aayO rE’ in Raag Baageshri and the Ustad was paid another Rs. 25, 000 for this song of which only a truncated segment of 15 seconds made it to the final cut. In fact, Naushad had composed 20 songs, of which several songs including ‘chala jaa rE’ (Shasham Begum) and ‘husn ki baaraat chali’ (Lata, Shamshad Begum, Mubarak Begum) did not find place in the movie.

Thus ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ remains a landmark album in the history of Hindi cinema, a treasure chest of unending marvels…

* * * *

Not content with his dream project reaching only the Hindi populace, Asif made it in two other languages- Tamil and English. The close-up sequences of the movie were originally shot three times, once each for lips moving for Hindi, Tamil and English dialogues. Disheartened at the Tamil version of the movie, titled ‘Akbar’, turning out to be commercial catastrophe, Asif gave up his desire of having Shakespearean actors from Britain doing the dubbing in English.

Today, even a copy of the Tamil version seems hard to come by. Fortunately, we have the songs with us. ‘Akbar’ might have not set the Bay of Bengal on fire, but the songs found instant appeal on either side of the Palk Strait… their popularity spread to even Singapore and Malaysia… I have heard old-timers reminisce fondly on them; even in my time I have listened to the songs being featured both in Vividha Bharati and Radio Ceylon ever so often. One of my most cherished memories of childhood is that of an aged relative singing soulfully ‘aatRin karaithanilE’ during a navaatri kolu in my village. And when I chanced to visit the hoary Columbia Music House at Kuala Lumpur, I hesitantly asked ‘Akbar?’ and the venerable Mrs. Thomas rattled off the songs without batting an eyelid!

I have in my collection 7 songs from ‘Akbar’. Kambadasan wrote the Tamil lyrics. For rendering the Tamil equivalents of the songs that Lata brought to pulsating life in Hindi, Naushad summoned P. Suseela. And Suseela coaxed into the Tamil lines the same enticement that Lata sprinkled the Hindi lines with.



Take for instance Suseela’s ‘aatRin karaithanilE kaNNan ennai kEli seithaanE’ the Tamil equivalent of the ‘mOhE panaghat pE nandalaal chhed gayO rE’, a traditional composition from Uttar Pradesh about Radha complaining of Krishna’s antics. Accompanied by chorus voices, Suseela with exquisite empathy and characteristic nativity brings to the fore the wistful yearnings of a lovesick Radha. And when she sings ‘en nenjin sudar thanindhE pOmO’, the Tamil version of ‘‘jab raat hai aisi matwaali’, the pyrrhic victory of Bahar as juxtaposed with the ecstasy and agony of Anaar who must give up Salim after spending a night with him forms the moving undercurrent of her lines.

As for the talented Jikki, she had relinquished her position as the exalted queen of Tamil film music by the time the songs of ‘Akbar’ were recorded. By the late 50s, winds of change had begun to sweep the corridors of the Kodambakkam studios, sending to premature retirement many of the talented composers and singers who had ruled the airwaves all through the decade. When ‘Anaarkali’ was made in 1955, Jikki got to sing all the songs, save one which went to the then upcoming Suseela. But by the time of ‘Akbar’, the roles were reversed. Suseela was the album’s mascot, while Jikki got to sing only 2 songs… the ebullient qawwaali ‘undhan sabaiyil endhan vidhiyai' where Jikki and Suseela sing the lines that Shamshad Begum and Lata sang in the Hindi equivalent 'teri mehfil mein kismat aazmakar' and the poignant farewell song ‘allah unnai ennaLum kakka vENdum’ (‘khuda nigehbaan ho’ in Hindi). While in the former Jikki soars effortlessly in the higher octaves as though reminding the listeners of her glorious pedigree, she is subdued and somber in the latter, as though resigned to her retirement and bidding us a sorrowful salaam…

I have picked for today’s SOTD the remaining 3 songs from ‘Akbar’ that I have. The first is of course ‘kaadhal koNdaalE bayamenna’, the Tamil equivalent of the immortal ‘pyaar kiyaa tO darnaa kyaa’. Pages can be written about the song and its sequence. The situation is that of Anaarkali dancing in the presence of Akbar, Jodhabai and Salim, and her song spewing lines of defiance, proclaiming boldly that she had not committed a crime merely by falling in love. Naushad recalled in an interview, “"I remember composing "pyar kiya tO darna kya". We had been experimenting all day and rejected two lyrics. It was almost midnight when I remembered a folk song of East UP, "prem kiya kya chori kari hai". It didn't take Shakeelsaab long to convert that into a beautiful ghazal. By the time we had the song wrapped up, it was 6 in the morning". Another popular story about the song is that in those days of sound recording, editing and mixing, as there were no technical facilities to enhance the reverberation of sound, Naushad had Lata render the song in a studio bathroom!

And as for the filming of the song, the stories are so numerous to be dwelt upon in detail here. A glass court hall, or ‘sheesh mahal’ was constructed at Mohan Studio with glass specially imported from Belgium costing lakhs of rupees. Workers from North India worked night and day for over 2 years for the dazzling set to match Asif’s expectations. The walls, pillars, and ceilings were inlaid with thousands of mirrors. Asif had marathon discussions with cameraman R.D. Mathur, and devised an innovative method of lighting the set with reflectors and shot the song both in black & white and in colour. It is said that in addition to the normal lighting, the headlights of 500 trucks were also used! The colour film was sent to London for processions and the results were spectacular. Mathur went on to win the Filmfare Award for his brilliant work in Mughal-e-Azam. Asif had actually wanted to remake the entire movie in colour, but by that time the producer and distributors had lost their patience, and Asif had to be content with having 2 songs and the climax shot in colour.



Listen to pyaar kiyaa tO darna kya from Mughal-e-Azam (1960/ Sterling Investment Corporation (P) Ltd.)
Sung by Lata Mangeshkar & Chorus
Lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni
Music by Naushad

Listen to kaadhal koNdaalE bayamenna from Akbar (1961/ Sterling Investment Corporation (P) Ltd.)
Sung by P. Suseela & Chorus
Lyrics by Kambadasan
Music by Naushad

Watch the ethereal Madhubala captured in hundred pieces of fragmented mirrors here

The next song is the desolate ‘kanavu kaNda kaadhal kathai kaNNeer aachchE’, the Tamil equivalent of ‘muhabbat ki jhooti kahaani pE rOyE’.

Listen to muhabbat ki jhooti kahaani from Mughal-e-Azam (1960/ Sterling Investment Corporation (P) Ltd.)
Sung by Lata Mangeshkar
Lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni
Music by Naushad

Reeling under the anguish of a love failure, Kambadasan had turned to drink. Perhaps he found a kindred soul in the wretched Anaarkali, for the lines of the song are filled with the despair of a broken heart…

Listen to kanavu kaNda kaadhal from Akbar (1961/Sterling Investment Corporation (P) Ltd.)
Sung by P. Suseela
Lyrics by Kambadasan
Music by Naushad

I have stored a delicious surprise for the last. Apart from the songs from Naushad, a song was composed by S.V. Venkataraman exclusively for ‘Akbar’. I cannot fathom how this came about. We can only suppose that since Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan’s songs did not find place in ‘Akbar’, Asif wanted a song recorded separately for the Tamil version. Even then, I would have thought of a singer like T.A. Mothi to be ideal for a classical Hindustani song. But SVV turns to the immensely talented (Radha) Jayalakshmi instead…



And in imperial tones filigreed with exquisite nuances, the singer invites the azhagin nilaa to descend to the earth for a stroll….

Listen to azhagin nilaa from Akbar (1961/Sterling Investment Corporation (P) Ltd.)
Sung by (Radha) Jayalakshmi
Lyrics by Kambadasan
Music by S.V. Venkataraman

* * * *

The magic of Mughal-e-Azam transcends generations. In 2004, photographer Jayesh Seth made a documentary titled ‘Ek Aitihasik Karishma’ on Mughal-e-Azam. Filled with wonder and awe at the sheer will power of Asif, Jayesh Seth said, “This film is about the myth and the impact. Basically, it is about the myth we used to hear about. More than 40 years ago, how K Asifsaab conceived such a grand project and kept the entire crew interested. The man kept the same zest and energy level in each and every unit member for ten years. Madhubala was suffering from heart ailments, and there were many financial hurdles. Artists had to get back into shape to fit their original looks. It's unbelievable!” Unbelievable it sure is. Another celebrity who can never tire of the movie is Painter M. F. Hussain. He was so obsessed with the movie that he painted a set of pictures based on the classic movie. The paintings were exhibited at the India International Center in New Delhi last year and elicited exclamations of wonder and delight…



In the meantime, the movie was colorized at an enormous cost. The restoration took 2 years with more than 200 persons working on it. Released in November 2004, it was received with critical and commercial success. Naushad supervised the recording of the songs in 6.1 Dolby DTS, and the re-mastered songs elicited widespread popularity all over again. Watching the colorized movie in a hall, Journalist M.J. Akbar wrote, “Now that George Bush can confess to getting "teared up" and win an election, I can make my own confession. I am a total sap for movies like Mughal-e-Azam, the wondrous classic about Emperor Akbar, his son Salim, and the dancing girl, Anarkali. The casting is perfection. Prithviraj as emperor: no one has quivered quite like him. Dilip Kumar as Salim: no one has crossed a heart with his sword with such poetry. Madhubala as Anarkali: no beauty better deserved a prince. Give me a map of my country rising above a plasticine medieval-Delhi-skyline on a large screen, a sonorous voice saying ‘Main Hindustan hoon,’ dollops of the sweetest language in the world, Urdu, and my eyes fill up like a river in the monsoon.”



The story does not end with this. Chengam Jabbar got the colourized Mughal-e-Azam dubbed in Tamil and released it as ‘Anaarkali’ (2005/ J.A. Films). However, Jabbar could not take the trouble of re-mastering digitally the old songs of Akbar, and took the easy way out- He got the re-mastered Hindi songs dubbed in Tamil, with Swarnalatha rendering them. Thus we have ‘kaadhal nadhikkaraiyil kaNgaLaal kaditham thandhaanE’ replacing ‘aatRin karaithanilE’, ‘endhan vidhiyai undhan sabhaiyil sOdhiththE naanum paarpEnE’ (where Swarnalatha sings for both Bahar and Anaar) in the place of ‘undhan sabaiyil endhan vidhiyai', ‘kaadhalithaalE achchamenna’ for ‘kaadhal koNdaalE bayamenna’, and ‘kanavu kaNda kaadhal kaNNeer kadhai aachchE’ in lieu of ‘kanavu kaNda kaadhal kathai kaNNeer aachchE’, all sung by Swarnalatha.

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~ To be concluded ~

Discussion Page in DhooL on this Song

http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7284