Random Public Thoughts #5 - Mughal-E-Azam
My husband's secretary is Indian. She is a very interesting and strong-willed person. She was very educated: she went to law school and taught classical dance. However, she did something unusual: she defied her parents and married young in a love match. They had a child. Then her husband left her and they divorced. She didn't remarry. I asked why? She said that if she had remarried, her son would have suffered, especially if she had more children with the second husband. Instead, she devoted herself to her son, and came to the U.S. so he could go to college in the U.S. and have more opportunities.
Like many immigrants she had to settle for jobs that were far beneath her, but her goal was survival and putting her son through college. She succeeded. Her son got a degree in computer science, got a good job, married a beautiful woman and has a baby boy. He is cheerful, outgoing, and well-adjusted.
Barbie told my hubby that there were a couple of good Indian movies playing in a local theater, and we settled on one called Mughal-e-Azam, that she said was a classic dating from 1960 that she had seen "100 times."
The movie had been filmed in black-and-white with only a couple of dance scenes in color. Recently, it was colorized and digitalized and re-released. Unfortunately, they didn't clean up the sound - it buzzed constantly. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it immensely. It's like an Indian Sound of Music except more stylized and with a more tragic story.
A Mughal king prays for a child. His wish is granted and he has a son. He promises the maid who brings him the good news anything that she wants and gives her his ring as a token. The young boy is pampered and spoiled, so his father sends him out to the desert to toughen up and learn to fight. The boy toughens up and is successful on the battlefield, so his father summons him home, now a grown and very handsome young man. There is a dance to celebrate a Hindu holiday and to entertain the young prince. The lead dancer is astonishingly beautiful and accomplished and he is captivated. The king is also impressed and gives her the name Anarkali and invites her to be a maid in the palace. Anarkali's saucy and bold little sister runs messages between the prince and Anarkali and the two fall in love. The king opposes it and throws Anarkali in prison. He releases her on the condition that she convince the prince that she was just a gold-digger, but she sings and dances her love in defiance and is thrown in prison again. The prince goes to war with his father for Anarkali. He is defeated and sentenced to death. Anarkali comes out to die in his place. The king grants her a last wish, which is to be married to the prince, but on the condition that she drug him before their love is consumated. After that, she is walled up alive to die. However, Anarkali's mother produces the ring that the king gave her years ago and she calls in her chits and begs for her daughter's life. The king relents and gives some balderdash about doing all this for the sake of the kingdom, allowing Anarkali to escape via a hidden tunnel, on the condition that she leave forever with the prince never knowing that she is still alive.
Seems to me that the king could have simply gone for a win-win situation and allowed Anarkali to be his son's concubine. Anyway, aren't they Muslim and thus aren't they allowed to have several wives? The king's blarney about not allowing this love for the sake of the kingdom made no sense and everyone in the kingdom seemed to be just fine with letting the prince have his love. Also, I wonder what the prince did after he woke up from his drugged sleep and was told that Anarkali was walled up up alive. He just let that happen and let her die such a horrible death without going off on the deep end himself?
But story aside, the actress who played Anarkali was hauntingly beautiful. She had a sweet and pure face, fair and serene, like a goddess. When she first appears in a dance and unveils her face, she is astonishingly lovely and I could not take my eyes off of her!
The music was hypnotic, and the dancing was colorful and fun to watch.
This was a LONG movie - over 3 hours? However, it didn't seem that long and it lingered in my memories afterwards. In fact, I'd like to see it again. It's hard to believe that the beautiful actress who played Anarkali died only a few years later, of heart problems.
Like many immigrants she had to settle for jobs that were far beneath her, but her goal was survival and putting her son through college. She succeeded. Her son got a degree in computer science, got a good job, married a beautiful woman and has a baby boy. He is cheerful, outgoing, and well-adjusted.
Barbie told my hubby that there were a couple of good Indian movies playing in a local theater, and we settled on one called Mughal-e-Azam, that she said was a classic dating from 1960 that she had seen "100 times."
The movie had been filmed in black-and-white with only a couple of dance scenes in color. Recently, it was colorized and digitalized and re-released. Unfortunately, they didn't clean up the sound - it buzzed constantly. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it immensely. It's like an Indian Sound of Music except more stylized and with a more tragic story.
A Mughal king prays for a child. His wish is granted and he has a son. He promises the maid who brings him the good news anything that she wants and gives her his ring as a token. The young boy is pampered and spoiled, so his father sends him out to the desert to toughen up and learn to fight. The boy toughens up and is successful on the battlefield, so his father summons him home, now a grown and very handsome young man. There is a dance to celebrate a Hindu holiday and to entertain the young prince. The lead dancer is astonishingly beautiful and accomplished and he is captivated. The king is also impressed and gives her the name Anarkali and invites her to be a maid in the palace. Anarkali's saucy and bold little sister runs messages between the prince and Anarkali and the two fall in love. The king opposes it and throws Anarkali in prison. He releases her on the condition that she convince the prince that she was just a gold-digger, but she sings and dances her love in defiance and is thrown in prison again. The prince goes to war with his father for Anarkali. He is defeated and sentenced to death. Anarkali comes out to die in his place. The king grants her a last wish, which is to be married to the prince, but on the condition that she drug him before their love is consumated. After that, she is walled up alive to die. However, Anarkali's mother produces the ring that the king gave her years ago and she calls in her chits and begs for her daughter's life. The king relents and gives some balderdash about doing all this for the sake of the kingdom, allowing Anarkali to escape via a hidden tunnel, on the condition that she leave forever with the prince never knowing that she is still alive.
Seems to me that the king could have simply gone for a win-win situation and allowed Anarkali to be his son's concubine. Anyway, aren't they Muslim and thus aren't they allowed to have several wives? The king's blarney about not allowing this love for the sake of the kingdom made no sense and everyone in the kingdom seemed to be just fine with letting the prince have his love. Also, I wonder what the prince did after he woke up from his drugged sleep and was told that Anarkali was walled up up alive. He just let that happen and let her die such a horrible death without going off on the deep end himself?
But story aside, the actress who played Anarkali was hauntingly beautiful. She had a sweet and pure face, fair and serene, like a goddess. When she first appears in a dance and unveils her face, she is astonishingly lovely and I could not take my eyes off of her!
The music was hypnotic, and the dancing was colorful and fun to watch.
This was a LONG movie - over 3 hours? However, it didn't seem that long and it lingered in my memories afterwards. In fact, I'd like to see it again. It's hard to believe that the beautiful actress who played Anarkali died only a few years later, of heart problems.
posted by Gaye Marasaki | 6:40 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home