Colored Mughal-e-Azam: The "movie" review
V S Rawat वी एस रावत
I noticed the name of P. Shusheela in the cast among main
singers. I could not find which song she was a part of.
anyone?
------------
FOUR songs are not there in the colored version:
- ai ishq ye sab duniyaa waale
- mohabbat kii jhuuThii kahaanii pe roye
- hame.n kaash tumase mohabbat na hotii
- bekas pe karam kiijiye
I don't know whether these were not colorised at all, or
these were deleted all over or just my theatre deleted them.
Info from other viewers is welcome about this aspect.
The film is still some full 3 hours, including an interval.
But, film has become quite fast due to deletion of these
songs. The casuality is the logic of the film. The first
song mentioned above was on Ajeet and Anarkali's friend
Suraiya, Thus, its deletion did not affect the film.
But, Anarkali was in and out, in and out of prison so many
times, and the songs were helping in creating the atmosphere
of prison by showing the aggrieved face and expression of
Madhubala.
Without the song, it so happens that in one scene she gets
imprisoned and in the next scene she is back in front of
akbar, or doing the dance, so on. Thus, it did not come out
any forcefully at all how the imprisonment might have
affected her.
Thankfully they have retained "shubh din aayo re" and "prem
jogan ban ke" to the full. That creates its impact.
The song Kudaa nigahabaan ho tumhaaraa has only one stanzaa,
though I think it was the same way in b&w version also. Has
anyone seen any version which has all the stanza of this song?
In general, the current film seems more about confrontation
between akbar and Saleem and less about love between saleem
and anaarkali.
------------
Colorisation has good effect on the film.
The main contribution of colorisation is that black and
white themselves are colors and give million shaded of grey.
When the other colours got converted to shades of grey in
b&w version, the effect of pure white, pure black and grey
had got compromised, like the darkness, the shadow, the far
away things or scenes. Those have come out pretty well in
the colored version, adding to the beauty of the film.
Thus film has become a little clearer to see in color where
previously I could not see a lot many things which were in
background in b&w.
But, in several scenes they have just replaced black of the
original movie, with some single shade, like brown.
Scenes of palace appear a vulgar exhibitionism in color,
whereas outdoor scenes of gardens and especially the war
scenes have become much better in color.
-------------
Surprisely the mismatch of new version with old version
strikes you in full impact not due to color, but due to
digital stereo dolby.
All that clarity, and loudness has spoiled the original feel
of the music, more in the theatre and less in the cassette.
The voices have become clearer, but they appear to be more
shrill, more piercing, more faraway than the original version.
Mostly, when individual voice is singing in the song, the
dolby effect is not put, but as soon as those heavy
instrument start, or chorus takes over, all those six or
eight tracks explode through all the speakers in the hall
and you feel like putting heands to protect your ears.
especially in the "terii mehfil me.n kismat aazamaa kar", in
which there is constant switching between chorus and
individual voice of Lata/ Shamshad, you can do a complete
yoga session by putting your hands on your ears, and then
removing them.
The rafi song is in full dolby, even rafi's individual voice
portions.
There is one major flaw in the conversion of this song that
part of it is shot where dilip kumar was groomed to die, and
part of it is in the akbar's court where he was sitting
after delivering the judgment, then he moves out, then he
reaches all the way to the same place where dilip kumar was
there.
The flaw is that the song continues at the same loudness all
over. Any Dolby Digital effect must have taken the distance
into account, and should have made the voice coming from
faraway place as per the setting.
I wonder whether there was some technical limitation in
doing the above.
On the other hand, when in the final scene when dilip kumar
throws away the two mirrors before getting fainted, the
sound of shattering glasses comes from one speaker. That is
the correct way.
Somehow I feel that they might also have felt like deleting
the rafi songs but could not because the story gets a new
twist in that song. Some members here have said that the
song was deleted in 60, I wonder what effect it had on the
continuity of the film.
------------
Some young boys sitting around me were trying to make out
the urdu dialogue. When taKliyaa was said a few times, and
they have seen the effect, they discussed it and concluded
that taKliyaa means "phoot lo", a very good approximation.
When Durga khote comes to meet dilip k when he was going to
be shot, she puts a yellow tiikaa on his forhead. I though
it is haldii.
One of those boys remarked "dekh yahaa.N par galtii kar dii.
laal tiikaa lagaate hai.n".
the other one theorized "nahii.n #dead body# ko chandan kaa
tiikaa lagaate hai.n. wo marane jaa rahaa hai isliye pahale
se wahii lagaa diyaa hai"
Then they appreciated that such a small point was also taken
care of.
It was a new info for me also. Thanks to them.
They were also complaining that birbal is not shown. I also
wonder why K Asif was not having a tooth for humour.
The b&w version I had last seen some 20 years ago in 1984 or
so. That had all the songs.
The recommendation:
members who are particular about the exact feel of music,
sounds and voices of the original film, should avoid seeing
the colored version as it will rightly destroy the original
feel. Though it will build a new feel.
--
Rawat
Cricfan
> When Durga khote comes to meet dilip k when he was going to
> be shot, she puts a yellow tiikaa on his forhead. I though
> it is haldii.
>
> One of those boys remarked "dekh yahaa.N par galtii kar dii.
> laal tiikaa lagaate hai.n".
>
> the other one theorized "nahii.n #dead body# ko chandan kaa
> tiikaa lagaate hai.n. wo marane jaa rahaa hai isliye pahale
> se wahii lagaa diyaa hai"
>
> Then they appreciated that such a small point was also taken
> care of.
>
Chandan ka tikka is common for vaishnavites. Its application is not
limited to "inauspicious" occassions either. Although, it must be said
that when you cremate a dear one, the purohit applies a long
chandan-ka-tikka on your forehead. I don't recall it being applied on
the dead person's forehead. But then, there are rituals and there are
regions!
Cheers
Arun
Sudhir
Ae Ishaq Yeh Sab Duniyawale and
Humen Qaash Tum Se Mohabbat Na Hoti
After about six months, when the film had moved to second tier
theaters of mid-size cities (e.g.: Amritsar), two reels were
added, incorporating the above two songs. Posters with Add-On
message were plastered in those cities and a large number of
movie-goers (including myself) saw the film the Nth time.
The last song of the film: Khuda Nighehban Ho Tumhara is a
different version than the 78 rpm version of LP. It has
two slow lines in the beginning: Lo Aayi Maut Ke Parde Se ....
and only one para. Starting from the preceeding scene (i.e.:
Yeh Dil Ki Lagi Kum Kya Hogi), the 2 reels were in color.
The last reel was initially in B&W, but later was replaced with
the color version probably few weeks prior to adding the above mentioned
two reels. The B&W qawwali scene was also replaced at the same time
to the colored version.
As far as Rafi song is concerned, I too have heard that some people
did not see this song. If so, the cut was made by the exhibitor,
rather than K. Asif. At 20 reels, the film was already about
half hour. (1 Reel = approx 1,000 feet = 10 1/2 minutes run-time)
All Booda, Bachha, Jawan and Aunties had the opportunity to
watch and hear the other two songs:
Mohabbat Ki Jhoothi Kahani Pe Roye and
Bekas Pe Karam Kijiye
P. Susheela is an add-on singer for the new recordings, which were
mixed with the older recording for Rangeen version.
Sudhir
P>S>
-------------------
V S Rawat ?? ?? ???? <VSRawat_...@hclinfinet.com> wrote in message >
V S Rawat वी एस रावत
> The film was initially released without the two songs:
>
> Ae Ishaq Yeh Sab Duniyawale and
I do not rate highly the combined wisdom of K Asif + Nuashad
in keeping this song so long. It was just a filler song to
provide entertainment to viewers by showing madhubala's
friend Suraiya teasing Dilip K's friend Ajeet. A shorter
song with more humourous/ snide/ taunting lyrics would have
been more effective.
But then, I am not able to recall off hand whether Naushad
has ever composed any humourous song. Anyone?
> Humen Qaash Tum Se Mohabbat Na Hoti
The entire concept behind this song is a mystery to me.
Those who do not know, it happens just after Anarkali spends
one night in prison the first time, and then meets akbar who
orders her to convince saleem that she does not love him.
Then the song takes place, in which Dilip K follows Anarkali
here and there in palace, and she keeps on avoiding him and
sings the song. All the while, bahaar keeps on following
both to assess what they are talking and doing.
Then, Dilip K is shown talking to Ajeet, expressing
happiness that akbar has released anarkali, and
superimposing his own interpretations of the act whereas
Ajeet keeps on cautioning him.
In the colored version, after akbar finishes with anarkali,
the next scene directly shows the above mentioned talk
between dilip k and Ajeet.
I think Dilip K did not get the message in the song. Then
what could have been the purpose of this song?
I could not understand by lyrics of this song whether
anarkali was trying to follow the orders of akbar and trying
to convince saleem that she does not love him, or she was
just contemplating her own state of mind. The lyrics of this
song shows the utter failure of Shakeel Badayuni, unless
someone could explain to me what the lyrics wanted to convey.
For that matter, lyrics of "mohabbat kii jhuuThii kahaanii
pe roye" are also not clear. It happens in prison when
Anarkali was put there for the first time.
I wonder when akbar has imprisoned anarkali, and saleem has
not yet got any time to plan and to take any action either
way, or to reamin inactive, how does the "mohabbat kii
kahaanii" become jhuuThii?
I think they should not have deleted the songs altogether.
Maybe they could have included only the mukha.Daa in the film.
Also, in the new version, they could have added some more
clips and some more songs, at least partly, if they had
them. I think they are not having any additional thing in
reserve, and it is just a make-believe that so many extra
shooting was done that was delete, or so many more songs
were recorded which were not used.
But, if that extra recording/ shooting was done, it is
likely that that was not of acceptable quality to have
included in the first place.
> After about six months, when the film had moved to second
> tier theaters of mid-size cities (e.g.: Amritsar), two
> reels were added, incorporating the above two songs.
> Posters with Add-On message were plastered in those
> cities and a large number of movie-goers (including
> myself) saw the film the Nth time.
>
> The last song of the film: Khuda Nighehban Ho Tumhara is
> a different version than the 78 rpm version of LP. It
> has two slow lines in the beginning: Lo Aayi Maut Ke
> Parde Se .... and only one para. Starting from the
> preceeding scene (i.e.: Yeh Dil Ki Lagi Kum Kya Hogi),
> the 2 reels were in color.
>
> The last reel was initially in B&W, but later was
> replaced with the color version probably few weeks prior
> to adding the above mentioned two reels. The B&W qawwali
> scene was also replaced at the same time to the colored
> version.
In the b&w version I had seen, starting from "ye dil kii
lagii kam kyaa hogii" till the very end, all the reels were
in color, including the underground scene where akbar hands
over madhubala in-coma to her mom.
I wonder what could be the wisdom of adding colored reels
later on? When they already had them they should have shown
only clored reels to begin with, and not the b&w ones.
> As far as Rafi song is concerned, I too have heard that
> some people did not see this song. If so, the cut was
> made by the exhibitor, rather than K. Asif. At 20
> reels, the film was already about half hour. (1 Reel =
> approx 1,000 feet = 10 1/2 minutes run-time)
I think I have noticed colored version mentioning 35 reels.
I remember now that the b&w version has beautiful sketches/
portraits in the background while casting was taking place.
in the colored version, I think that the entire casting has
been re-shot. Thus all those portraits have been thrown
away, and it is just some stills of chess, pawn, places etc.
Also, there was a long text at the begining of the film, it
was in two or more screen in the b&w version and quite
legible. In colored version, it has been put in a single
screen in such a stupid font that it is impossible to read it.
> All Booda, Bachha, Jawan and Aunties had the opportunity
> to watch and hear the other two songs:
>
> Mohabbat Ki Jhoothi Kahani Pe Roye and
>
> Bekas Pe Karam Kijiye
>
>
> P. Susheela is an add-on singer for the new recordings,
> which were mixed with the older recording for Rangeen
> version.
>
> Sudhir
Thanks for all the info.
--
Rawat
V S Rawat वी एस रावत
> FOUR songs are not there in the colored version:
>
> - ai ishq ye sab duniyaa waale - mohabbat kii jhuuThii
> kahaanii pe roye - hame.n kaash tumase mohabbat na hotii
> - bekas pe karam kiijiye
Mughal-e-Azam's ad in today's newspaper (Nov 25):
aaj se "mohabbat kii jhuuThii kahaanii pe roye" gaane ke
saath dekhiye.
--
Rawat