''Anarkali'' () is a 1955 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

-language

historical romance Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Walter Scott helped popularize in the early 19th century. Varieties Viking These books feature Vikings during the Dar ...

film, written and directed by

Vedantam Raghavayya Vedantam Raghavayya ( te, వేదాంతం రాఘవయ్య) (8 June 1919 – 1971) was an Indian film director, dance choreographer, Kuchipudi exponent, actor, producer, and musician known for his works in Telugu cinema, Telugu thea ...

. The film stars

Akkineni Nageswara Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1923 – 22 January 2014), widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and producer, known for his works majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became on ...

and Anjali Devi. It is based on the legend of the romance between Mughal prince Salim (later known as Jahangir) and the eponymous court dancer. ''Anarkali'' was produced by P. Adinarayana Rao, who also composed the music. It was released on 28 April 1955 and became a commercial success, running for over 100 days in many theatres. It was dubbed in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

with the same title.

Plot

Nadira, a Persian woman, migrates to

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra i ...

with her tribe. Bowled over by her mellifluous voice and beauty, Mughal prince

Salim Salim, Saleem or Selim may refer to: People *Salim (name), or Saleem or Salem or Selim, a name of Arabic origin * Salim (poet) (1800–1866) * Saleem (playwright) (fl. 1996) *Selim I, Selim II and Selim III, Ottoman Sultans * Selim people, an e ...

introduces himself to her as a soldier, and the two fall in love and meet regularly at the

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

garden. Once, while strolling in his garden, Emperor Akbar, impressed by Nadira's singing, bestows on her the title " Anarkali", meaning "pomegranate blossom". Thereafter, Salim has entrusted the responsibility as a chief commander for war in Kabul, distressed Anarkali also leaves to know the whereabouts of Salim. To her misfortune, she is caught by burglars and while they are auctioning her prince Salim purchases her. On that night, they are completely under flow of romance when Man Singh I caveats the prince regarding his vocation. Immediately, Salim is onslaught into the battlefield, grievously injured, and goes into a coma. Right now, Man Singh-I back-pedals him to Agra when Anarkali also follows. During that plight, her singing brings back to consciousness to Salim when hearten Akbar makes her the court dancer. Spotting her at the court Man Singh-I warns her to discard but she refuses. Meanwhile, Anarkali acclaims paramount in the court which upsets Gulnar, the former court dancer, who has secret ambitions to marry the prince. On the occasion of Salim's coronation celebration, an envied Gulnar conspires and mixes alcohol in Anarkali's drink. Under its influence, Anarkali expresses her love for Salim which angers Akbar who orders her to be imprisoned. At that juncture, Salim expresses his love for her to his mother Jodha Bai and requests to couple up them. But Akbar rejects the proposal, so Salim rebels and amasses an army to confront his father to rescue Anarkali but Jodha Bai bar him. Right now, Akbar orders capital punishment for the lovers to decapitate Salim, and Anarkali is taken to a distant place to be entombed alive. Then, everyone shows averse to meeting Salim, so, the Emperor must do so but he collapses due to the affection of his son. Being cognizant of Anarkali's entombment, Salim rushes to save her when Gulnar backstabs him, by the time he reaches there, Anarkali is already buried. Grief-stricken, Salim bangs his head on her grave and dies.

Cast

* Anjali Devi as Anarkali *

Kannamba Pasupuleti Kannamba (''Pasupulēţi Kannāṃba'') (5 October 1911 – 7 May 1968) was an Indian actress, playback singer and film producer of Telugu cinema, of Andhra Pradesh, India. She acted in more than 170 films and produced about 25 films ...

as Jodha Bai * Nageswara Rao as

* S. V. Ranga Rao as Akbar *

V. Nagayya V. Nagayya (born Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma; 28 March 1904 – 30 December 1978) also known as Chittoor Nagayya was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. ...

Man Singh Man Singh I, popularly known as Mirza Raja Man Singh (21 December 1550 – 6 July 1614) was the 29th Kachwaha Rajput Raja of Amer, later known as Jaipur state, in Rajputana. He was the most powerful and trusted general of the Mughal empe ...

* S. Balasaraswathi as Gulnar * Gadiraju Kesavarao as

Tansen Tansen ( – 26 April 1589), also referred to and commonly known as Sangeet Samrat () , was a Hindustani classical musician. Born in a Hindu Gaur Brahmin family, he learnt and perfected his art in the northwest region of modern Madhya Pr ...

Production

After '' Paradesi'' (1953), the inaugural production of Anjali Pictures was an average success at the box office, its producers – husband and wife P. Adinarayana Rao and Anjali Devi – considered making their sophomore production based on folklore. The 1953

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

film '' Anarkali'', which was based on the legendary romance between Mughal prince Salim (later known as Jahangir) and the eponymous court dancer, was a success and caught their attention, prompting them to adapt the same story in Telugu with the same title, while putting their folklore film plans on hold (this project would later be revived as '' Suvarna Sundari'', released in 1957).

was chosen as director and screenwriter, Samudrala Sr. as dialogue writer,

Kamal Ghosh Kamal Ghosh (1910–1983; often misspelled in film credits as Kamaal) was an Indian cinematographer and film director. Although a native of Kolkata, he was active primarily in Tamil and Telugu cinema. Early life Kamal Ghosh was the nephew of f ...

for cinematography, N. S. Prakasam for editing, and A. K. Sekhar as art director alongside Vali and Thota. Anjali Devi, besides presenting the film, also played the title character. Gadiraju Kesavarao, an associate director, also appeared briefly as the musician

. ''Anarkali'' began production on 11 March 1954 at Neptune Studios. The outdoor scenes were shot at

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by P. Adinarayana Rao, while the lyrics were written by Samudrala Sr. Though the soundtrack consisted predominantly of original compositions, two were borrowed from the 1953 film. "Ravoyi Sakhaa" was adapted from "Aa Jaane Wafaa", and "Jeevitame Saphalamu" was adapted from "Yeh Zindagi Usi Ki Hai". ;Tamil songs Lyrics were by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass. All the tunes for all the songs and singers for both languages are the same.

Release and reception

''Anarkali'' was released on 28 April 1955. The film was a commercial success, running for over 100 days in many theatres. Its namesake Tamil-dubbed version was also successful.

References

External links

* {{Vedantam Raghavaiah 1950s biographical films 1950s historical romance films 1950s Telugu-language films 1955 films Biographical films about royalty Cultural depictions of Akbar Cultural depictions of Jahangir Films about courtesans in India Films about royalty Films directed by Vedantam Raghavayya Films scored by P. Adinarayana Rao Films set in the 16th century Films set in the Mughal Empire Historical epic films Indian biographical films Indian epic films Indian historical romance films Indian romantic drama films Romantic epic films Indian black-and-white films