“Insaan kisise duniya mein ek baar mohabbat karta hai…is dard ko lekar jeeta hai, is dard ko lekar marta hai.” Lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni, Music by Naushad & Singer Lata Mangeshkar.
Pain is an essential ingredient of love; it adds to the taste! The charm of love is that it happens; we fall in love and rise! The longing, anxiety, impatience, desperation all make love worth living and dying for. The power of love is such that it can bend or break whoever or whatever is resisting it. True love reaches beyond all boundaries, just like Anarkali’s love for Salim which the Emperor’s atrocities simply fail to curb. Love is the law of nature and cannot be overruled by the Jahanpanah’s whims.

As she unfolds the divinity of love, every inch of the twelve thousand square feet of the magnanimous Sheesh Mahal resonates with her dance. The elegant Madhubala beautifully complements the two years of toiling by the skilled artisans from Ferozabad. The court listens with rapt attention as Anarkali, the beautiful rebel, fearlessly proclaims,

Pyaar kiya to darna kya; pyar kiya koi chori nahin ki,
chhup chhup aahein bharna kya!”
There’s nothing to hide in love, it isn’t some theft. It’s like a breeze of fresh air…delightful to take a deep breath; not something to sigh about secretly. As the song moves to the first interlude, the violins reiterate Salim’s faith in Anarkali’s integrity as his stern look at Bahaar makes her step back. It isn’t just a step back but a setback for her!

“Aaj kahenge dil ka fasana, jaan bhi lele chahe zamana.
Maut wahi jo duniya dekhe, ghut-ghutkar yun marna kya!”
Love is all about courage; fear is not a word in love’s dictionary! She has been ordered to portray her love as deceit for Salim but love has encouraged her to say all that’s in heart, even if it results in her death. She chooses to make her death a spectacle for the world rather than dying a suppressed being. Salim smiles…reassured that it’s just the way it was; perhaps even more intense now!

“Unki tamanna dil mein rahegi, shamma isi mehfil mein rahegi.
Ishq mein jeena, ishq mein marna, aur humein ab karna kya!”
The way Lataji sings unki the second time tells how special Salim is for Anarkali. The desire to be his is like a heartbeat; it shall live forever in the heart, just like a lamp that stays lit throughout in a gathering of people. Akin to the heart that keeps beating and then stops one day, all she wants to do is live and die in love! Love has empowered her to sing this directly to the prince; look in his eyes, pull out his dagger, go to hand it over to the Emperor but lay it at his feet…and set his blood boiling! Anarkali is no more a courtesan…she’s a warrior! The violins in the third interlude suggest a wave of unrest in the court with the Emperor infuriated, the Queen worried and the Prince brimming with confidence; the smile on his face proving the unequivocal fact that love always wins!

“Chhup na sakega ishq hamara, chaaron taraf hai unka nazaara.
Parda nahin jab koi Khuda se, bandon se parda karna kya!”
As Lataji hits the skies with this stanza, we see Anarkali in every sheesha of the Sheesh Mahal as the chorus reverberates the call of the heart. Love has come to conquer the empire and the Emperor is caught unawares. She ruthlessly tramples his ego with every move of hers. Materialistic power is captivating but emotional power is liberating! The Jahanpanah has conveniently forgotten that though he rules the world, he is being ruled by the Supreme who can turn the tables the moment He wants. And when the love of Salim and Anarkali is blessed by the Almighty, why hide from His devotees, why fear his followers! The Emperor hangs his head; the moment of realisation that he is just Akbar, a meagre mortal. But his ego resumes the very next moment as the chorus echoes the mukhda like the signal of triumph! The violins conclude the song as Zil-e-Ilahi springs to his feet, trembling with anger; his bloodshot eyes torching Anarkali…

K. Asif believed that a movie deserves every penny that can be spent and there’s nothing called ‘budget’. He came to be known as the ‘Movie Moghul’. Shakeel Badayuni and Naushad sahab would spend endless hours brainstorming over a song. The room would be filled with crumpled papers the following morning. We know them as stalwarts from the fields of poetry and music. Lataji mesmerised the world with this rendition. We know her as ‘Gaansamragyi’. Prithviraj Kapoor, Durga Khote, Madubala and Dilip Kumar ruled the audience’s hearts. We know them as legends from the field of acting. They all joined hands to create a phenomenal masterpiece, fifty-eight years ago, and presented an enriching, spellbinding and outstanding creation. We know it as Mughal-E-Azam!

Song: Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya