Anarkali (Urdu: انارکلی (Shahmukhi); Anārkalī ) (pomegranate blossom) was a legendary slave girl from Lahore, Punjab (in present day Pakistan). It is depicted in the Bollywood movie Mughal-e-Azam that during the Mughal period, she was supposedly ordered to be buried alive between two walls by Mughal emperor Akbar for having an illicit relationship with the Prince Nuruddin Saleem (or Salim), later to become Emperor Jahangir. Due to the lack of evidence and sources, the story of Anarkali is widely accepted to be either false or heavily embellished. Nevertheless, her story is cherished by many and has been adapted into literature, art and cinema.
The Great Mughal emperor Akbar and his wife, Mariam-uz-Zamani, had a son named Prince Saleem (later Emperor Jahangir). He was a spoiled and rude boy[citation needed] and because of this, Akbar the Great sent his son away to the army for fourteen years to learn the discipline required to rule the empire. Finally, Akbar allowed this son to return to the main palace in Lahore. Since this day was one of great celebration, the harem of Akbar decided to hold a great Mujra (dance performance) by a beautiful girl named Nadeera, daughter of Noor Khan Argun. Since she was an exceptional beauty, "like a blossoming flower", Akbar called her Anarkali (blossoming pomegranate).
Noorjehan or Noorjehan (Punjabi, Urdu: نور جہاں) was the adopted stage name for Allah Wasai (September 21, 1926 – December 23, 2000) who was a legendary singer and actress in British India and Pakistan. Her career spanned seven decades. She was renowned as one of the greatest and most influential singers of her time in South Asia and was given the honorific title of Malika-e-Tarannum (Urdu: ملکہ ترنم, English: the queen of melody).
Born in a Punjabi family of musicians, Wasai was pushed by her parents to follow in their musical footsteps and become a singer but she was more interested in acting in films and graced the earliest Pakistani films with her performances. She holds a remarkable record of 10,000 songs to her singing credits in various languages of India and Pakistan including Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and Sindhi languages. Along with Ahmed Rushdi, she holds the highest record of film songs in the history of Pakistani cinema. She is also considered to be the first female Pakistani film director.
Biju Menon is an Indian film actor who has mainly worked in Malayalam cinema, along with a couple of Tamil and Telugu films. He appears mostly in supporting roles, but has also acted in antagonistic roles. He made his debut in 1995 in Puthran.
Menon is noted for his performances in films such as Mannar Mathai Speaking (1995), Krishnagudiyil Oru Pranayakalathu (1997), Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu (1999), Madhuranombarakattu (2000), Meghamalhar (2001), Shivam (2002), Marykkundoru Kunjaadu (2010) and Ordinary (2012).
Biju Menon started his acting career through Malayalam television serials such as Ningalude Swantham Chanthu and Mikhayelinte Santhathikal. He made his debut in films with Puthran, the sequel of Mikhayelinte Santhathikal. He acted in a number of movies as villain and second hero. During the second half of nineties, he was considered to be the superstar in making. But most of the films with Biju Menon as hero failed in box office though his roles as second hero were very popular. He acted with Suresh Gopi in a number of super hit movies like Pathram, F. I. R., and Chinthamani Kolacase. During the later 1990s and early 2000s he appeared in a few offbeat movies with directors like T. V. Chandran, Lenin Rajendran, and Kamal in the films Mazha, Madhuranombarakkattu, Anyar, and Meghamalhar.
Plot
1857 AD. The entire Indian sub continent is ruled by a company. The British East India Company. The most successful business enterprise in history. The company has its own laws, its own administration, its own army. It controls the destiny of one fifth of humanity. Mangal Pandey - The Rising is an epic tale of friendship, betrayal, love and sacrifice set against the backdrop of what the British called the sepoy mutiny but which for the Indians was the First War of Independence. 'Company Raj' as it was known, had been plundering the country, treating the locals unjustly and causing widespread resentment. After a hundred years of subjugation, the Indian consciousness is rising through the revolutionary prospect of change and self-rule. During a fierce battle in one of the Afgan wars that the Company fought in the mid-century, Mangal Pandey, the heroic sepoy, saves the life of his British commanding officer William Gordon. Gordon is indebted to Mangal and a strong friendship develops between them, transcending consideration of rank and race. The friendship is soon challenged by the introduction of a new rifle called the Enfield . The new rifle has come with a new cartridge which is rumored to be coated with the grease of cow and pig fat. The new cartridge has to be bitten before it is loaded, which ignites anger and resentment among the Indian sepoys. The cow is sacred to the Hindus, the pig forbidden to the Muslims. They will not touch such a kartoos (gun cartridge), it would defile them. Set in one of the most beautiful countries on earth, told across the divides of time, Mangal Pandey - The Rising tells the tale of friends, lovers and enemies, exploiters and exploited, and the growth and awareness of a man and a nation. It is a story of one man and his dream of freedom. This sweeping epic is based on real historical events, seen as a trigger for Indian independence
Keywords: 1800s, 1850s, bare-chested-male, bare-chested-male-bondage, beating, bengal, betrayal, bhang, blood, breast-feeding
Legend of Mangal Pandey
You can kill a man, but not his dreams
An epic tale of friendship, love, loss and betrayal
India, 1857. One man rises against the Empire...
This August discover the birth of India's independence
Hewson: Say you are a black dog!::Mangal Pandey: You are a Black Dog!
[Pandey marches in front of a cannon. The soldiers loading it look at him in shock]::Mangal Pandey: Fire!
Mangal Pandey: I am Hindustan.
Jwala: My name is Jwala...
Captain William Gordon: If you kill this man, Mangal Pandey, it will lead to the fall of this company!
Mangal Pandey: You have tasted a black man's loyalty - now taste his *fury*!
Mangal Pandey: What is "company"?::Captain William Gordon: In your Ramayana there was one villain "Ravana" who had ten heads, company has a hundred heads and they're all joined by the glue of greed.
Mangal Pandey: Halla Bol!
Plot
Ram Sinha comes from a wealthy family. His mother would like him to get married so that their family can have a heir. Ram entrust's this job to his mother, and let's her decide who he should marry. Ram's marriage is arranged with a beautiful young woman named Chitralekha. After the marriage, Ram accuses Chitralekha of being inhuman, a ghost, who is out to kill him. But Chitralekha denies this, and pledges her lifelong love for him. Ram, his friend, Rajesh, and his wife decide to travel elsewhere, but no matter where they go, they see a ghostly apparition of Chitralekha following them everywhere. Ram subsequently finds out that Chitralekha had lost her lover in a previous life, and has taken form in this life to kill him so that they can be together forever. Shortly thereafter Ram is killed in an car accident. The police are unable to identify his body as it is burnt beyond recognition. It is after Ram's death that the truth surfaces. But will this truth benefit Ram and Chitralekha?
Keywords: fog, ghost, marriage, mountain, party, psychiatrist, rebirth, soul, television
Plot
Set in the 16th century AD, the movie brings to life the tale of the doomed love affair between the Mughal Crown Prince Saleem and the beautiful, ill-fated court dancer, whose fervor and intensity perpetrates a war between the prince and his father the great Mughal Emperor Akbar, and threatens to bring an empire to its knees.
Keywords: archery, based-on-legend, battle, castle, courage, courtesan, empire, epic, honor, india
Emperor Akbar: [seeing his son misbehaving] By God, I'll not see that day when our empire will become the toy of a rake prince! Mann Singh, remove the veil of his mother's love on his head and put an iron cover on his head. Take him, raise and teach him in the hot deserts of war. Today, I hand over to you the future of the Mughals.
Raja Maansingh: the surgeon is waiting for permission - Prince! Won't your wounds be washed?::Prince Saleem: [flourishing his sword] They are not wounds, they are flowers, and the withering of flowers is shameful for spring. Look at my sword - it's not only a killer, it is a sweetheart; as well as a sword it is the branch of a flower.::Raja Maansingh: The humour that has bathed in blood for 14 years is filled with poetry - how strange!::Prince Saleem: Nothing strange about it - if the poetry of Khayyam is written on stone, will it change its meaning?
Anarkali: Pyar kiya to darna kya... what is fear when there is love...
Anarkali: In return for your Majesty's magnanimous gifts, this slave forgives Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar for her murder.
Sangtaraash: Ae mohabbat zindabad... long live love...
Emperor Akbar: This plan must work, for if the Prince finds out you are still alive, I will not let you live and he will not let you die!
[Anarkali has been sent to prison]::Prince Saleem: Treat me as a father and not as a king and give me my Anarkali!::Emperor Akbar: Though I am a beloved father to a kind son, I can't ignore the duties of an emperor. I cannot change the destiny of India for my son's love.::Prince Saleem: Times change, emperors change, destinies change... but when love grips a person, that person does not change!::Emperor Akbar: Salim, you must change, you must!
[Salim is on his way to be sealed in a brick wall]::Prince Saleem: Do you see any fear in your son's face?::Empress Jodha Bai: Absolutely not, I have trust in my blood. I came to congratulate you - a true Rajput prince may even have death as his bride. [she places a garland Bahar gives her on his neck. Bahar's face is tear-stained]
[Durjan Singh is having his wounds bandaged when word comes of the Prince's imminent execution]::Durjan Singh: Death shall not come to the Prince while my hands have power to hold a sword! Leave me! My body may be injured, but not my courage! [he rushes out and sees the statue of the Goddess]::Durjan Singh: Jai Maa Kali! [he dies]
Prince Saleem: Are you here to forgive a traitor's fault?::Emperor Akbar: No, I am here as an unfortunate father, whom people called king, comes to see a displeased son and seek his love.::Prince Saleem: Your love woke up after ruining your son's love?::Emperor Akbar: [pleading with his son] I swear by God, I am not an enemy of love but a slave of my own principles!::Prince Saleem: And so Salim himself is a slave of his love!