Why Mughal-e-Azam's Anarkali is the woman of our times

Post-Independence Indian cinema can be broadly divided into three eras: the first being the '50s and the '60s,  the era of socialism represented largely by the characters played by Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar; atrocities against the poor dominated the stories of their films.

Then came the '70s and the '80s, the era of industrial strikes and political turmoil; the Angry Young Man was the Bollywood icon who aptly represented the anti-establishment mood.

In the '90s and beyond, the country saw a political shift towards consumerism and globalisation. DDLJ became the seminal work of the era.

Times changed, as did filmmaking techniques and the country's political mood and new characters emerged, giving way to new kinds of audience preferences.

But in this world of ever-dynamic choices, classics have defied such changes and continued to connect with audiences over decades.

They have some kernel that ensures longevity, enabling them to overpower temporal changes.

The study of this kernel is always an interesting topic of research. Being closely associated with Mughal-e-Azam for a long period, it has always remained one such case study for me.K Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam, besides being commercially successful, continued its connect with audience across generations, be its release in 1960 or the release of its colour version in 2004 — or in its latest avatar of a Broadway-style musical.

While the story, dialogues and music definitely had an important role to play in its success, but none of them can be the key reason for its longevity and relevance over decades.

The kernel lies somewhere else.

Mughal-e-Azam had released in Bollywood’s socialist era when films were dominated bystories ofconfrontation focusing mainly on zamindar versus farmers, rich versus poor, upper caste versus lower caste.

By depicting a confrontation between a commoner and the supreme authority, Mughal-e-Azam took the theme of confrontation drama between haves and have-nots to a different level and hence resonated with the concurrent theme.

But what is noteworthy is that the fight here was not just about a common subject like land, but something more subliminal and long lasting — "the right to make a choice".

Throughout the history of the civilised world, ruling authorities have liked to control the choices of commoners — be it the choice of religion, language, attire or even what the commoner reads.

On the other hand, commoners, in their desire to fulfill their dreams, have always yearned for choice.

Over the period, with democratic forces at work globally and with the spread of consumerism, this tussle has continued to remain relevant.

Mughal-e-Azam, therefore, remained relevant in every era of Bollywood, from the socialistic '50s to the consumeristic '90s and beyond.

However, what makes this connect so engrossing and the plot larger than life is the fact that the commoner fighting against the supreme authority is a woman.

Women characters in Bollywood have largely been meek and submissive. Anarkali represents a confident and emotionally strong woman.

She seeks love, but when push comes to shove, she can use defiance at its best.

"Purdah nahin jab koi khuda se, bandho se purdah karnakya." Anarkali’s confident refusal evokes the powerful attitude that defines a modern woman.

With her face-to-face rebuttal of the mighty Akbar, she gets the commoners emotionally charged.

Anarkali’s challenge to Akbar’s right to make decisions about her future is seen by the audience not just as a challenge to the authority of a king, but also as a woman’s entry into an important territory that has historically remained a male fiefdom — the right to make decisions.

Finally, with her departing dialogue, “Shahenshah ki in behisaab bakhshishon ke badle me yeh kaneez Jalaaluddin Mohd Akbar ko apna khoon maaf karti hai,” Anarkali occupies a position from where one acquires the right to pardon an emperor.

Her message is very clear: the soft power of a woman can overwhelm the brute force of a powerful emperor. Thus taking womanhood to higher echelons.