Did you know Madhubala’s screen test for ‘Mahal’ was sabotaged? – Exclusive | Hindi Movie News – Times of India

Kamal Amrohi’s classic directorial ‘Mahal’ (1949), is all set to be screened at Regal cinema in Mumbai. Ashok Kumar and Madhubala’s meritorious performances will be replayed on 35mm on July 26, 2023 at 6 pm. ‘Mahal’ was written by 26-years-old Kamal Amrohi and upon his adamant insistence, he managed to helm it too. Madhubala shot to fame after the film, while Kamal Amrohi earned the title of ‘Venus of the Indian screen’ with ‘Mahal’.
Ahead of this special screening, Kamal Amrohi’s son Tajdar Amrohi stirs nostalgia and reveals lesser known details about the movie. In Tajdar’s word, here’s all you need to know about Madhubala’s casting in ‘Mahal’, budget woes for the film and much more.
Budget woes
I know for a fact that Bombay Talkies – the company that was making the film didn’t have funds. They said, “Kamal Saab, this might be our last film. If this film doesn’t work, we will have to shut down the company. We have a limited amount.” Kamal Amrohi had assured them not to worry. You won’t believe it but my mother would cook meals and send them to the sets for lunch.
Suraiya versus Madhubala
Bombay Talkies had signed Suraiya and Ashok Kumar because they were top stars and the company thought that it would revive itself with the film. But Kamal saab said that Suraiya was not fit for the role and he wanted Madhubala to be cast in the film.
The company told the film’s cinematographer Josef Wirsching to sabotage Madhubala’s screen test. So that when it is previewed before the film shoot starts, they can pressurize Kamal Amrohi to not cast Madhubala. That’s what happened. When the screen test took place Mr Wirsching provided lighting for the scene in such a way that the screen test didn’t look lively.
Kamal Saab was disturbed. He told the producers Ashok Kumar and Savak Vacha that he will take another screen test of Madhubala under his direction. The lighting was done as per Kamal Saab’s instructions. The scene where Madhubala is standing in the witness box and speaking was shot and when everybody saw the print they were shocked to see her beauty.
Opposition against Kamal Amrohi’s direction
The makers were not ready to let Kamal Amrohi direct the film saying they can’t afford to take that big a risk of a new actress and a debutant director. They offered to pay Kamal Saab Rs 15,000 for the story, screenplay and dialogue. Kamal Saab refused the money and insisted on directing the film himself.
Vacha Saab called Ashok Kumar, who was in Calcutta at that time and told him about the situation. Ashok Kumar said that Kamal Saab is a new guy so he might want more money, and suggested to offer him the same. So, Rs 25,000 were offered to Kamal Saab as fees for his script. This was the highest amount that anyone could get at that time, but Kamal Saab refused that offer as well.
Instead, Kamal Saab made them an offer, “Give me 10,000 rupees for the script and I will direct the film at that price itself. But I will direct the film myself.” So, when Ashok Kumar came back from Calcutta, he told Vacha Saab that he sees potential in Kamal Amrohi and let him direct the film. So, Vacha Saab agreed and the shooting started.
A hands on director
During the first few days of shooting, Kamal Saab objected to Ashok Kumar’s body language and dialogue delivery. The shoot was halted. They found Kamal Amrohi to be eccentric. So, Ashok Kumar aka Dadamuni and Kamal Amrohi would sit for a couple of hours every day and Kamal Saab would explain Dadamuni the tone he wanted his character to speak in. This went on for three months and Dadamuni knew every scene and the way it was supposed to be enacted. The shoot started again.
A blockbuster HIT!
Upon its release, the film became a huge hit. The ‘Aayega Aanewala’ song became extremely popular, so much so that Bimal Roy also copied it in his movie ‘Madhumati’ as ‘Aaja Re Pardesi’. ‘Mahal’ also started a trend of horror movies. But the success that ‘Mahal’ achieved, no other movie could. The print of ‘Mahal’ is kept in all film archives across India for study purposes.
It was Kamal Amrohi’s debut film. He never assisted anyone neither in writing nor in direction. ‘Mahal’ created history, post which Ashok Kumar was repeated in ‘Pakeezah’. He was a big fan of Kamal Saab and Kamal Saab respected Ashok Kumar a lot. He always held Ashok Kumar in high regard.