Shahjehan (1946) :
Brief Review -
AR Kardar and Kamal Amrohi create an ornamental classic on the fictional accounts of Shah Jahan, Mumtaz, and Taj Mahal. It's hard to believe that a film made in the pre-independence era had such a great vocabulary, dialogues, metaphors, and allegorical references. What we saw in Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and Taj Mahal (1963) years later, Shahjehan did that in the 40s. The only other competitors were Tansen (1943) and Mirza Ghalib (1954). But even those films didn't have such an amazing chaos of love, sacrifice, and promise. Although it's a fictional film and does not really tell what happened behind the making of Taj Mahal, it's a great classic and one of the best historical epics ever made in Bollywood. For historical accuracy, I'd recommend you Anarkali (1953) and Taj Mahal (1963), or even Mughal-e-Azam, which is pretty accurate with its never-seen-before grandeur. Still, I'd like to recommend Shahjehan for its brilliant filmmaking and writing. Watch it as a fictional film, just like you see any other Bollywood movie, and you'll fall in love with it. I am damn sure you'll love it and love it like.. so much. The film tells the story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz, but the main focus is on Ruhi's character. A heavenly beauty that even makes her brother like men fall in love with her-as a future wife. You can imagine what I am saying. The way Amrohi explains her beauty, the way words hype her before she makes her first appearance, is simply mind-blowing. "Husn ka sabse bada johri Aaj iss anmol ratan ka kharid daar dhundne nikla hai!" What dialogues! What songs! KL Saigal, the legend, hands down. Kanwar had played Shah Jahan so well. The script, the screenplay, the idea of fictionalizing a historical event with a love triangle, a king's promise, and a lover's sacrifice, the production design, art design, cinematography, and direction-everything is so beautiful and so ornamental. It's like they all ate diamonds for breakfast and then made this film.
RATING - 8/10*
By - #samthebestest.
