Archive for Historical
Laila Majnu – Review (1976)
“Laila Majnu” offers within its 19 reel, lavish sets, glittering desert exteriors, an elaborate fantasy sequence, and gorgeous costumes. It all makes for an eye-catching pageant, except that the pageant often looks closer to being a comedy than a tragic tale of star-crossed lovers. For a tale of intense love …
Angulimaal (1960)
Director Vijay Bhatt is noted for his period films, like “Ram Rajya,” “Bharat Milap”, “Chaitanya Mahaprabhu” and “Baiju Bawra.” An addition to this impressive record is “Angulimaal,” in which Bharat Bhooshan plays the title role. The story, set in Bhuddhist times, depicts the life of a scholarly youth who is …
Mirza Ghalib (1954)
Mirza Ghalib, Sohrab Modi’s eagerly awaited production, was released at a glittering premiere in Bombay on December 10th 1954, at the Minerva, Excelsior and Palace cinemas. Inspired by the tragic romance between the great poet Ghalib and Moti Begum, the dancing girl—whom the poet fondly named Chaudavin—J. K. Nanda’s adaptation …
Sikandar (1941)
The historical film is one of the oldest genres of Indian cinema, often closely linked with themes of nationalism and the freedom struggle. Favourite periods include the Mughal era (the most popular film being Mughal-e Azam) and, less often, classical India, often used to evoke the glory that was India …
Mughal-e-Azam (1960)
Mughal-e Azam tells the story of the Great Mughal, Akbar (r. 1556-1605). The film’s making was itself something of an epic, as it took over fifteen years to shoot, and involved a complete change of cast (the original included Chandramohan, who played Jehangir in Pukar [1939], Nargis and Sapru), several …
Phool (1944)
Phool is not yet available on DVD or VCD but it is the first of the very few movies made by one of India’s great directors, K. Asif, whose Mughal-e Azam is rightly regarded as one of the best Indian films ever made. Phool is fascinating, as it mixes several …
Chandralekha (1948)
In Madras, in 1948, after five years of preparation, there appeared one of the most famous films in Indian history, one of the largest all-India box-office triumphs (603 copies of the film were made for release, some of which were subtitled for the English-speaking market)—Chandralekha. This breathtaking extravaganza, a combination …
Game (2011) - Review
Bollywood - Year by Year - 1941
Hum Aik Hain (2004)
Quiz 4 - Answers
Shamyl Khan - Interview