Mughal-E-Azam stays one of the celebrated movies in Indian cinema, famend for its spectacular scale, lavish units and memorable dialogues. Directed by Ok Asif, the interval epic was additionally among the many costliest Indian productions of its period, reportedly made on a price range of round Rs 1.5 crore. Adjusted for inflation, that might quantity to properly over Rs 150 crore immediately.But, many years after its launch, questions surrounding the movie’s writing credit proceed to attract consideration. Tajdar Amrohi, son of filmmaker and author Kamal Amrohi, has claimed that his father performed a far better function in shaping the movie’s dialogues than the official credit counsel.Tajdar mentioned Kamal Amrohi wrote the dialogues for nearly each movie he labored on, together with Pakeezah, Mahal and Razia Sultan. He maintained that Mughal-E-Azam was no exception.“Each dialogue in Pakeezah was written by my father. No one else may write dialogues in my father’s motion pictures. Be it Pakeezah, Mahal, Razia Sultan… even the dialogues in Mughal-E-Azam. With all due respect to Ok Asif, he didn’t need Kamal Amrohi to get full credit score,” mentioned Tajdar in an interview with Vickey Lalwani.Requested why Asif allegedly selected to share the writing credit score, Tajdar instructed that giving Amrohi sole credit score may have led audiences to consider that he had written the complete movie.“Then folks would suppose Kamal Amrohi has written the complete movie. The movie additionally had Aman Khan, Vajahat Mirza, who are usually not credited with every other movie than Mughal-E-Azam as a author. Nonetheless, Kamal Amrohi has proved repeatedly that he’s a author. He’s a giant author.”Tajdar additionally portrayed his father as a determine who helped elevate the standing of screenwriters in Hindi cinema. He recalled a interval when writers had been generally known as “munshis” and had been paid comparatively modest sums.“Earlier, writers had been referred to as Munshis, those with pencil on their ear. Individuals who wrote dialogues and tales for motion pictures, they had been extensively known as munshis within the trade. None of them ever charged over Rs 2000. Kamal Amrohi was the one man who charged Rs 10,000 per scene in Mughal-E-Azam.”In response to Tajdar, the unusually excessive price got here after Amrohi had a falling-out with Asif and initially walked away from the mission. He claimed that Asif subsequently realised that he was struggling to search out somebody who may substitute Amrohi’s writing.Tajdar recalled a gathering on the Amrohi residence, the place Amanullah Khan, Zeenat Aman’s father, reportedly acted as an middleman between the 2 males.“He accompanied Zeenat Aman’s father, Amanullah Khan and got here to our home. Baba got here out. However none of them had been talking. They used Aman because the mediator. Whereas sitting in the identical room, Asif advised Aman to speak to Amrohi that he has to finish his movie Mughal-E-Azam. A confused Aman sahab appeared in the direction of my father, who mentioned: ‘Inform him I can’t write it.’”The standoff, in accordance with Tajdar, continued till Asif ultimately expressed how strongly he wished Amrohi to return.“Lastly Asif sahab received up from his place, shouted at baba, and hugged him. You’ll have to full my movie Amrohi, no person’s writing is impressing me.”Tajdar mentioned Asif then requested, via Amanullah Khan, what it will take for Amrohi to renew work on the movie. Nonetheless indignant over the dispute, Amrohi allegedly demanded Rs 10,000 for each scene.“My father in anger mentioned: ‘Inform him I might cost Rs 10,000 per scene.’ Asif sahab rapidly agreed to it.”Tajdar claimed that this ultimately resulted in Amrohi incomes roughly Rs 2 lakh for his work on Mughal-E-Azam—a considerable quantity by the requirements of the time. He contrasted the determine with the Rs 200 to Rs 4,000 that writers had been typically mentioned to have earned then.“At a time when folks charged between Rs 200 to Rs 4000, Kamal Amrohi earned about Rs 2 lakh for Mughal-E-Azam. When the producer raised issues, Asif put his foot down and mentioned, ‘I can’t let anybody else write the script.’”Regardless of this, Tajdar claimed that Amrohi was sad when the movie was launched as a result of the writing credit score was shared with Vajahat Mirza, Amanullah Khan and one other author.“Asif sahab divided the credit score. My father was too harm. He was so harm that he confronted Asif and requested him to tug his identify utterly from the movie. When Asif mentioned that it’s going to cut back the worth of the movie, my father mentioned then let me warn you that these three writers received’t get any work as a result of the writing is totally mine. They received’t be capable of recreate it. Even choti ammi (Meena Kumari) famous that it was my father’s writing.”Tajdar additional emphasised his father’s distinctive writing fashion, claiming that even legendary actor Prithviraj Kapoor admired his work.“My father’s manner of writing was extraordinarily distinctive. Prithviraj Kapoor was an enormous fan of my father.”In response to Tajdar, Kamal Amrohi’s reported Rs 2 lakh earnings from Mughal-E-Azam can be price roughly Rs 2 crore immediately after adjusting for inflation. His account presents Amrohi not merely as a contributor to the movie’s writing, however as one of many key figures behind its celebrated dialogue and a author who commanded an unusually excessive price in an period when screenwriters had been not often valued at comparable ranges.
