Mahal (1949 film)
| Mahal | |
|---|---|
Film poster
|
|
| Directed by | Kamal Amrohi |
| Produced by |
Ashok Kumar Savak Vacha |
| Written by | Kamal Amrohi |
| Starring |
Ashok Kumar Madhubala |
| Music by |
Khemchand Prakash Kedar Sharma (lyrics) |
| Cinematography | Josef Wirsching |
| Edited by |
Bimal Roy M. Shanker R. M. Tipnis |
|
Release date
|
13th October 1950 |
|
Running time
|
165 min. |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi / Urdu |
| Box office | 1 cr |
Mahal (Hindi: महल, English: The Mansion) is a 1949 Indian Hindi film directed by Kamal Amrohi and starring Ashok Kumar and Madhubala. It was India's first reincarnation thriller film.
Produced by Bombay Talkies studio, this Kamal Amrohi's directorial debut launched both playback singer Lata Mangeshkar and the leading lady Madhubala into super-stardom. Its songs, particularly "Aayega Aane Waala" sung by Lata Mangeshkar, are perennial favourites. Rajkumari sang two other well-known songs from the film, "Mein woh dulhan hon" and "Yeh raat phir na aayge". Their lyrics were written by Nakshab. Rajkumari also sang these songs live on a Channel 4 (a UK TV station) programme called 'Mahfil' aired on 24 March 1991.
Mahal made Lata Mangeshkar famous and established playback singers as stars in their own right. Before Mahal, records listed character names and indeed the first batch of records credited "Aayega aane wala" to Kamini, the character played by Madhubala. When the song first played on All India Radio, its phone lines were flooded with callers inquiring the singer's name. All India Radio had to find this out from the record company before it could announce Lata Mangeshkar's name on the air. The film was included in the British Film Institute's list, "10 great romantic horror films".
The movie was a groundbreaking supernatural suspense thriller and one of the earliest known films dealing with reincarnation. Mahal became one of the biggest box office hits of 1949 in India and paved way for Indian gothic fiction.
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