Mumtaz Mahal (film)

Mumtaz Mahal is a 1944 Indian Hindi-language historical epic film, directed by Kidar Nath Sharma and starring Khursheed Bano and Chandra Mohan. Madhubala also stars, in one of her earliest pictures. The film opened to negative reviews due to its distortion of history, but became a commercial success, and the sixth highest grossing Indian film of 1944.[2][3]

Mumtaz Mahal
Directed byKidar Nath Sharma
StarringKhursheed Bano
Chandra Mohan
Madhubala
Release date
16 October 1944[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹15 lakhs[2]
Box office₹35 lakhs[2]

Plot

Mumtaz Mahal showcases the love story of Mughal emperor Shah Jehan and his favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal, and the former's efforts to create Taj Mahal for housing the tomb of Mahal after her death.

Cast

Production

Mumtaz Mahal was Madhubala's second film after Basant (1942). It was also her first of the five films she made under Ranjit Movietone as a child artist.[4]

Soundtrack

Release

Critical reception

Mumtaz Mahal opened to overwhelmingly negative reviews. A review published in Filmindia magazine by Baburao Patel read: "It is difficult to say exactly how bad Mumtaz Mahal is. Stretch your imagination to its widest and see if you can fit in this dirty picture."[1]

An audience named Ammunuddin's reaction to the film was: "[In] Mumtaz Mahal, history has been mercilessly murdered, facts have been deliberately distorted, the story is crudely conceived and the acting and even the music is intensely boring. Historical records reveal that it was during Shah Jehan's time that the Mughal empire was at its height of power. When will our producers and other big guns of the Indian Film Industry put art before Mammon worship?"[1]

Box office

Nevertheless, Mumtaz Mahal was a commercial success.[2] The film earned an estimated amount of ₹3.5 million at the box office.[2]

References
  1. FilmIndia (1945). New York The Museum of Modern Art Library. Bombay. 1945.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. "Top Earners 1944". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  3. Mumtaz Mahal (1944 film) on Complete Index To World Film CITWF.com Retrieved 21 January 2019
  4. "Madhubala – Interview – Cineplot.com". Retrieved 7 April 2021.
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