1960 · Film
Mughal-e-Azam
K. Asif's epic historical drama in which a Mughal prince, played by Dilip Kumar, falls for a court dancer (Madhubala), against his emperor father's (Prithviraj Kapoor) fierce opposition.
Reviewed by Movie Mandala, Sun, 18 Oct, 2026
Where to watch
IndiaAs of 18 October 2026, Mughal-e-Azam is streaming in India on ZEE5 with a subscription.
The story
Emperor Akbar's son, Prince Salim, returns to the Mughal court at Agra after years at war and falls in love with Nadira, a court dancer whom Akbar renames Anarkali. When a jealous rival dancer, Bahar, reveals the romance, Akbar forbids it, unwilling to accept a commoner in the royal family. Salim refuses to give her up, and the conflict between father and son grows into a clash between duty and love.
Spoiler-free: only the set-up.
Who it suits
Lovers of grand period romance will want this one, with its father-son clash between duty and love, as will anyone exploring 1960s Hindi cinema. The original version runs over three hours.
Genres:RomanceHistoricalMusical
Curation to help you choose, not a review.
Background
The film is based on Imtiaz Ali Taj's 1922 Urdu play Anarkali, which draws more on a 16th-century legend than on recorded history. K. Asif began developing it in 1944, but production stalled after Partition and restarted in 1950. The shoot took about 500 days. Roughly 30 minutes were filmed in Technicolor, including the song "Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya", staged on a replica of the Sheesh Mahal. Naushad composed the music and Shakeel Badayuni wrote the lyrics.
It released on 5 August 1960 in about 150 cinemas and became the highest-grossing Hindi film, a record it held until Sholay (1975). It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and three Filmfare Awards, including Best Film. A fully colourised 177-minute version reached cinemas on 12 November 2004. It was the first digitally coloured black-and-white Hindi film to get a theatrical re-release.
The facts
- Language
- Hindi
- Hindi
- Hindi original
- Genre
- Epic historical drama, Romance
- Runtime
- 197 min
- Director
- K. Asif
- Cast
- Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, Durga Khote, Nigar Sultana
Questions people ask
- Where can I watch Mughal-e-Azam in India?
- As of 18 October 2026, Mughal-e-Azam is streaming in India on ZEE5 with a subscription.
- Is Mughal-e-Azam in Hindi?
- Yes. Mughal-e-Azam is a Hindi-language film.
- How long is Mughal-e-Azam?
- Mughal-e-Azam runs for 3 hours 17 minutes (197 minutes).