Kamal Amrohi wrote scripts and dialogue for Hindi films long before he became a director. He made his debut by writing the story for Jailor...
Kamal Amrohi wrote scripts and dialogue for Hindi films long before he became a director. He made his debut by writing the story for Jailor (1938), and continued in that vein through the 1940s. It was in 1949 that he turned director with Mahal, of Aayega Aanewala fame. Mahal featured two themes that found favour in many movies over the decades: horror and reincarnation.
In a career span of 45 years, Amrohi made just four movies. After Mahal came Daera (1953). The gap between Daera and his next movie, Pakeezah, was long by any yardstick: 19 years. His last movie, Razia Sultan, came 11 years after Pakeezah.
Many people in the film industry put these long gaps down to Amrohi’s pursuit of perfection. He was a dreamer who conjured up fantastic stories and scenarios. And having done that, he would give his all to ensure that they came alive on screen. Mahal, Pakeezah and Razia Sultan were outcomes of this quirk in his personality. Even his critics, who pointed out glaring flaws in his work, admitted that he was driven by a powerful cinematic vision.
Produced by AK Misra, Razia Sultan hit cinema screens in 1983. But work on the film had begun eight years earlier. Amrohi wanted Khayyam to work on this film. Apparently, he had been smitten by the composer’s...
