| Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story! | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Akbar Khan |
| Produced by | Akbar Khan |
| Written by | Mohafiz Hyder Akbar Khan Fatima Meer Rajeev Mirza |
| Starring | Kabir Bedi Sonya Jehan Manisha Koirala Arbaaz Khan |
| Music by | Naushad Ali |
| Cinematography | R.M. Rao |
| Distributed by | Mashreq Communications Ltd. |
Release date | |
Running time | 166 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi Urdu |
| Budget | ₹500 million[1][2][3] |
| Box office | ₹311 million[4] |
Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story is a 2005 Bollywoodhistorical drama film directed by Akbar Khan. The movie starred Kabir Bedi, Sonya Jehan, Manisha Koirala, Arbaaz Khan, Vaquar Shaikh and Pooja Batra in the title roles. The movie was released on 18 November in India.[5][6]
Music was composed by the legend of Indian film music Naushad Ali. This was the last work of Naushad Ali who died on 5 May 2006.
Watch harry potter 7 online. It was the most expensive Indian film at the time, surpassing the budget of Devdas (2002) and costing more than ₹500 million[1][7] ($11.34 million).[8] The film was released in Pakistan by Eveready Pictures and did record business at the box office.[9] However, the film was a financial failure in India, where it grossed only ₹210 million, bringing its worldwide gross to ₹311 million[4] ($7.1 million).[8]
Plot[edit]
The story begins with Shah Jahan, known as Prince Khurram (Zulfikar Sayed) when he is about 19 years old. Khurram was Emperor Jahangir's (Arbaaz Ali) favourite son, whom Jahangir wanted to be the future Emperor of India, along with his wife Nur Jahan (Pooja Batra), who was well aware of this fact. Noor Jahan was married once previously, but when her first husband died, Jahangir married her. Ladli Begum (Kim Sharma) is Noor Jahan's daughter from her first marriage. Noor Jahan is a shrewd lady, who wants the best for herself and her daughter and she aspires for Ladli Begum to marry Prince Khurram so she that she will become the Empress of the Mughal Dynasty.
Khurram's passion for hunting leads him into a jungle, and one day while hunting he meets Arjumand Bano. Their meeting was love at first sight, with Khurram attracted to Arjumand Bano's innocence and beauty while Arjumand was impressed by Khurram's great personality. Arjumand Bano is Asaf Khan's (Aly Khan) daughter, Empress Noor Jahan's brother. Khurram and Bano again meet at the Meena Bazaar, where finally both of them declare their love for each other. Ladli Begum comes to know about their love, but she keeps on wooing Prince Khurram. Noor Jahan sees this love as a hindrance to her plans of making her daughter the future Empress of India and she succeeds in turning Emperor Jahangir against his own son, Khurram.
Noor Jahan sends her secret lover and the warrior Mahabat Khan (Milind Gunaji) to fight Khurram and to kill Arjumand Bano. As a result, a war takes place in which forces are also sent by Emperor Jahangir against Khurram. When Khurram meets Jahangir, he declares that Arjumand Bano was more superior to him than the Mughal Dynasty. As a result, relations become even more bitter between the father and the son. However, Arjumand Bano, who was a peace-loving person, agreed to forget Khurram and asked him to marry Kandahari Begum (Negar Khan), an Iranian Princess, who was chosen by Emperor Jahangir for Khurram. Khurram, due to Arjumand's insistence, marries Kandahari Begum while on the other hand, Ladli Begum marries to Khurram's brother. After Emperor Jahangir dies, Khurram becomes Prince Shah Jahan and ruler of the Mughal dynasty. He finally marries the love of his life, Arjumand Bano, who becomes Mumtaz Mahal. The couple lives happily for a while until misfortune occurs.
Khurram must leave for war, but a pregnant Aarjumand chooses to also go with him, as she used to accompany Shah Jahan in all his battles. Khurram tries to return to the camp from the battle but takes a long time to return as he forgets his way. While he is lost, Mumtaz Mahal dies while giving birth to her nineteenth child. During her last breath, Mumtaz Mahal asks Shah Jahan to construct her tomb in a beautiful mausoleum, describing one which would be so beautiful it would express their love for each other to all who visit the mausoleum. Mumtaz's death is the greatest tragedy for Shah Jahan, and as a result, he becomes a completely reformed person. Shah Jahan then starts off to fulfill his wife's last wish, to build Taj Mahal, a beautiful mausoleum to honour the also beautiful Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal goes on to become the Seventh Wonder of the World.
Time passes, and in future Shah Jahan's sons and daughter grow up. The sons are greedy and eager to inherit their father powers, and as a result, they imprison him in a room from where he can easily see Taj Mahal. He watches his sons fighting against each other to become the Emperor of India and the Mughal Dynasty. Everywhere around him there is violence and warfare, with the beheading of slaves and even brothers are no longer uncommon. In the end, Khurram dies while looking at Taj Mahal, the Taj Mahal that took an astonishing 22 years to be made, a tribute showing Shah Jahan as the greatest lover of all time. At his death, his body is laid down next to his love, hence resulting in the culmination of their love after death.[10]
Cast[edit]
- Kabir Bedi as Emperor Shah Jahan, also known as Prince Khurram, who proved to be the emperor of lovers, created one of the wonders of the world. He authored a legend and made history.
- Zulfi Syed as The Young Prince Khurram/future Emperor Shah Jahan (Viraj Adhav as the Hindi dubbing voice), the boldest and the most favourite son of the Emperor of India and the most suitable heir to the throne. His love for the beautiful Arjumand Bano (the future Empress Mumtaz Mahal) has defied his father's kingdom and proved that true love conquers all.
- Sonya Jehan as Arjumand Bano/Empress Mumtaz Mahal (Mona Ghosh Shetty as the Hindi dubbing voice), whose kind-hearted and innocent personality has captured the heart of Prince Khurram. She will be written in history as the future emperor's third wife but considered as the most unusual because she was the only one who kindled the flame of love in the heart of Prince Khurram and stood by him even if their love was tested by the people around them. The Taj Mahal was built as a testimony of their true love for each other.
- Manisha Koirala as Jahan Ara, the eldest and angelic daughter of Shah Jahan, who devotedly kept company to her father in the dying years of his life, and who showered love and affections on all her brothers and sisters.
- Pooja Batra as Empress Nur Jahan, the conniving and politically manipulative Empress of India who wants to be considered by everyone as a beauty queen. She is the real power behind the throne and treated everyone in court as pawns and will do anything to make Ladli Begum, her first daughter from her first marriage become the future empress. With this great power and ambition, she could conspire for her niece Arjumand, to be killed due to her connection with Prince Khurram, just for her political ambitions.
- Arbaaz Ali Khan as Emperor Jahangir, famous to be steadfast in administering justice but in the matter of his son, Prince Khurram's love for Arjumand, he was far from just.
- Kim Sharma as Ladli Begum, the obsessive and ambitious daughter of Noor Jahan from her first husband, Sher Afgan. Noor Jahan had already laid the destiny and ambition of her daughter. She was never sure for her whom to end up with between Prince Khurram and Prince Shahryar but her heart craved for the crown of the Empress of India.
- Vaquar Sheikh as Dara Shikoh, the saintly and scholarly heir-apparent of Emperor Shah Jahan who was dethroned from his status at the end of the only battle he ever fought waged by his hateful younger brother Aurangzeb, and ultimately, was brutally executed.
- Arbaaz Khan as Aurangzeb, who justified the means to achieve his end to ascend the glorious Moghul throne. He house-arrested his father Emperor Shah Jahan, got his eldest brother Dara Shikoh beheaded, imprisoned another brother Murad and persecuted the last brother Shuja.
- Milind Gunaji as Mahabat Khan
- Negar Khan as Princess Kandahari
Music[edit]
| Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |||
| Released | 16 March 2005 | ||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||
| Label | Times Music Mashreq Music | ||
| Producer | Akbar Khan | ||
| Naushad Ali chronology | |||
| |||
| Soundtrack | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Smashhits | not rated |
Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story was the last work of renowned musician Naushad Ali, who died on 5 May 2006. The audio was formally released at a gala event in Mumbai at ITC Grand Central Sheraton & Towers, Parel on 16 March 2005 by Times Music in tandem with the home label Mashreq Music. The album had some classy songs composed by the maestro that encapsulates the Mughal era. The soundtrack album consists 8 songs, featuring vocals by Hariharan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Preeti Uttam and Ajoy Chakraborty, and an instrumental theme. A special edition Double CD, consisting of the soundtrack album and 9 instrumental pieces that were used as the background score in the movie was also released. This was the first time in India that the background score of a film was released simultaneously with the music release. The lyrics were penned by Naqsh Lyallpuri and Syed Gulrez Rashid. The background score was the major highlight of the film.
The album received excellent reviews from critics. The director of the film Akbar Khan quoted, 'My film's music needed either a Tansen, a Beethoven or a Naushad..I was only left with the last choice! With the power of his spell bounding music, Naushad has managed to recreate the magic of the bygone era, perfectly complimenting the mood of the film. The music does not touch the eardrum & bounces back, but penetrates and lives in the soul of people.' The note by Naushad about this work was 'I have composed the music of Taj Mahal – an eternal love story after a long gap. In my opinion, Taj Mahal, the film created by Akbar Khan is made out of sheer love, passion and dedication and he has managed to completely absorb the essence of Mughal history with an in depth knowledge of every character. I have seen the film and can confidently say that Akbar Khan has left no stone unturned in making this epic saga and has narrated history in a very simplistic manner. I am sure the film will appeal greatly to cinema lovers. With respect to the music of Taj Mahal – an eternal love story, I have strived to deliver the kind of music that Akbar Khan had in mind, melody being the chief focus. I sincerely hope that I have not let him down and that the music is liked by music aficionados. I have composed music for other films of the mughal era including Shah Jehan, Baiju Bawra and Mughal e Azam but each film requires different treatment depending on the situation, environment, characters, theme etc, hence I refuse to be drawn into comparisons. I trust I have been able to do justice to the brief given to me by Akbar Khan for his film. I must use this occasion to also complement Times Music in taking the commendable step of releasing the background score that I have created at the same time in a separate CD along with the music of the film the two go very much hand in hand. It is equally important to promote the background score of a film which is in fact much more difficult to compose as compared to the music score. Lastly, with every new composition, it still feels that I have just begun and there is a lot more to achieve..'
- Disc 1
- Apni Zulfein Mere – Hariharan
- Dilruba Dilruba – Hariharan, Preeti Uttam
- Ishq Ki Daastaan – Kavita Krishnamurthy, Preeti Uttam
- Mumtaz Tujhe Dekha – Hariharan, Preeti Uttam
- Taj Mahal – Hariharan, Preeti Uttam
- Tareefe Meena Bazaar – Instrumental
- Yeh Kaun Mujhe Yaad Aaya – Ajoy Chakraborty
- Taj Mahal (Crescendo) – Hariharan, Preeti Uttam
- Disc 2
- Mumtaz's Theme (Part 1) – Instrumental
- Jehanara's Karavan – Instrumental
- Khushamdid – Instrumental
- The Birth & The Death – Instrumental
- Meena Bazaar – Instrumental
- The Siege – Instrumental
- Shah Jehan's Theme – Instrumental
- Mughal Intrigue – Instrumental
- Mumtaz's Theme (Part 2) – Instrumental
Box office[edit]
The film was pulled away from cinemas in just the second week in India because producer-director Akbar Khan felt that the distributor Mukta Arts had badly sabotaged the film and sold it very callously throughout India. Proper shows weren't allocated to the film due to which the film couldn't earn good collections. Akbar said that his film was marketed very poorly with a lot of people not even knowing about the film's release.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ abTuteja, Joginder (19 March 2005). 'Taj Mahal - An Eternal Love Story'. Sify.com. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
- ^'When would Taj Mahal honor the silver screen?'. India Glitz. 4 July 2005. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
- ^'Akbar Khan announces Rs.50 crores project on Taj Mahal'. Bollywoodhungama.com. 19 October 2001. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
- ^ ab'Taj Mahal - An Eternal Love Story'. Box Office India. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
- ^'Taj Mahal (2005)'. IBOS Network. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^Kotwani, Hiren (10 March 2016). ''Children of Heaven' maker Majid Majidi to watch Akbar Khan's 'Taj Mahal''. The Times of India. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^Avijit, Anshul (9 December 2002). 'Akbar Khan's ambitious epic Taj Mahal slated to become India's most expensive film'. India Today. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
- ^ ab'Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average)'. World Bank. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
- ^'Pakistanis eager to see Taj Mahal movie'. glamsham.com. 9 June 2005. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
- ^Plot review
External links[edit]
- Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story on IMDb
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However, when the 'real' story of the film got going through the flashback device, I was more than pleasantly surprised - and very pleased - with the film.
I thought everything about the film was great - the colour, the sets, the costumes, and especially the music. As for the acting, one has to make allowances for the sometimes kind of stilted acting and dialogue that these epic Indian films seem to carry with them. Nevertheless, as time went on, you really felt like 'hissing' the older queen Noor Jahan and empathising more and more with the young lovers, Prince Khurram and Arjumand. I thought that Zulfi Sayed and Sonya Jehan played the latter very well, whilst I kept thinking how gorgeous Sonya Jehan was! Later, and much to my surprise, I found out that this was her film debut. Let's hope we see much more of her in the future.
What particularly interested me was to see close comparisons in the sets and music of this film with that other great spectacle, 'Mughal-E-Azam'. That came out especially in the interiors of the great palace, and more particularly in the duet with singers conducted between Arjumand and Laadli Begum in front of Prince Khurram. It was only afterwards that I realised that Naushad had composed the music for both films!
As with 'Mughal-E-Azam', this film is one definitely to be seen again, and the DVD purchased tout suit!
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One should see and appreciate the director's concept and presentation; instead the negative critics are writing their own script and treatment in an attempt to slaughter this film. It is clear that Akbar Khan is one of the top directors in the world if one views this film with out any prejudice, and background music by Naushad is his best ever.
One should see this film not just once, but many times.
Zakaria Ahmed
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The story was to be the true story but Akbar Khan has distorted history beyond recognition. Its appalling to watch history being turned and twisted to the whims of the ignorant so called director. The actors need to be sent back to a acting school to learn the very basics of acting. The performances are extremely poor and its shocking how such a talent less crew was selected.
Sex has been added and obscene content has been forcibly added to market the film. Even on this front too the director fails miserably. Its untrue of what has been depicted and is completely out of place..Its done in an extremely crude manner and leaves with a sick feeling in your stomach.
The music is in sync with the rest of the movie as it too is of very poor quality. Naushad was a big name in the era of the fifties but by trying to comeback he has tarnished his image. Its not his fault as people become senile with age but what about the director who took him.
The film director is to old in his thoughts as the results reflect in the drab romantic scenes. He should have seen more work of the younger generations or at least called them to give him some tips on technical know how on today's level of film-making.It has the look of TV serials made in India about fifteen years ago.
On the whole Taj Mahal has been degraded to an all time low. The Only hope is that due its Disastrous box office result this awful film will not reach the audience who have discarded this distortion of history.
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But there is no DVD. I'm very sad, that I couldn't found a film, which I really want to see.
I've reading the book of Taj Mahal and I was so impressed. And now I must hear that the film isn't come out, because it is a flop in India?
I just want to tell my opinion.
And If someone can tell me where I can found the film with English subtitle or can give me more informations about it,
I would feel very sincerely thankfully.
lots of love Jay Jay
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