The story of my mother,Shehnaz the actress who was almost cast as Anarkali in ‘Mughal-e-Azam’
The story of my mother, Shehnaz the actress who was almost cast as Anarkali in ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ There were movie premieres with film stars like Dilip Kumar, but the glamorous mirage masked a terrible reality. n the early 1950s, not long after she had arrived in Bombay as a newly-married bride, my mother portrayed Anarkali in a theatrical production. The director, K Asif, happened to see the play and was so taken with her performance that he wanted to cast her as Anarkali in Mughal-e-Azam. Over 200 photos of her were taken on the movie set, including ones with the iconic feather grazing her face. Ultimately, she had to decline the role owing to family pressure, as in those days women from respectable families did not act in “pictures”. The photos remained in an album which she sometimes opened whenever she felt like reminiscing about her life before migrating to Pakistan. ADVERTISEMENT She had vivid memories, but my mother did not view the past through rose-...