TLI Staff
New Delhi: The unprecedented success of Kismat had changed the course of Ashok Kumar’s life and career. If Kismat had sealed Ashok Kumar’s fate in the film industry being a major hit, Mahal helped him continue his success wave. Ashok Kumar was paired with Madhubala in Mahal when she was just 16.
Mahal was the first-ever Hindi horror film of India and told a gripping tale of reincarnation. A gardener’s daughter Asha who worked with her father in a magnanimous old-style bungalow believed she was Kamini in her previous life. In a twist of fate, soon it is revealed that the son of the new owner of Sangam Bhawan Shankar believed himself to be Kamini’s husband.
As the tragic tale of the past unfolds, viewers come to know that the king who constructed the palace for his queen died the very night of his marriage and his queen spends her entire life waiting for her husband and later dies pining for him.
Shankar hears this poignant tale from the gardener of the bungalow. The story leaves a huge impact on him and he’s drawn towards Asha who often roams about the Mahal singing melancholic songs of love (Aayega Aane Wala et al).
In between Shankar’s family gets him married, but that doesn’t stop his unexplained attraction to Asha.
Later, Shankar’s wife commits suicide and he gets arrested. His friend tries his best to save him but in vain. In the end, Asha and Shankar die but reunite in their afterlife.
While the story and the theme of the film at that time was unique and unheard of. There is an equally interesting story behind the making of the movie.
The idea of the movie was suggested by none other than Ashok Kumar who had a spine-chilling spooky experience while shooting for a film in palatial Jijiboy House at a hill station. The year was 1948.
The locals warned him of paranormal activity around the bungalow and asked him to not shoot there but Ashok Kumar did not believe in ghosts and decided to carry on his work, also to make others believe that ghosts don’t exist.
Ashok Kumar, however, didn’t know that the incident he was going to witness will challenge his belief. One night, a woman knocked at Ashok Kumar’s door. Her car was out of order and she wanted Ashok Kumar’s help. The actor tried to repair the car, but despite his best efforts, he could not. So, he went back inside and as soon as he got in, he heard a desperate scream. Ashok Kumar rushed back and was shocked to find a headless corpse inside the car.
Next day, he narrated the incident to the servants and those around him and they said that he must have dreamt about it as there was no car parked inside, and certainly no corpse. Ashok Kumar was not satisfied by their explanation and decided to register a police complaint. What the police inspector told him left him spooked. He said that this kind of an incident happened 14 years back where a woman committed a murder and later died in a road accident.
Ashok Kumar later narrated this incident to filmmaker Kamal Amrohi who found it appealing and decided to make a love story with a spooky angle and started developing a story. That’s how Mahal was born. The film went on to break many records and was Bombay Talkies second biggest hit after Kismat.
(Translated from upcoming book Hindi Cinema Ke Stambha authored by Suresh Uniyal)