Had Gabbar Singh of the latterday classic, Sholay, seen this colourised version of Mughal-e-Azam (recently released on the big screen), he would have hissed through his blackened teeth, “Sabbaas!” Quite akin to Ishaa Koppikar going “Khallas!” which was equally hissy. Anyway, that makes for two of the three cheers for Shemaroo who have done a quick and gorgeous job of it. Priced at Rs 499 for DVDs (set of 2) and Rs 199 for the VCD pack, it’s what any collector would give his right arm-in-armour for. The gift-wrap pack itself is a prize possession.

Apart from the subtitles in languages (English, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali) there are bonuses in the shape of footage of the grand premiere when the new Mughal-e-Azam was screened in the theatres. Some eminent personalities speak about this epic saga of father and son, with the third angle in the third angle being the perennial mother.

There is also a behind-the-scenes tech talk about the colourisation process, the technology, the painstaking endeavour behind the making of a dream. The song, Hume kaash tumse, that was deleted in the film has been included here as also the theatrical trailers.

Mughal-e-Azam has stood the test of time, which is the acid test in terming any film a “classic”. And it will always remain larger than life. The colour has injected a new, contemporary life into the tale of the doomed affair between the crown prince Salim and the impossibly beautiful kaneez Anarkali. K. Asif’s love and war marathon already had one sequence in colour, and we have it from his family, that his first intention was in fact to make it in colour. But that was a technological impossibility then. That unfinished dream came true recently and the historical importance of it can hardly be emphasised.

Some of the main protagonists of the legendary tale are not alive to witness that happening either on the big screen or now in DVD/VCD, but the legend lives. The immortal songs (Naushad, Shakeel) and the celebrated picturisations can be savoured again and again in the comfy couches in your home. So, chill! On the enormous screen presence of Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, Durga Khote, Ajit and Nigar Sultana.

Anil Grover