61 Years of Mughal-E-Azam: How Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was persuaded to sing the ONLY film song of his career; was paid an insane Rs. 25,000

By Fenil Seta -

August 6, 2021 - 11:00 AM IST

61 years ago, the Bollywood classic, Mughal-E-Azam released on this day. And the rest is history. It’s a rare film where the work of each and every department stood out. Hence, the film today is remembered not just for the performances or story but also for action, grandeur, period setting, cinematography, choreography, story, dialogues, script and of course, the music.

61 Years of Mughal-E-Azam: How Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was persuaded to sing the ONLY film song of his career; was paid an insane Rs. 25,000

Speaking of the music of Mughal-E-Azam, we bring to you an interesting anecdote from the film which is not known to many and which is mentioned by journalist and writer Roshmila Bhattacharya in her book, Matinee Men. Roshmila mentions that for the song ‘Prem Jogan Ban Ke’, director K Asif expressed the desire of having legendary classical singer Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan as the playback singer. Music director Naushad told K Asif that the singer doesn’t sing for films. Yet, K Asif took a chance.

He and Naushad met Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan at the latter’s residence. K Asif told him that he’ll pay him whatever that he asks for. Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan quoted Rs. 25,000, which was an insane amount of money in those days to be paid to a singer. As per some reports, singers were barely paid around Rs. 500-1000 per song at that time. Yet, K Asif, without hesitation, agreed and even paid him an advance of Rs. 10,000 on the spot.

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan then turned up on the day of recording at Mehboob Studio. The singer threw a fit when he saw that there was no gadda, chaddar or takiyas laid out for him. Immediately, K Asif gave the studio the setup of a baithak.

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan then began the recording. K Asif didn’t seem impressed with his rendition. He told the singer that his rendition was a bit too heavy and doesn’t go with the song’s soft, romantic mood. An angry Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan stormed out of the studio and said that he’ll return only when he had seen the scene on which the song will be played.

K Asif had not shot the said scene till then. With no other option, he quickly filmed the sequence of his lead actors Dilip Kumar as Salim and Madhubala as Anarkali romancing each other in the palace garden. The filmmaker then quickly edited, cut a print and screened it for the singer.

Roshmila Bhattacharya then wrote that according to Naushad, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan saw the whole scene in silence. At the end, he nodded in approval and remarked that both Salim and Anarkali look ‘khoobsurat’! He then recorded the song as per the scene’s mood and K Asif’s guidance. He gave three more takes too. Each time he sang, the scene was played in front of him. When Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was leaving, he asked K Asif to use whichever version he liked and to make sure it sounded good!