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If you like horror genre in movies, have you ever wondered which is the first-ever horror movie made in Indian cinema. Well, today in this series of 'guess who', let's go back in time and figure out which is the movie and who starred in it. Also, we will delve deeper into the Box Office collection of 'India's First Horror Film' that left people terrified.
Cited as Bollywood's first horror film, Kamal Amrohi's 1949 classic 'Mahal' revolves around an aristocrat (Ashok Kumar) who moves into an ancient mansion, where he gets visions of a mysterious lady (Madhubala) claiming to be his lover in their previous lives. This psychological supernatural horror film was produced by Savak Vacha and Ashok Kumar under the banner of Bombay Talkies, and directed by Kamal Amrohi as his directorial debut.
Mahal was released in theatres in October 1949. The film emerged as one of the biggest hits of the decade as well as the biggest financial success in Bombay Talkies' history. The film proved to be a career high for Madhubala and playback singer Lata Mangeshkar, who had lent her voice to the film's soundtrack 'Aayega Aanewala' into super-stardom. Prior to this the Nightingale of India made her singing debut for Vasant Joglekar's Marathi movie Kiti Hasaal (1942) and the title was titled 'Naachu Yaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari' which was composed by Sadashivrao Nevrekar, but the song was dropped from the final cut.
Later, Vinayak also offered a small role in Navyug Chitrapat's Marathi movie Pahili Mangalaa-gaur (1942), in which she sang 'Natali Chaitraachi Navalaai' composed by Dada Chandekar. Lata Mangeshkar's first Hindi song was 'Mata Ek Sapoot Ki Duniya Badal De Tu' for the Marathi film Gajaabhaau (1943).
The very beautiful Madhubala played minor roles in movies like Basant (1942) before she became a lead face. She was seen in Neel Kamal (1947), horror film Mahal (1949) and Amar (1954). Madhubala's debut film as a lead actress was Neel Kamal, where she starred opposite Raj Kapoor. She was 14 years old at the time.
According to Wikipedia and social media pages, the film was made on a budget of Rs 9 lakh (estimated to be around 15.75 crore today). It earned Rs 1.45 crore (estimated to be around Rs 218 crore today).
All lyrics are written by J Nakshab and music was composed by Khemchand Prakash. The song Aayega Aanewala became a classic. The success of Mahal gave a boost to playback singer Lata Mangeshkar and lead actress Madhubala in their profession.
Mahal influenced a number of horror films since its release. It was listed in British Film Institute's list of '10 great romantic horror films'
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