Sahib-e-Alam is going to be Mughal-e-Azam

–The rise of Sheikho, the loudmouth, obstinate and pleasure-loving prince of Banigala

Mughal-e-Azam (1960) is an epic historical movie revolving around the timeless ideals of duty to land and to self which becomes more relevant when the characters presented in the movie act as metaphors to the contemporary political arena.

Starting with the very obvious Mughal-e-Azam, in the movie, is the former prime minister who has made an undesirable hue and cry over the much-needed-change that his system of governance needed. He was blinded by passion to an extent where he remained unable to see where his words were taking him: the clash of egos is nothing new; it caused Bhutto his life and Sharif his crown.

Shaikho, the aggressive ‘youth’ who is ‘fated’ to be the next Mughal-e-Azam, developed taste for women and wine at a very early age, showed his temper, for 17 years, in battlefield with his loyal ‘militants’, returns home only to fall in love with Anarkali, who is the embodiment of the ideals that have shaped and are shaping the destiny of great men, who is soon to be embedded. Soon after the end of his career as a sportsman, this passion kept him going.

Here, former and upcoming Mughal-e-Azam are not akin; unlike the age difference of twenty-one years between the actors who performed these roles, the old face and the new face of Pakistan have an age gap of only three years. Nawaz Sharif, the self-deceiving, myopic, unscrupulous ruler who outnumbered his contemporaries in the political mistakes he and his daughter made while believing that they were doing a favour to the people who elected them and to the land that honored them, resembles Jalalud Din, who was so ‘consumed’ by the idea of purging the bloodlines of Babar and Humayun that he almost wiped off his own descendants (not to mention that what he saved was soon to be plundered by the British).

Imran Khan proves as impractical as Sheikho, who wanted to ‘marry’ his concubine when he makes claims to protect NADRA (pun intended!). Sheikho’s triumph in the movie is an effort to justify his being the successor of the great king, for his great victories are only ‘heard of’ just like Imran Khan’s inconspicuous triumph in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). He cannot accept to sit in the opposition with restricted ‘authority’; hence, he gambles to take full charge of the chaos which he will today. Sadly, he is only going to prove himself incapacitate at the end of his five-year regime which he would obviously relate to his ancestors to exempt any blame on his part.

Anarkali appears at the critical moment when Sheikho is about to lose his head: she saves him time and again only to deceive him, at the end, into believing that she has become a victim to their mutual merriment while all she did was silently walking out of the death bed, in her case death wall.

Who is this Malka-e-Alam, who first spoils her husband with her subjugation then her son with her sporadic, extravagant portrayal of seduction and riches? She imbibes in her son the resilience and rage that Sheikho needs to challenge the former Mughal-e-Azam. Jalal knows how to handle Jodha: at the time of war against his own son, he made the mother take sides with him, rather than her son. She is the one who succumbs to the decision of sending the ‘young’ price in front of the canon. It is she who whispers into Sheikho’s ear reassurance that his’ are great principles. She is Miltablishment that often changes sides, appoints instigators like Bahar, offers indulgences and stands right before the gallows to garland the ‘victim’. ‘How the victim is saved’ is only after a ‘just’ trial: when the scapegoat offers her life for his.

Anarkali is the promise of change that Imran Khan so desperately wants to hatch. She is the embodiment of those ideals that are alluring to listen to and bewitching to think of but are also misleading, treacherous, un-yieldable, overstated and slavish. She was once a slave of duty, now of passion. She is a person who qualifies as a statue: she apparently ‘dies’ as a wall. She is all that is bookish in the malpractice of politics. Equating her with any of the women who have been in Imran Khan’s life would be a folly as no woman (except Maryam who only aggravated the situation) has any standing in the man’s world of politics.

Though a timid, frightened Anarkali is perceived as a threat to the great Mughal sultanate, the real threat is ‘young’ Sheikho’s ego, his refusal to bow before the ‘mighty’ to challenge whom he makes Anarkali a pretext. Had he been sincere to the cause of his rebel, he would have married her long ago, without the consent of his parents: however, he is standing there facing the canon, or he is fighting in the battlefield, or he is arguing for the release of Anarkali, or his Rajpoot friend is dying while rescuing the most sought-after woman. He is born a rebel: the greatest glory of his sporty life is over. With a long life still to be lived, he needs something greater to hold onto: a political cause.

Yes, Imran Khan is passionate. Yes, Imran Khan is obstinate. Yes, Imran Khan is made to win. Yes, he is the next Mughal-e-Azam. No, he is not going to get Anarkali. Yes, he is a fool and also those who think they can control a control-freak are fools as well!

The last character is the one who initiated the bellicose and kept watering it till lit matured into a war: the sculptor. He is the one who planted NADRA in the most bewitching way that she was able to receive the alias Anarkali: on his command, she seduces Imran Khan; without saying a word she makes him do what she commands.

The scholar is that formidable creature who lives to see his prophecy becoming true. He proves the ‘truth’ of his words. He camouflages the idea of change in a feminine body painted in a way that “in its feet, soldiers lie down their swords, kings their crowns and humans their heart”. He demands the ‘price’ of his truth; he wants to witness the ‘glory’ of his truth; he wants to ‘spread’ his message across the continent. He is the opinion leader; he is the media person.