Nadira, a Persian woman, migrates to Agra with her tribe. Bowled over by her mellifluous voice and beauty, Mughal prince Salim introduces himself to her as a soldier and the two fall in love and meet regularly at the pomegranate garden. Once, while strolling in his garden, Emperor Akbar, impressed by Nadira's singing, bestows on her the title "Anarkali", meaning "pomegranate blossom". Thereafter, Salim has entrusted the responsibility as a chief commander for war at Kabul, distressed Anarkali also leaves to know the whereabouts of Salim. To her misfortune, she is caught by burglars and while they are auctioning her prince Salim purchases her. On that night, they are completely under flow of romance when Man Singh I caveats the prince regarding his vocation. Immediately, Salim onslaught into the battlefield, grievously injured and goes into a coma. Right now, Man Singh I back-pedals him to Agra when Anarkali also follows. During that plight, her singing brings back to consciousness to Salim when hearten Akbar makes her the court dancer. Spotting her at the court Man Singh I warns to discard but she refuses. Meanwhile, Anarkali acclaims paramount in the court which upsets Gulnar, the former court dancer, who has secret ambitions to marry the prince. On the occasion of Salim’s coronation celebration, an envied Gulnar conspires and mixes alcohol in Anarkali’s drink. Under its influence, Anarkali expresses her love for Salim which angers Akbar who orders her to be imprisoned. At that juncture, Salim expresses his love for her to his mother Jodha Bai and requests to couple up them. But Akbar rejects the proposal, so Salim rebels and amasses an army to confront his father to rescue Anarkali but Jodha Bai bar him. Right now, Akbar orders capital punishment for the lovers to decapitate Salim and Anarkali is taken to a distant place to entombed alive. At that point in time, everyone shows averse to mete out Salim, so, it is mandatory to the Emperor to do so but he collapses due to the affection of his son. Being cognizant of Anarkali entombment, Salim rushes to save her when Gulnar backstabs him, by the time he reaches there, Anarkali is already buried. Finally, grief-stricken, Salim bangs his head on her grave and dies.
After Paradesi, the inaugural production of Anjali Pictures was an average success at the box office, its producers – husband and wife P. Adinarayana Rao and Anjali Devi – considered making their sophomore production based on folklore. The 1953 Hindi filmAnarkali, which was based on the legendary romance between Mughal prince Salim and the eponymous court dancer, was a success and caught their attention, prompting them to adapt the same story in Telugu with the same title, while putting their folklore film plans on hold. Vedantam Raghavaiah was chosen as director and screenwriter, Samudrala Raghavacharya as dialogue writer, Kamal Ghosh for cinematography, N. S. Prakasam for editing, and A. K. Sekhar as art director alongside Vali and Thota.
Casting
was cast as Salim, co-producer Anjali Devi as the title character, S. V. Ranga Rao as Emperor Akbar, P. Kannamba as Akbar's wife Jodha Bai, V. Nagaiah as Man Singh I and Surabhi Balasaraswathi as the dancer Gulnaar. Gadiraju Kesavarao, an associate director, also appeared briefly as the musician Tansen.
The soundtrack was composed by P. Adinarayana Rao, while the lyrics were written by Samudrala Raghavacharya. Though the soundtrack consisted predominantly of original compositions, two were borrowed from the 1953 film. "Ravoyi Sakhaa" was adapted from "Aa Jaane Wafaa", and "Jeevitame Saphalamu" was adapted from "Yeh Zindagi Usi Ki Hai". ;Tamil songs Lyrics were by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass. All the tunes for all the songs and singers for both languages are the same.
Release and reception
Anarkali was released on 28 April 1955. The film was a commercial success, running for over 100 days in many theatres. Its namesake Tamil-dubbed version was also successful.
