Asif actually started his career in 1945 with a film called Phool, starring Prithviraj Kapoor, who later played Emperor Akbar in Mughal-e-Azam. In Phool, Prithviraj played the head of a Muslim family who must fulfill his father’s dream of building a mosque. Written by Kamal Amrohi, Phool was a hit. And Asif began work on his magnum opus.
Mughal-e-Azam was originally to star Nutan as Anarkali. Dilip Kumar was reluctant to play Salim as he did not want to do a costume drama. The rest is historical hysteria, as they say.
After Mughal-e-Azam, Asif directed two other films. Sasta Khoon Mahega Pani stars Rajendra Kumar, Saira Banu and Sanjeev Kumar. But it was postponed due to unknown reasons. Whatever the reason, K Asif quickly moved on to another film, a Mughal-e-Azam-sized costume drama. Love and God was about the mythological romance between Laila and Majnu, but it was nixed from the very beginning. A year after production went into production, Guru Dutt, who had been cast as Majnu, passed away and was replaced by Sanjeev Kumar. Asif died before the completion of the film. His widow released the unfinished film with the help of producer KC Bokadia.
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