Aasman Mahal

An elderly impoverished Nawab lives in his ancestral Haveli (Mansion). A business man wants to buy it, in order to convert it into a hotel. Though financially in a desperate state, the Nawab refuses to sell his property and clings on to his old-fashioned ideals of nobility. His son, is dissolute and not of much account, but he is able to let go of the aristocratic baggage. He is in love with the daughter of the house help. Aasman Mahal evokes other stories of a decaying aristocracy like Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard set in Russia and Lampedusa’s The Leopard set in Sicily and Premchand’s Shatranj Ke Khilari set in Lucknow. Cited in the to be one of the first films to be “shot on location without sets”, thereby not making use of “studio” sets. The film shooting took place in its entirety in Hyderabad. Prithviraj Kapoor’s acting won him a special “Honor at the Karlovy Awards”. One of the notable songs by composer J. P. Kaushik from the film, and described as an “introspective” and “philosophical” number, was “Main Aahein Bhar Nahin Sakta”. The lyricists were and Majaz Lakhnawi, and the singers were Vijaya Majumdar, , and Madhukar.