K Asif barred Shammi Kapoor from meeting Prithviraj Kapoor on Mughal-e-Azam set; it went on for days: ‘Akbar hasn’t arrived yet’

Prithviraj Kapoor locked himself in the makeup room, waiting for the character of Akbar to come into him.

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Asrani continued: “Now just think about that… such a great actor, someone who ran his own theatre company, who trained so many young actors like Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Prem Nath, he was standing there, waiting for inspiration to strike. And K Asif was waiting too, saying, ‘Let it come.’ He didn’t allow even his own son to meet him. This went on for one day, two days… still, no meeting. Then one day, the door opened, and Prithviraj ji simply said, ‘Akbar has arrived. Asif, let’s go.’ Now tell me, in today’s times, will anyone wait like that? If I say, ‘I haven’t received inspiration yet, the character hasn’t entered me’ — people will throw shoes at me and tell me to get lost!”

Many veteran actors over the years have praised Prithviraj Kapoor’s iconic performance in Mughal-e-Azam. Most recently, it was Naseeruddin Shah, who himself portrayed Emperor Akbar in a web series, who reflected on Kapoor’s legacy in an interview with The Lallantop. He said: “What Prithviraj ji did in the film, I won’t comment on his acting style, but what he achieved with the character of Akbar has been cemented in our collective memory. I don’t have that kind of aura or personality that he had, so I wouldn’t take up a role like that, because eventually there would be comparisons, and I’d fall short in those aspects. But when I read the script, I was sure I would do it, because it had nothing even remotely similar to what Prithviraj ji had done back then.”