Akbar Khan to re-release Taj Mahal

By: Shilpa Mulimani, IndiaFM
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The long wait is over. Finally, the eternal beauty and symbol of love- Taj Mahal has been officially voted as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. It is probably the only known monument built with love as the main theme. For Indians, it has been a wonder nevertheless ever since it has come into light. But now the world has realized its worth. The light of love will now enlighten not only India but every nook of the world. In the wake of this event, who better to share the success than Akbar Khan, the director of Taj Mahal- An Eternal Love Story?

He proudly declares, "I am one of the happiest people on earth. I am having one of my best moments in life. It has been called a temple, a mosque, a Mecca of all the lovers and Taj itself is a monument which is alive. It speaks to you. It soothes your eyes, triggers your imagination, and inspires artists, painters and poets. So I feel there is no monument in the world which has a magical divinity about it."

Taj Mahal has suddenly brought to life the proud Indian in us. It makes us realize the worth of what we had for so many years and which still continues to stand tall in spite of the endless physical torment and controversies it is bearing for so many years. On this the actor-director-producer-writer says, "We Indians all over should be very proud that Taj Mahal has always been a part of history and it has no parallel in the world because every other monument is nothing but a perfection of architectural engineering achievement. None has got the divinity and sacredness the Taj Mahal has."

Just countable days ago, Taj Mahal was 14th on the list with 21 contenders with just a few days left to vote for it. But nothing was going to bog this monument down. It finally emerged as the wonder which got the highest votes by the public. But Akbar Khan was sure of this, "There was no doubt at all that it would make it in the seven wonders list. But I would like to say that whether there was this voting process or not, Taj Mahal was, is and will always remain one of the greatest gifts to mankind from our heritage."

So now what? How does it matter now that the Taj has been labeled as a world heritage? Is the way we look at it going to change in any way or is there anything we can do for it? "I feel there has been a great awakening of people who have not been exposed to the Taj Mahal. Our government should take advantage of this and take additional steps to clear up the area around the Taj Mahal and the river Jamuna. As a good-will gesture, 10% of the money that comes from ticket sales should be spent on relocating the people who have their livelihood around the Taj Mahal."

This muse of many artists and connoisseurs has also been one for the Bollywood. Many a romantic scenes and heart-melting moments have been shot in front of this beauty. The recent ones being Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya, Bunty Aur Babli, Salaam-E-Ishq and the most recent Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Akbar Khan has gone to an extent to make an entire film dedicated to the Taj Mahal- Taj Mahal- An Eternal Love Story. The film, which Akbar Khan describes as his "Labour of love" and which he claims to have made with the same passion as Shah Jahan's while building the Taj Mahal, bombed miserably at the box office. On this Akbar Khan says, "My film in India was sabotaged by some vested interests and my efforts of getting the right cinemas was indirectly blocked. The show-timings, the right cinema halls were blocked. There has been an invisible force which came in the way of my Labour of love. I never expected that such kind of elements would exist."

But Akbar Khan wants to take full benefit of the Taj's limelight now. He is planning with renewed excitement and anticipation to re-release his film Taj Mahal- An Eternal Love Story. "God-willing, we are in the process of doing just that in a very big way and not just in India. This is a great opportunity that I would like to seize and re-release my film the world over. In fact, barring U.S. and U.K. my films has not released overseas, so this will be the first release in lots of places. We are in the process of getting everything lined up."

Films will be made, songs will be shot, poems will be written; but never will the eyes and heart stop getting peace, warmth and the feeling of love triumphant over any other human emotion. Time will go by but the aura and mysticism of the most beautiful expression of love in stone will never fade.