Production
Development
thumb|181x181px|Anarkali, the 1928 silent film based on the tale of Anarkali and Salim|alt=scene from 1928 silent film Anarkali|left
The Urdu dramatist Imtiaz Ali Taj wrote a play about the love story of Salim and Anarkali in 1922, based more on a 16th-century legend than on fact. A stage version was soon produced, and screen versions followed. Ardeshir Irani made a silent film, Anarkali, in 1928, and remade it with sound in 1935. In the early 1940s, the tale of Anarkali inspired producer Shiraz Ali Hakeem and young director K. Asif (Karimuddin Asif) to make another film adaptation which they would title Mughal-e-Azam. They recruited four Urdu writers to develop the screenplay and dialogue: Aman (Zeenat Aman's father, also known as Amanullah Khan), Wajahat Mirza, Kamaal Amrohi, and Ehsan Rizvi. It is not known how the writers collaborated or shared out their work, but in 2010 The Times of India said that their "mastery over Urdu's poetic idiom and expression is present in every line, giving the film, with its rich plots and intricate characters, the overtones of a Shakespearean drama." As the script neared completion, Asif cast Chandra Mohan, D. K. Sapru, and Nargis for the roles of Akbar, Salim, and Anarkali, respectively. Shooting started in 1946 in Bombay Talkies studio.
The project faced multiple hurdles, which forced its temporary abandonment. The political tensions and communal rioting surrounding India's 1947 partition and independence stalled production. Shortly after partition, Shiraz Ali migrated to Pakistan, leaving Asif without a financier. Shiraz Ali had previously suggested that business tycoon Shapoorji Pallonji could finance the film. Although Pallonji knew nothing about film production, in 1950 he agreed to finance the film because of his interest in the history of Akbar. Production was then restarted with a new cast.
Believing that the film had been cancelled, Kamal Amrohi, one of the scriptwriters who was also a director, planned to make a film on the same subject himself. When confronted by Asif, he agreed to shelve the project. Another unrelated film production based on the same stage play was Nandlal Jaswantlal's Anarkali, starring Bina Rai and Pradeep Kumar, which became the highest grossing Hindi film of 1953.
Casting
thumb|241x241px|Actor [[Dilip Kumar, pictured above in 1944, plays the role of Prince Salim.]]
Asif had initially rejected Dilip Kumar for the part of Prince Salim. Kumar was reluctant to act in a period film, but accepted the role upon the insistence of the film's producer. According to Kumar, "Asif trusted me enough to leave the delineation of Salim completely to me." Kumar faced difficulty while filming in Rajasthan owing to the heat and the body armour he wore. Upon signing the film, Madhubala was advancely paid a sum of 1 lakh, which was the highest for any actor/actress at that time. She suffered from congenital heart disease,
To become the character of Emperor Akbar, Prithviraj Kapoor was reported to have "relied completely on the script and director". Zakir Hussain, who later became a tabla maestro, had initially been considered for the part of the young Prince Salim, but it became the debut role of Jalal Agha, who later performed on the song "Mehbooba Mehbooba" from Sholay (1975). The set took two years to build and cost more than 1.5 million (valued at about US$314,000 in 1960), more than the budget of an entire Hindi film at the time. The film's financiers feared bankruptcy as a result of the high cost of production. A statue of Lord Krishna, to which Jodhabai prayed, was made of gold. In the scenes involving an imprisoned Anarkali, real chains were placed on Madhubala. as the film was being produced in Hindi/Urdu, Tamil, and English. The film was eventually dubbed in Tamil and released in 1961 as Akbar, but that version's commercial failure resulted in the abandonment of the planned English dubbing, for which British actors were considered.
Some film sequences were shot with up to 14 cameras, significantly more than the norm at that time. The presence of the mirrors on the set caused problems, as they sparkled under the lights. Foreign consultants, including British director David Lean, told Asif to forget the idea since they felt that it was impossible to film the scene under the intense glare. Asif confined himself to the set with the lighting crew, and subsequently overcame the problem by covering all the mirrors with a thin layer of wax, thereby subduing their reflectivity.