Akbar (Prithviraj Kapoor) has a weak and pleasure-loving son Salim (Dilip Kumar) who falls in love with Anarkali (Madhubala) a court dancer. Akbar firmly objects to their marriage. The movie traces the efforts of the couple to stand up to Akbar.
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To get the right donkey for the movie, the director travelled to Sirham, a village on top of the mountains, since Kashmir had only mules and no donkeys.
Pakeezah took nearly 14 years to shoot because of a change in relationship between Meena Kumari and Kamal Amrohi the director from warm to worse and then back to a compromise. Meena Kumari and Kamal Amrohi were married when Pakeezah was first conceived.
The movie is silent, with no dialogue whatsoever, yet it deals with a complex and realistic plot.The film is notable for its inventive recasting of the silent film form. Though shot in color and featuring incidental noise, the film does not have any dialogues.
