Dilip Kumar and Madhubala fell deeply in love when they first met each other on the set of the 1951 film Tarana. Soon afterwards, director K Asif cast them as Salim and Anarkali in his film Mughal-E-Azam, but Dilip felt that Asif’s intentions were not all that honourable during the making of the film. In his autobiography, Dilip spoke about the announcement of the film and how Asif was “ecstatic” with all the noise that Mughal-E-Azam was making from day one. He also shared that Asif interfered in his relationship with Madhubala, and even advised her on how she could get Dilip to make a commitment.

In ‘Dilip Kumar: The Substance and the Shadow’, Dilip wrote that there were many rumours about his and Madhubala’s relationship in the early 1950s, which is perhaps why the film’s announcement made “sensational news.” “It was not anticipated or planned that it would be in production for such a long period as it was and Asif was aware of Madhu’s feelings for me because she had confided in him during one of their intimate talks. And, he was equally aware of my nature as a man who made no haste in taking critical personal or professional decisions,” Dilip wrote, and added that Asif started encouraging Madhubala to get him to make a commitment. “He took it upon himself to act as the catalyst and went to the extent of encouraging her in vain to pin me down somehow. He went on to advise her that the best way to draw a commitment from an honourable and principled Pathan, brought up on old-world values, was to draw him into physical intimacy,” he wrote.