Gul-e-Bakavali (1963)

Gul-e-Bakavali retells a much-loved tale of Persian and Urdu storytelling. A king has lost his sight, and only the magical flower of Bakavali, a fairy princess whose garden lies beyond enchanted lands, can restore it. A young prince sets out to find the flower, facing spells, demons, rival brothers and the perils of a fairy kingdom, and his quest becomes a love story as well as an adventure. This 1963 Hindi version, with P. Jairaj and Nishi, is a black-and-white costume fantasy of the kind that filled cinemas in the 1950s and 60s, full of tricks, songs and palace intrigue. The same tale was filmed many times across Indian languages, including a famous Tamil version with M. G. Ramachandran.