"Mansion") is a 1949 Indian Hindi-language psychological supernatural horror film produced by Savak Vacha and Ashok Kumar under the banner of Bombay Talkies, and directed by Kamal Amrohi as his directorial debut.

Cited as Bollywood's first horror film, it revolves around an aristocrat (Ashok Kumar) who moves into an ancient mansion, where he gets visions of a mysterious lady (Madhubala) claiming to be his lover in their previous lives.

Amrohi, who made his directorial debut with the film, was turned down by many major female stars before then-fledgling Madhubala was put on the board.

When a new owner, Hari Shankar (Ashok Kumar), comes to live in this palace, the old gardener narrates the story of incomplete love.

Mahal was produced by Savak Vacha and Ashok Kumar under the banner of Bombay Talkies, and written and directed by Kamal Amrohi, who made his directorial debut with the film.

[6] It was Kumar who suggested part of the story, recalling a real life incident: in 1948, he was shooting near Jijiboy House at a hill station when, at midnight, the actor saw a headless corpse in a mysterious woman's car.

When Kumar went to a nearby police station to register a complaint, a policeman told him that 14 years ago a similar incident happened at the same place—a woman had committed a murder and later died in a road accident.

[7] Kumar narrated the story to Amrohi, who had previously written dialogue for the 1939 Sohrab Modi blockbuster Pukar, but never directed a film.

At one point, Suraiya was considered and almost finalized by Vacha, who believed that she and Kumar would make a marketable pair together, but her grandmother appeared unenthusiastic about the film's unconventional story.

Buzz is, German cinematographer Joseph Wirching, who was on the studio's payroll, had been instructed to shoot the teenage actress at her worst.

The young actress now appeared "stunning, even in black-and-white, and everyone agreed that she was the perfect Kamini," states India Times.

"[1] Throughout the filming of Mahal, the unit suffered financial crisis and Amrohi had to contribute antiques and costumes from his own home because there was not enough money to buy props.

[14] Despite everyone else's disapproval, Amrohi held Madhubala's talents in high regard, proclaiming that "it was with this film that her true capabilities came to the fore.

"[12] The film's ending initially saw the main characters (Shankar and Kamnini) reuniting in their next birth, but the scenes were removed a day before the release on Kumar's suggestions.

[15] All lyrics are written by J. Nakshab; all music is composed by Khemchand Prakash[10]Mahal was theatrically released on 13 October 1949.

[20] However, the overall critical response of Mahal was mixed: Patel called the plot a "fantastic nonsense—pure and unadultrated",[21] and The Motion Picture Magazine described the film as "a story of ghosts, spooks, apparitions, jitters, quivers, bats and snakes", adding that "it succeeds in giving one the creeps, but through more causes than one.

[22] Writing for Upperstall.com, Karan Bali lauded the film's "richly textured and moody visuals, the imaginative use of sound, its tantalizing ambiguity and [...] its haunting music.

"[3] Writer Vijay Mishra wrote in his book Bollywood Cinema: Temples of Desire that Mahal "remains the final achievement precisely because it lacks closure and has ambiguous moments built into its very structure.

"[24] The success of Mahal played a major role in the career developments of playback singer Lata Mangeshkar and lead actress Madhubala, as both of them were struggling to get a big break in the film industry.

Mahal remained Madhubala's highest-grossing release for the next six years till Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955), and Mangeshkar often cited "Aayega Aanewala" as one of her favourite songs.