K. Asif was a film director, film producer and screenwriter who is famous for his work on the Hindi epic motion picture, Mughal-e-Azam (1960). His directorial debut, Phool (1945), did very well at the box-office due to the casting of and portrayals by famous actors and actresses of the time such as Prithviraj Kapoor, Durga Khote and Suraiya. In 1944, Asif planned to make a film called Mughal-e-Azam based on the life and times of Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great's court dancer, based on a Urdu novel 'Anarkali' written by Syed Imtiaz Ali Taj, with Chandramohan in the male lead and the then upcoming actress Nargis in the female lead.