Following the massive success of the 1960 epic historical drama Mughal-e-Azam, which portrayed the legendary love story of Mughal prince Salim and Anarkali, director K. Asif set his sights on bringing another iconic romance to the screen, that of Laila and Majnu. For this ambitious project, titled Love and God, he cast Guru Dutt as Kais aka Majnu and Nimmi as Laila.

K. Asif began production on the film in 1963. However, a major setback struck the following year when, on October 10, 1964, Guru Dutt was found dead in his rented apartment in Bombay (now Mumbai). Devastated by the loss of his lead actor, Asif chose to abandon the project and put his dream on hold.

Yet, the timeless tale of Laila and Majnu continued to linger in K. Asif’s mind for the next six years. In 1970, he approached Sa

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