The Sword and the Flute (1959): Cast

Through Indian miniature paintings shown on screen, an off‑screen narrator follows the art’s rise in the courts of Akbar (1542‑1605) and his son Jahangir (1569‑1627). After Akbar’s unification, two schools flourished: the Mughal (Islamic) school, which records court events, and the Rajput (Hindu) school, which connects physical beauty and women’s longing to transcendent spiritual values.

• Director James Ivory

• Saeed Jaffrey as Narrator

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