Mughal-e-Azam began as a 1922 Urdu play about Salim and Anarkali, based more on a 16th-century legend than on fact, and it was filmed in the 1940s and 1950s. Production was halted by the upheaval of India's 1947 partition, and a new financier was found in 1950. The Sheesh Mahal set was built to replicate the Lahore Fort, using many small Belgian mirrors that reflected the lights too strongly. Director K. Asif covered them with a thin layer of wax to reduce the glare, and the cinematographer used cloth strips to bounce light softly. The shoot needed about 500 days, compared with the typical 60 to 125.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.