By Murtaza Ali Khan
Rome wasn’t built in a day. This famous adage unpins the
importance of time needed to create great things. And, just like Rome, the moniker
‘Mughal-E-Azam’ too is synonymous with greatness. After all, the Mughal emperor
Akbar the Great is also known by the sobriquet Mughal-E-Azam, But those who are
acquainted with Hindi cinema would know that the name Mughal-E-Azam has actually
become synonymous with cinematic grandeur, thanks to filmmaker K. Asif’s magnum
opus Mughal-E-Azam (1960), which starred stalwarts like Prithviraj Kapoor,
Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, Murad, and Durga
Khote. The film, one of the most ambitious projects in the history of cinema, suffered
from endless production hurdles and ultimately took about two decades to
complete. Mughal-E-Azam follows the story of the Mughal Prince Salim who openly
declares his love for a lowly court dancer named Anarkali and leads a rebellion
against his mighty father, Emperor Akbar, who disapproves of their relationship.
The monumental film was produced by Shapoorji Pallonji. More than five decades later,
the renowned Indian playwright Feroz Abbas Khan, known for plays like Mahatma vs Gandhi and Salesman Ramlal, brings to the capital
city the same old saga of love in the new avatar of a Broadway-style musical, after
enthralling the Mumbaikers with as many as 57 housefull shows.
Stage adaptations of cinematic epics are somewhat rare and
perhaps that’s what makes Feroz Abbas Khan’s Mughal-E-Azam so unique. Clocking
at 2 hours and 15 minutes, the play made its debut at Mumbai’s National Centre
for the Performing Arts (NCPA) back in October 2016. So far, the play has enjoyed
four successful seasons in its original form but the latest
presentation in Delhi will have a new segment. Staging the play in Delhi
was always a top priority for Khan. In words of Khan himself, “How
can you not show a play like Mughal-E-Azam in Delhi with its great Mughal
history?” But it took him a very long time to realize. The biggest
challenge was to find a place grand enough to stage something as ambitious as
Mughal-E-Azam. When he couldn’t find a suitable place he zeroed in on a
weight-lifting auditorium in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and took it upon himself to
completely revamp it according to his requirements. Co-produced by NCPA and Shapoorji
Pallonji, the musical comprises a cast and crew of over 350 persons including
30 classically trained Kathak dancers. The
costumes are designed by Manish Malhotra. The real icing on the cake is the
fact that the play features live singing. The hectic schedule and the fact that
the lead actresses have to both sing and dance simultaneously is bound to take
a heavy toil. And that’s precisely why Khan has not one but two
actresses, Priyanka Barve and Neha Sargam, play the part of Anarkari, alternatively.
Although, Khan’s Mughal-E-Azam is been described
as a modern interpretation of the classic, it is mostly faithful to the K.
Asif classic. The play’s resplendence is marked by the lavish sets, colorful
costumes, flowery verses, soulful music, and the brilliantly choreographed dance
sequences, all seamlessly weaved together through an elaborate mise en scene, sublimely
orchestrated by Khan, which makes Mughal-E-Azam an immersive theatre experience.
The acting department, however, is a major letdown with the actors lacking the screen
presence during some of key sequences. The male actors, in particular, fail to
capture the nuances, especially with regards to the language and diction. But
that’s something for the connoisseurs to notice, for the average viewer may not
pay much heed to these inconsistencies of language. Having said that, it is definitely
one critical area that Khan and team ought to have worked on more!
Mughal-E-Azam, the stage musical based on the K. Asif film, will
be performed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Auditorium from 9-17 September. Tickets,
ranging from INR 500 to INR 10,000, are available online.
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your valuable thoughts are highly appreciated!
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Beautiful!!!
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