A journey in to a bygone era: Mughal-e-Azam

Love has given itself over to many interpretations and romanticisations over centuries since men and women realised it exists. Many a ballad and many a tragedy have been woven around it serving as the core of the narrative, and yet there are some that just stay with you long after the words have been sung, the melody faded and the characters turned to mere relics of the past. We move on, seeking contemporary pleasures that are in sync with the times, resorting to tweets and status updates about the inane drama in our lives, snatching bits of gossip from our peers, catching the latest sensational web series on NetFlix and grooving to the latest ditty from Rihanna. In a world where technology and our evenly matched fast-paced lives juxtapose into a perfectly chaotic routine, where do we make space for lilting shayaris, melliflous qawwalis and poignant guftagoo with our beloved? And who is mad enough to propose that we need to give such romantic forms of expression some attention in our time-crunched schedules where there are at least ten chores vying for our attention at any given point of the day?

One man and his motley crew and cast beg to differ and have put aside all and sundry to breathe life in to a long-forgotten era and its reigning love saga that entranced viewers of the past century to declare it the most sublime tale of its time. Seasoned director Feroz Abbas Khan known for his renditions of more gritty dramas like Gandhi My Father in celluloid and Tumhari Amrita on stage went against the grain and decided to lift the veil on an epic tale of unfulfilled desires, undying passion, shocking betrayal, the tilt of power, the cruel hand of justice and the questionable rule of an emperor who deemed to forfeit his son at the altar of honour-bound duty. Only this was a father who happened to be the erstwhile Emperor of Hindustan, the high and mighty Mughal emperor Jallaluddin Akbar and his rebel son Salim who defied his rule to surrender his fate at the mercy of his love. 

People especially of our parents’ generations may swear by K Asif’s 1960’s film Mughal-e-Azam and how irreplaceable it is in their memories of Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, Prithviraj Kapoor and Durga Khote, that had Lata Mangeshkar belting out enthralling melodies helmed by Naushad. A remake on screen today would probably be mocked to death so taking up the challenge of moulding the story to adapt to a proscenium stage with live artistes singing and performing the narrative would seem a tad bit absurd. 

The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) and Shapoorji Pallonji thankfully did not agree and lend weight to Mr.Khan’s idea to blow away the dust of time from this work of art, known to be one of the most expensive films of its time that took 16 years in the making.

To put up such a grand act on stage replete with the cherished songs from the original film, with actors rekindling the flames of a long-extinguished romantic tryst between a young scion to the Mughal throne and a lissome and nubile nautch girl at the court, is commendable in itself. But to actually visualise this with a 70 member cast, bedecked in over 500 costumes, with lighting and mersmerising backdrops that add aura and ambience to the ongoing drama, the perfect synchronisation of the dances (whether it’s the whirling dervishes or the kathak dancers that chastise the scorn-worthy love between the two lovers), rendered soulfully by the female leads on stage is beyond imaginable. Not until you actually witness all this happening seamlessly does it dawn on you that it has to be sheer ambition, a gnawing zest to create the extraordinary and an eagerness to exhibit the same without a flaw that propels a director to take up such a project. And to this end, Mr.Khan leaves no stone unturned.

So what we do get in the theatrical adaptation of the famous tragedy even if you have seen the film is a pleasant revival of all that we have seen on screen, but with a more realistic feel of the pace and emotions of the actors performing it. We see the story rendered with technical finesse and an aesthetic prowess that is unmatched on stage till date. We are expected to be moved and swayed by the gentle waft of romance, and equally disturbed by the fractious relations between a family torn by love and loyalty for each other. The musical does succeed in doing all of this but is unfortunately marred by its length and the inadequacy of its lesser-known actors playing the principal characters whose rawness overpowers the back-breaking preparation and talent that serve as their strengths. While roping in celebrities for a venture like this may have diluted the impact of the actual story by turning the focus to the glam factor, it would have probably also fortified the formidable scale on which the stage adaptation is built. Especially for the exorbitant ticket rates that have been set for the show running over 2 hours, people will be looking forward to get a big bang for their buck. At its crux, a play no matter how grand you make its dressing and treatment, leans on the ability of its actors to emote and engage the viewer with a stage presence that is irrefutable.

Having said that, Mughal-e-Azam is a story that needs to live through the ages, as the tenets of human nature ensconced in its tale are immortal. While I am not a great fan of the original story myself, and nothing can probably surpass the magic that Madhubala as Anarkali wove with her enchanting beauty and grace, I still believe that a modern-day version that encapsulates much of the era of the Delhi sultanate with its tehzeeb, gustaakhi, shaan aur shaukat, intehaan and mohabbat is worth a dekko just to reinstate a timeless sense of lost love in a flitting generation with its equally fickle sense of relationships.

Game of Adulation

It has been a year of mixed reactions for the ever-increasing GOT fandom. While new entrants to the madness that is the series are trying to get past the awe and speculation of how things are and how things will be, sworn loyalists of the most watched show on television all over the world are crying foul. Indeed, the way this famous fantasy tale has built its fan following over the past seven years is worth a case study in itself. What has been similarly baffling is the copious amount of conversation and opinion generated over each episode, series and character. Such is the intrigue borne out of the televised version of George R R Martin’s original eponymous book and subsequent volumes in the series of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, that it has made people want to dig deeper in to the hows, whats and whys of each move on the engaging drama. It has also spurred an entire generation of English entertainment viewers to criticise, nag, squabble, grumble and flounder over the nitty-gritties of each plot device, cryptic dialogue and cliffhanger endings.  Such is the craze over this epic adventure with millions glued to their screens no matter where they are and what nationality they belong to, that people get in to complete battle mode in order to argue over the importance of each character and why he or she or it should have got more airtime or space to evolve. Endless articles and blogs have already covered why Jon’s loyal pet direwolf Ghost should have at least had some presence against the sweeping influence of the dragons in every episode in this season. Apart from the usual banter around possibly deleted scenes and questionable jumps in time sequencing, I even found an article that analysed every final shot across the series to understand how it was used to lure the viewers in to waiting for the next season/episode with bated breath. People with any sense of music are busy trying to get a hold on the signature theme of the show while others are buying memorabilia like tees proudly declaring ‘Khaleesi’, I am a Lannister, Hear me Roar’ and ‘Winter is Coming’. And of course, piracy levels have been at an all time high with script secrets to episode leaks breaking the internet, recording new highs with every season.

So coming back to the latest season that wrapped up as abruptly as the monsoons in Delhi, the makers would have already surmised that eyebrows would be raised over the hurried way in which everything sort of leads towards the culmination of Season 7. Everyone knew this year was going to be the prelude to an imminent war, building the atmosphere for an inevitable face off between the Living and the Undead in the final season. However, narrative loopholes, irregular plot sequencing and sudden omissions have left fans disappointed no doubt. To say so much in so very little, precisely seven episodes after spending so much time interweaving plots, subplots and suspenseful repartee is indeed a tad unjust on viewers who are literally hanging on to every televised moment. What has worked for GOT besides the scale and spectacle that it offers, is that it has the power to make you root for characters no matter their questionable morals, unyielding attitudes and grey personas, so much so that you flinch even if a potentially minor character to the main plot, like Sandor Clegane or Tormund might be in harm’s way. How many of us were rooting for Gendry (amiss for most of the seasons and strangely reappearing in this one) while he made a rather unrealistic run for Castle Black with his SOS for Daenerys to rescue the stranded participants of Jon’s ‘wight’ expedition on the wrong side of the wall?

It is also surprising how so much is left unsaid, between characters meeting after eons like siblings Sansa, Arya and Bran, or such little time spent on establishing newly forged love ties, like the one between Dany and Jon, a union that has been long awaited but that was merely got over with in the closing episode of this season. You could almost hear the poor actors mutter, ‘Ah, let’s just get on and be done with it already’ under their breath in that crucial lovemaking scene. Considering there are a lot many characters left standing who we thought will get washed away in the furor of impending war and ominous hatred, Theon and Yara Greyjoy, Brienne of Tarth and The Mountain are still breathing which means there are more exciting revelations for them next season.

To cut short a long tale, what is the audience eagerly waiting for as we reluctantly move towards the great ending of a mighty battle and a game that has kept our attention rivetted for these many years like no other show before? Here are a few of my own speculations:

    Will we see Sansa remain Lady of Winterfell? Will she finally meet her match in a handsome knight or lord or prince who will sweep her off her feet and make a worthy suitor for the twice-married daughter of Eddard Stark?

       Will Arya return to Braavos or will she become a knight herself, sworn protector to the Seven Kingdoms much like Brienne of Tarth has been to the Stark girls, only less than half her size?

          Does Bran get his legs back, does he marry Meera Reed or simply gets rooted to the Godswood in Winterfell, serving as omniscient seer to generations after?

       Everyone knows Cersei must die for all the misdeeds she hasn’t answered for including being responsible for her own husband and children’s death for so long. But who will do the deed? And how will her defenses collapse? After all, it is not a question of belling the cat, but slaying a lioness who refuses to bend or break even in the face of stiff opposition from her own beloved brother Jaime.

            Jaime, who we have grown to love and pity both from the immense distaste we developed for him since Episode one when he pushed poor Bran off the tower is finally at his wit’s end when it comes to his sister. Will he swing to the other side now that he is declared traitor already by Cersei or will he become a banished outlaw, ready to strike Dany’s side, only to make a last-ditch effort to prove his loyalties to the Queen of his kingdom and his heart? In any case, a death on the battlefield at the hands of a worthy opponent is all we ask if die he must! 

        Ser Davos, Gendry, Ser Jorah Mormont, Bronn, Podrick, Varys, Melissandre, Missandei, the Commander of the Unsullied, Sandor Clegane, Gregor Clegane, Theon and Yara Greyjoy as well as Brienne of Tarth, they are all worthy of their own survival in this mammoth narrative. No matter who dies, the loss will be mourned deeply by fans who have bestowed much faith in these characters holding their own in many an episode till date.

        Tyrion Lannister, even more if any of you have followed the books happens to be singularly prominent not merely for his deformity but more because of his intelligence, wit, diplomacy, charm and genteel character in the face of all odds. We have been rooting for this Imp from Day One, hooting at all his humorous and sharp-edged comebacks and yet, how this character will finally stand, we know not.

8      Finally, Dany and Jon, who have emerged as the pivotal characters of the story, have set the stage for a spectacular dance between wolf and dragon, snow and fire and how these opposites will come together to usher the dawn of a new age remains to be seen. Will they emerge unscathed from the ravages of war, I dare not predict but the seven kingdoms will be watching on to see how these principal characters can mend barriers, cross fences and melt defenses to fight for what is good and to make us believe that ‘justice will prevail.’ Fans across the seven continents will be praying for their Kingdom (or reign in this context) to come and their will to be done, on earth as it is in Heaven and this we swear by the old Gods and the new!