Mughal-E-Azam [unplugged]

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By Viren Mayani

Mughal-E-Azam: Immortalized by Bollywood’s mega film ever made; the chronicled love story is now on stage, traversing triumphantly through the US.

The charismatic Mughal-E-Azam; the Emperor of the Mughals - Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, is known in history to have celebrated the performing arts and skill-based education. The movie "Mughal-E-Azam" made to denote his cognizant rule, is also the most expensive Bollywood movie [inflation adjusted] ever made. It was first conceived and conceptualized in 1944, by producer / director K. Asif, but was only released in 1960 after a series of setbacks. Financially secured for final production, then, by India’s titanic business conglomerate Shapoorji Pallonji, who had no prior claim to Bollywood, is also responsible for the digital color conversion & re-release of the original film in 2004, and continuing now for it’s theatrical broadway debut in Mumbai, in 2016 via the artistic “CinemaOnStage” dance-drama company. Directed by Feroz Abbas Khan; just like the original film, it has swept several [7 of the 14 top Broadway] awards including: Best Play, Best Director, Best Costume Design, Best Choreography, Best Original Set Design, Best Original Lighting Design and Best Ensemble Cast.

The movie script is bereft of historical contradictions and complete of controversial relationships. It speaks of [Mughal King] Akbar's marriage with Jodhabai [a Rajput Hindu] and consequently the birth of their long awaited and heavily prayed for, son Salim, [later known as Emperor Jehangir]. Albeit indoctrinated to learn languages, math and religion; young Salim strayed away from the disciplined life and fell for alcohol, opium and girls. Banished, far away, to be trained as a warrior, and groomed to be a future King; handsome Prince Salim returns with the spoils of war and falls in love with a courtesan, also admired by his father; King Akbar, who awards her the entitlement of “Anarkali”; i.e. pomegranate blossom. The movie is based on Salim-Anarkali’s abortive love, denounced by his parents and, which contrastingly ends in their painful separation. The theatrical presentation remains stuck to the cinematic scheme.?

With Atlanta as its first presentation stop of its multi-city [currently 13 city] tour of the US; a subsection of the performers, especially the Kathak dancers, first performed at the Times Square in Manhattan, NY for a photo-bomb opportunity, which was overwhelmingly received. In Atlanta, the select venue was the acoustic Cobb Energy Center, which was reasonably packed. The cast and crew of more than 150 left no stone unturned to deliver an unbelievably profound sight-sound-music experience. The costumes created by the chic bollywood designer Manish Malhotra, added to the grandeur of the stage, further enhanced by gorgeous set-silhouettes by award winner Neil Patel, that were pulled-up and brought-down in rotations. The sidewalls of the Energy Center ran concurrent English translations of the spoken dialogues and live singing by the main characters, to make it easy to understand by the mainstream audience as well as non Hindi/Urdu speaking Diaspora members. The other well earned awards that highlighted the presentation included: the unmistakably classic dance choreography by Mayuri Upadhyay, and the lighting design by David Lander. The entire, roughly two hour presentation was breathtakingly mesmerizing. Local Promoter Bhavna Anand was present in the audience and later honored on stage for her company’s involvement.

The show, which went live within 15 minutes of the announced start time, was exceptionally tight, in that there was not a single hiss in any of the microphones used, even during the live singing. The lightscapade directly impacted the mood of the emotion, during each part of the presentation, and the impeccable live singing simply topped it. Just like its start, the attendees were herded back into the auditorium on time and within fifteen minutes of the intermission. To get the audience to believe the live singing in the show - the two main characters [Anarkali & Bahaar] performed a live sound-check on stage with their voices, to prove their authenticity. It was that incredible! No speeches, no long audio credits to financers, and no extras of any sorts; the performance ended with all of the cast lining themselves promptly and in a very well rehearsed manner on stage, being grateful and accepting of the well deserved and long, standing ovation.?

Given a few minutes, before their rush back to help breakdown and prepare for the onward journey; I got to meet and speak with a couple key cast members. These are the excerpts from my conversations about the making of and backstage Mughal-E-Azam with: Dhanveer Singh [Salim], Pubali Sanyal [Jodhabai] and Neha Sargam [Anarkali].

Preparation: Salim: We started preparing for Mughal-E-Azam in 2016 and I've been involved with the show since the very first day. Before going Live on stage we had at least four months of rehearsals. If you ask me, even when we rehearse today, I find new nuances & meanings of this show, daily. Jodha: Since the initial months of rehearsals we have been traveling and performing for the past six / seven years, which shows contribute to our practices and the practices we do in-between the scheduled performances too. It's been a journey. We are on it and love it!

New environments: Jodha: The challenge and the fun of it, is to adapt to different stages around the world, get promptly acclimatized to its structure & logistics and get the most out of it for the show’s continued success. We are now adept at learning the environment on the fly. Anarkali: The Kathak dancers had flown to Times Square to perform a piece of the song “Pyaar Kiya to Darna Kya” for photo flash-mob and publicity. The people joined in, on the spur of the moment, and collectively danced to the song instantaneously. It was iconic for us.? Salim and Anarkali: The rest of us were here, as we had to get ready for the three Atlanta performances. We also had scheduled interviews with Fox news.?

Technicality: Anarkali: Six years of singing live on stage has got us to a point where we do not have sound feedback issues or hiss, since all has been tried and tested. Not to take credit away from the acoustics of this auditorium, which is brilliant in itself. It was a sheer pleasure performing here. Jodha: We have to credit the brilliant technicians too, the combined sound management team: the ones traveling with us and the staffers here, have done an amazing job. I am certain they have not had such a good bonding over any Indian production of this magnitude. Anarkali: After all we are human and with so many shows scheduled, there are bound to be days where we may not be so bright or the throat bothers, but we cannot let anything come across. Its curtains up - all the time.?

Logistics: Salim: These are extremely expensive costumes designed by Manish Malhotra that are refreshed daily during performances, and dry cleaned in between. One would wonder whether we may get that service, but people here are so detailed and they take extreme care of our apparel hygiene needs. Moreover when we see our Diaspora members in their finery, we feel like we are in India and not overseas. They are so pretty looking and welcoming. It bodes well to know that if they are wearing such rich ethnic garments, there ought to be servicing laundry agents. We feel assured to get ours done the same way. No worries.?

Legacy: Anarkali: I never once thought that the Diaspora audience would give me so much love outside of India, for my singing as well as my casting as Anarkali. It's overwhelming and a first of its kind experience for me. Jodha: [joins-in as well] Absolutely, albeit this is just the start - but I echo the sentiments of Anarkali. So much warmth shared; the fascination of Mughal-E-Azam survives beyond the years. The response we have already earned here, is ten times what we have garnered in India over the past several years. Salim: They said it all, but I would also like to add that we love the Atlanta weather, the food here is delicious and the hospitality, warm. Anarkali: We are representing our country and our inherent rich cultural heritage. We want to ensure that we make the Diaspora proud of our efforts and delivery.?