And they make history come alive…

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‘Great Empires are not maintained by timidity’

— Tacitus, Roman historian amp; politician

Just like creating a great empire, retelling of a story about a great empire needs courage and confidence. Disney+ Hotstar’s upcoming web series The Empire marks the directorial debut of Mitakshara Kumar, who has worked as an associate director for Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat. The series also offers a stellar star cast that includes Kunal Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Drashti Dhami, Dino Morea, Aditya Seal, Sahher Bambba and Rahul Dev in prominent roles.

It’s not fiction

Titled The Empire, not the emperor, even though it is the story of Zahir ud-Din Muhammad aka Babur, portrayed by Kunal Kapoor, who was12-year-old when he ascended to the throne of Ferghana. It is a story that has strong female characters.

With veteran actor Shabana Azmi reprising the role of Aisan Daulat Begum, Drashti Dhami as Khanzada, Babur’s sister and a young warrior princess, and Sahher Bambba as Maham Begum, it is projected to be, ‘the biggest show ever created in India’.

On being called, India’s answer to Game of Thrones, director Mitakshara says, “I would humbly accept this as a compliment. But honestly, I don’t know on what grounds the comparisons are made. To my knowledge, Game of Thrones is a fictional story whereas The Empire follows the true accounts of history. “

Different strokes

Adapted from the first volume, Raiders from the North, of Alex Rutherford’s novel series, Empire of the Moghul, creator Nikkhil Advani calls it to be an honest attempt to justify the epic novel and the fan following it has in and around the world. He says, “The platform has given us an opportunity to push the envelope.”

As far as the direction goes, Kunal highlights the difference on the sets on days when Nikkhil or Mitakshara is leading. “Nikkhil comes across as someone who has got your back. At the same time, it is like gorilla warfare with all that noise and chaos and he actually thrives on it. But with Mitakshara it is quite the opposite, it feels like we are collectively doing Vipassana meditation.”

Powerful female voice

Shabana adds, “That’s how a man and woman are different in terms of functioning. Men like to operate on a big canvas whereas women pay attention to the details.”

Drashti, who is excited for her digital debut, sums up her experience to be a thrilling one as she is sharing screen space with a legend like Shabana. Whereas Shabana’s love for the Urdu language and her desire to play a powerful female character in a period drama made her say yes to The Empire.

Lending her wisdom on acting, Shabana says, “For me the challenging part was to hold on to an emotion in an effort to deliver powerful dialogues which are often lost when the character is this big and impactful. Many a time, we try to bring that baritone voice for historical characters even if it is not required. Honestly, we don’t have many instances to draw from when it comes to dialogue delivery. Getting a free hand to approach my role is what I am thankful to my director. I was happy to be given the choice to make those choices.”

Approaching the war front

Aditya Seal, who plays Humayun, son of Babur, says his approach towards the role was pretty simple. “Since I am shown pretty young in the series, so, I preferred to go with a child’s mind.”

Still in the costume of his character, Muhammad Shaybani, at the press conference, actor Dino Moreasays he created a playlist that helped his mind foray into that zone of a fight scene. “Also, I draw some parallel to an animal energy for my role. While Mitakshara imagined Shaybani to be a lion, I was convinced it was like a panther. I had to be stealthy, agile, fast and menacing. So, to prepare for my role, I had watched a lot of National Geographic channel.”

Kunal didn’t watch any period film to become Babur. He says, “I rather wanted to understand the psyche of the person. I read the book multiple times and then I had the incredible script which was much detailed.”

Watch out for the khatoons (ladies) of The Empire on August 27.