A step in the right direction, but will it overcome prejudice and fundamentalist propaganda?
The first time I came across “The Empire” was on Twitter, when I was made aware of the #BanTheEmpire hashtag. At first, I was confused, because I knew that the British empire had ceased to exist decades ago, and the only other empire extent would have been the US and its perceived hegemony over the western world. But then I read the tweets connected to the hashtag and came across the trailer for the show and thought I should check it out. I watched the trailer and was intrigued by what I saw but was not surprised by the outrage that was being displayed in some of the comments. It isn’t the first time that the right-wing fundamentalists of the Hindutva brigade have attacked an entertainment entity for trivial reasons without giving it a chance based on erroneous preconceived notions and prejudice. I have already talked about the similar outcry that went up when Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Padmaavat’ was released a few years ago to much commotion based on false allegations and an overflow of zealotry. In that instance we saw how Bhansali’s attempts at making a film that glorified the Rajputs and denigrate the Delhi Sultanate backfired when his intended audience turned out to be far too gullible to rumours propagated by some divisive elements, even though their precious but fictional heroine was being celebrated in the film and the sultan Alauddin Khalji was turned into an almost comical villain equal to the ones seen in 90s Disney animated films. So it wasn’t surprising to me that there wass a similar outpouring of misguided malice aimed at this new yet unreleased TV show which seemed to be showing the lives of the Mughal emperors who ruled over much of the Indian subcontinent in the sixteenth to eighteenth century
Recently, particularly since the second Modi regime, there has been a consistent attempt by certain segments of the Hindutva camp to re-brand the Mughals as evil tyrants akin to or even worse than the British colonialists, which is far from historical truth. While there is no denying the fact that the Mughal empire began as a conquest of the Indo-Gangetic plains by Babur of the Moghuls, the dynasty he established and secured by Akbar was one of the most culturally, economically and politically significant ages in the history of the subcontinent, bringing it back to being a cosmopolitan empire that was on par with or even better than the contemporaneous Safavids of Persia, Ottomans of Turkey or Tudors of England. Any reasonably well-researched history of the period would show how significant, multicultural and beneficial the empire was to the subcontinent, and how different they are from the murderous tribal barbarians that the Hindutva brigade would have one believe them to be. It is easy to speak in binaries of black and white when talking about Evil Moghuls and Angelic Rajputs (or other hindu kings) of the period as per their school of thought, but any student of history would know that things are far different, based on extensive documentation and study that has taken place about the subcontinent. The historical revisionism shown by the Modi administration should not be accepted by scholars and the public blindly, and it is this revisionism that is the wind beneath the wings of the right-wing fundamentalists who have been devoting their time to call for the ban of a TV show simply because it doesn’t ally itself with their biased, narrow-minded and factually erroneous agenda.
I wanted to give the show a chance, because I am a huge fan of history, especially the history of the subcontinent under the three great empires that unified most of the subcontinent in the near five millennia of its history; the Mauryas, the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals. I have always decried the lack of quality TV shows, documentaries and movies that deal with the very many great dynasties, kingdoms and cultures of the subcontinent in the same vein as the shows and movies about the Tudors, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt etc. Even the epics like the Odyssey and the Illiad, Norse mythology, Beowulf etc. have also received countless cinematic ventures of great quality while the rich and varied stories that could be tackled from the subcontinent, be it the Ramayanam, Mahabharatam, the Puranams, the power struggles of the Delhi Sultanates, the reign of Asoka, the conflicts of the Deccan Sultanates and Vijayanagara, the many complex characters like Karna, Razia Sultan, Dara Shukoh, Krishna Devaraya, the two rival queens of the Travancore royal family etc. have yet to receive the attention of serious and artful presentations in the world of entertainment to that same degree. Of course, euro-centrism is a great factor, while Indian television has its limitations. So, it was heartening to see one of the most influential and consequential dynasties of the Indian subcontinent being tackled by a major production, with all the resources that could be tapped to bring it to fruition. I tempered my hope, because the track record for historical fiction and historical dramas in the world of entertainment in India was wildly inconsistent, with such gems as Mughal-E-Azam and Jodha Akbar to such melodramatic fair as Padmaavat, Chandra Nandini and Kalank. The trailer for the show promised grand spectacle and melodrama as well, so I was reasonably hopeful but at once trepidatious.
The show “The Empire” is based on the Empire of the Moghuls series by Alex Rutherford, consisting of six books of historical fiction that details the reign of each of the greatest of emperors in the Mughal dynasty starting with Babur and concluding with the controversial Aurangzeb. Each of these sultans had tremendously interesting reigns, with court intrigues, conquests, battles, defeats, exiles, reversals of fortunes and such that would fill any number of pages of the history books and are ripe for adaptation into a television series. The show is being streamed on Disney+Hotstar, the premiere OTT streaming platform for domestic content in India and was created by Nikkhil Advani after being approached by Star India with the idea for the show. All the episodes were directed by Mitakshara Kumar, who has credits working with Bhansali as an associate director for his Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat and she’s also credited with the screenplay along with Bhavani Iyer.
The principal cast includes Kunal Kapoor in the role of Babur, Dino Morea as Shaybani Khan, Shabana Azmi as Aisan Daulat Begum, Drashti Dhami as Khanzada Begum and Rahul Dev as Wazir Khan, supported by a host of lesser-known character actors and newcomers.
The show begins in Farghana on the eve of Shaybani’s attack on the city and goes on to detail the trajectory of Babur’s tumultuous years campaigning in present-day Afghanistan and Uzbekistan trying to hold on to his ancestral lands, Samarkhand and Kabul while battling constant upheavals in his personal life and royal career in search of a home to settle down in, which finally leads him to Hindustan, at the time held by the Lodi dynasty of Delhi. Being an adaptation of a historical fiction, the narrative is far from accurate in relation to historical elements , but highlights dramatizations and upscaling rather than approaching it with slavish dedication to historical facts, which isn’t that different from every other historical show or film that we could consider. Events are changed, added and eliminated willy-nilly, characters are added when needed for dramatic effect and taken out when not serving the primary story-line. Historical events are also treated with similar casualness, which while increasing the dramatic effect of the narrative, sometimes can come across as unnecessarily pandering to the lowest common denominators in the audience.
The creators of the show are clearly attempting to create an enthralling, sprawling and complex canvass that is aimed at entertaining rather than educating, at best hoping to incite interest in the viewers in catching up on actual historical documents or books after watching the show. It also has the unenviable task of reconciling the two kinds of television experiences that modern Indian populace can be divided into; the older and more rural audience that enjoys the daily soaps and reality shows that flood the market, drenched in melodrama, camp and extended, over-complicated and sometimes absurd story-lines that can have big dollops of cheese over it depending on the market and theme of the show. This also includes the successful shows of the recent past that have dealt with history and myth in the Indian television scene, including Chandra Nandini (which detailed the extremely fictionalized history of the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya), Mahabharat (which serialized the epic to make it even more ridiculously over-the-top and melodramatic, stretching out Draupadi’s disrobing over several episodes), Mahakali etc. that combined historical and myth television with daily soaps to great effect. The second group includes people, particularly among the semi-urban and urban youth, who spend their hours streaming prestige Hollywood series or K-dramas and animes with complex yet streamlined story-lines that have five to twelve episodes a year and benefit from all the trappings of an international production, be it eastern or western in origin. The attempts to meet the needs of both these audience types can be seen in The Empire, with extravagant production values and the short eight-episode seasonal format, the narrative streamlining and restraint in cheesiness, while also allowing moments of melodrama, semi-poetic dialogues and a distinctly Indian flavour in dramatization. While it is not always successful in this regard, tending towards more Indian tastes towards the tail end of the season, the attempt is quite admirable. The creators of the show must be commended on taking the huge risk on investing in such a challenging and extravagant property without an established audience and a possibility of backlash from the Hindu fanatics (as has happened).
One of the first things that was talked about when the series was announced was a comparison to Game of Thrones, with many describing it as an answer to the aforementioned show. I think that is rather discourteous to the efforts of the team that has crafted The Empire, as this show neither aims for such, and cannot rival the massive budgets or textual backing that GoT had at its disposal. Game of Thrones was extravagantly produced even for an American television program, so comparisons with that show and The Empire are discombobulating and unnecessary, and disrespectful at the least. While clearly influenced by the scale and scope of that show, this one clearly operates in a paradigm all to itself, as it is incomparable to most if not all the contemporary Indian television programs in terms of scale, scope and ambition while comparable in the quality of production to shows on the BBC, CW or Syfy networks, like Sherlock, The Flash, Doctor Who etc. But it must be noted that The Empire is a great leap forward for an Indian production in terms of the aesthetics and scale and is comparable to Baahubali or Padmaavat in many ways but also surpassing them in some others.
The acting calibre on display varies wildly between the personnel employed, with some outshining the others with such ease that it sometimes feels like they are operating in two different shows. The standouts in my opinion are Shabana Azmi, who steals every scene she is in with such effortlessness, displaying gravitas and heft in the character of the Machiavellian Shah Begum. Powerful women pulling strings behind the screens was a fascinating theme across the Mughal dynasty, with many of them rising to positions of great power and prestige with unequalled authority and autonomy in matters of state, economics and culture, and the introduction to this tradition that leads to such women as Maham Anga, Nur Jahan, Mumtaz Mahal and Jahanara is with the character of the Shah Begum, and Azmi makes a meal out of it. Her status as one of the greatest actors in the Hindi language is on full display here, and I personally could have used more of her in the show. Dino Morea, whom I had regrettably dismissed as a poor-man’s Ranvir Singh as Alauddin Khalji when the trailer premiered, gives his best performance to date, giving the character of Shaybani Khan dimensions that I hadn’t expected from him or the show. It’s a thoroughly well-inhabited performance, and much appreciation must be given to Morea’s skills as an actor. Drashti Dhami, who I am told is a fan-favourite in the Hindi daily-soap arena, shines as the indomitable Khanzada Begum, even though the show does struggle to find enough material for her to display her skills as a versatile actress. She has that Deepika Padukone quality of expressing any emotion with an artfully welling eye, a tear constantly ready to fall from the corner. Kunal Kapoor as Babur also delivers a solidly consistent performance, though he doesn’t have the same presence onscreen as Morea or Azmi. The character of Babur is portrayed as a complicated man, torn between his duties toward his realm, his people, his legacy and his family and Kapoor does an admirable job with the material. Babur was a unique figure in his time, being the only member of his family to successfully retain a kingdom in opposition to Shaybani until he was defeated and killed by Shah Ismail of Persia, being at the mercy of fate in the constant state of exile and reconquest while also writing his memoirs that give a vibrant picture of his own mind and the world he inhabited. Rahul Dev also gives a brilliant performance as the stalwart Wazir Khan, Babur’s second in command. A special mention must also be made of young Mehroos Mir as Babur in his youth, as he delivers a most naturalistic and easy performance that comes across less as acting and more as inhabiting the skin of the character he is portraying. Younger actors have a tendency for unintentional cheesiness and over-eagerness, but Mir manages to display a sense of ease and charm that feels extraordinarily effortless and helps the viewer understand the naivete and steely determination of the young Babur better. Sadly, not every actor onscreen manages to deliver stellar performances, with some in the cast coming across as paper-thin and cartoonishly flat, especially the two indistinguishably bland “other women” who plot to steal the thrones from Babur and later Humayun. I was also underwhelmed by Imaad Shah as Qasim, the ordinary boy who falls in love with Babur and is instrumental to his cause. While the character is fictional, Babur himself has written about an infatuation he had as a youth with another youth named Babri in his famous Baburnama. The show, of course makes Qasim’s love one-sided in order to make Babur appear more acceptable to the heterosexuals. Imaad Shah’s performance comes across more un-invested and regretful rather than detached or naturalistic, and that is a great detriment to the audience’s interest in the narrative thread woven between the characters.
The greatest asset of the show is the exquisite production design, sets and costuming. More than ever before, the garments and the environment sell the opulence and atmosphere of the period, and it doesn’t come across as cheap or artificial even in the 4K resolution the show is broadcast in, which is a great achievement not many shows produced in India can boast. The cinematography makes excellent use of the production and set design, showing off the amazing work done by the technicians involved in the production. Shot composition has been marvellous as well, making quite a few moments feel like artwork that can be framed for their beauty and grandeur. Regardless of one’s personal sentiment towards the story or the actors or the Mughals, the quality and nature of the work done by the technical staff must be applauded and appreciated. This is the level of quality and detail that I was hoping for but not expecting from the show. Dare I say it surpasses even Jodha Akbar, Padmaavat and Chandra Nandini in these regards, managing to at once seem grandiose and grounded the way the others didn’t quite manage. While the set design and costumes are top tier across the board, the same unfortunately cannot be said about the digital work, especially of the sweeping shots of the battlefield, fortresses and such that have been attempted for the show. While most of these are extremely well done, even surpassing such shows as American Horror Story or Riverdale, other shots just look unfinished and taken from video-games, which is still miles ahead of similar shots from other Indian shows and movies to be fair. It shows that at least the vision is there even if the execution wasn’t in all cases. Here’s hoping that the show gets greenlit for future seasons and gets a higher budget to focus on these minor flaws that can be fixed. Another flaw that needs to be given more attention is the editing. There are many instances of shoddy editing not doing the scene justice, particularly earlier in the season with the sword-fights and action scenes.
Overall, I must say that the show was a pleasant surprise, much better than I had any right to hope especially with the technical aspects. It’s definitely a leap in the right direction. The show exists in a no-man’s land between traditional Indian television tropes and more modern western television perspectives, so a re-calibration of one’s expectations in needed when going on to watch the show. While the narrative could have been a little bit tighter (six episodes instead of eight), and some of the character motivations and relations could have been explored a little bit better, the show didn’t bore me at any moment, and I did not feel cringey at the things happening on screen, which is a great compliment I couldn’t even give to Baahubali (using the palm-trees as a trebuchet for the cannon-ball of soldiers linked with armour around them comes to mind). There are areas that can be improved, and some great moments of surprise and awe that any good show on TV must provide to its audience. I definitely hope that the showrunners are able to carry on producing the show and expanding the world of the Moghuls and explore the reigns of the future Mughal emperors (I personally am very much intrigued by the lives of Jahangir and Nur Jahan, and the power struggle between Dara Shukoh and Jahanara against Aurangzeb and Roshanara), but if that doesn’t come to fruition because of the actions of the sanghis and other fundamentalists, then at least we will have this example of excellent showmanship that India is capable of producing given the right tools and source material. Who knows, maybe in an alternate universe the Hindutva brigade doesn’t affect the reception and reviews of this show and we het more such well-crafted, finely produced and international quality material instead of another soap opera with the inane family drama of a rich North Indian family that has absolutely no connection to reality or the millions of people that reside beyond the sphere of the Hindi belt and its myopic idea of India.
Scribbles of Arjun 