.png)
Mughal-e-Azam: The Musical: A paean to the syncretic culture
As “Mughal-e-Azam: The Musical” returns to Delhi, seasoned theatre director Feroz Abbas Khan talks about the inclusive nature of the classic, and the looming threat of self-censorship in creative domain.
an At a time when a section of society is getting offended even by imagined history, Feroz Abbas Khan is back in Delhi with his magnum opus, “Mughal-e-Azam: The Musical”. An adaptation of K.Asif’s timeless tale about Mughal emperor Akbar who becomes a villain in the love story of his son Salim and courtesan Anarkali, the story continues to draw audience across generations. Like “Padmaavat”, “Mughal-e-Azam” also has historical characters woven into a fictional narrative. Khan says sometimes the line between history and hysteria gets blurred. Citing the example of Akira Kurosawa’s “Rashomon”, Khan remarks,
“When truth could have five dimensions, imagine how many dimensions can history have. People become emotionally attached to certain figures. It almost becomes like I will decide what my daughter will wear. But once a constitutional body has decided, everybody should accept. Contesting ideas should be welcomed but all protests should stop short of violence. The maryada of debate has to be maintained.” Referring to continued protests against “Padmaavat”, Khan says, “See, politics narrows the idea of imagination and a shrill voice is not always the right or majority voice. There were shrill voices earlier as well, but now they get amplified. All governments have pandered to these voices. And when everybody is a beneficiary of violence, nobody wants to find a solution.”
2025 schedule coming out soon!
Drop your email id to get notification