The makers of The Moghuls have now re-christened the series The Empire -- for reasons best known to them.
The historical webseries features Shabana Azmi, who plays Babar’s grandmother Esan Daulat, Kunal Kapoor as Babar, and Dino Morea as Shaybani Khan. Rahul Dev also plays a pivotal character.
The series to be streamed in August is based on the book Empire of the Moghuls by Alex Rutherford. It is being directed by Mitakshara Kumar who served as an assistant director to Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Bajirao Mastani and Onir in I Am. It has been in the making since 2018, and the first season is now finally complete.
Curiously, the entire cast and crew has been given a gag order by Disney-Hotstar who have acquired the exclusive streaming rights for The Empire (formerly The Moghuls).
One member of the team spoke on the condition of anonymity about the series: “I think we’ve all been sworn into secrecy considering the sensitive nature of the content. Delving into Moghul history at this time in India’s political history is not the most sensible thing to do. I think they decided to change the title for this very reason. I don’t think at the moment the country is in the mood to welcome a series on Mughal history.”
The team is hopeful that the strong content and the universal appeal of the presentation would override any preconceived prejudices the series may face.
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