How 'Mughal-e-Azam' recreated history for theatre-goers of Mumbai

Mumbai: 'Mughal-e-Azam' --a historical epic film starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Madhubala, which had created history in Bollywood nearly 57 years ago -- has been recreated as a musical drama and it is now drawing a record number of the theatre-goers in the city.

In what is clearly a first-of-its-kind, the iconic theatrical 'Mughal-e-Azam' musical has been attracting the theatre audience.Incidentally, this has been happening at a time when major films have been hit by the demonetisation fallout at the box office, with the play earning tremendous praise from audiences and critics alike.

Shapoorji Pallonji, the company that was the original producer of the film in 1960 and its colour version in 2004, has produced the musical jointly with National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA).Audiences were first wowed by the Salim-Anarkali saga when it was premiered in October last year at the NCPA.

'In my years as a theatre director, I haven’t seen such a response to a stage production.
I am humbled by the love and appreciation for Mughal-e-Azam,' said the play's director Feroz Abbas Khan.'There were apprehensions about ticket sales after demonetisation, but the quality of our production seems to have ensured full houses,' added Shapoorji Pallonji’s Deepesh Salgia.
'Mughal-e-Azam has managed to create a new breed of theatre goers that has been exposed to the magic of a stage production, and will hopefully stay hooked.

I think this kind of craze for a play has rarely been seen before,' added Deepa Gahlot, NCPA's head of Theatre & Film Programming.The Broadway-style musical has been enthralling audiences with live singing and performance of all Mughal-e-Azam tracks, which have been choreographed by Mayuri Upadhya and music for the play is given by Piyush Kanojia.

Fashion designer Manish Malhotra has designed the Mughal-era costumes for the play.
Tony award nominee lighting designer David Lander, Emmy award nominee projection designer John Narun, Obie winner and scenic designer Neil Patel and sound designer Richard Nowel are all part of this prestigious project.Nissar Khan, Priyanka Barve and Sunilkumar Palwal are seen in the roles of Akbar, Anarkali and Saleem respectively.This everlasting love story of Mughal prince Salim and Anarkali will be shown till January 15 at NCPA theatre.The show had started from January 5.(UNI)