Making 'Mughal-e-Azam': The grand musical returns to Delhi for the last time

New Delhi: Three days before the opening of Mughal-e-Azam in October 2016 at Mumbai’s NCPA, its director Feroz Abbas Khan was close to a nervous breakdown. Khan saw the upcoming show as his life's biggest disaster and cursed himself for taking up something that is “impossible”.

Almost nine years later, the show, based on K Asif’s magnum opus starring Dilip Kumar and Madhubala, has touched more than 300 performances. And counting.

The musical, celebrated as one of the most extravagant in the history of Indian theatre, has been to eight countries and is now in Delhi for what is possibly the last time.

“I experience this nervousness every time I do a show… that trauma continues to haunt me. I almost had a nervous breakdown because nothing was working, everything was going wrong. I sat and I said ‘why did I do this, I didn’t have to do this. Why did I take up something like this which is an impossible thing’,” Khan told PTI.

The show features more than 550 exquisite costumes designed by Manish Malhotra, breathtaking sets by the likes of Neil Patel and David Lander, casting of over 150 artistes by Mukesh Chhabra, stunning Kathak choreography by Mayuri Upadhya and music by Piyush Kanojia.

Looking back, Khan said he didn’t think it would run more than 50 shows. And look where it is now.

“It feels like we have just been doing it for a few days. I never thought this would run. The most we thought it would run may be 40-50 shows, recover some of the money and otherwise we would be losing money. We knew that this was never going to be a venture that is remotely going to make money,” he added.

Khan was clear from the get go that it would not replicate the 1960 film, considered a cult classic.

“Classics are something that you don’t tamper with, we have taken a classic and brought it into a different medium, so it’s a transition from one medium to the other. I was very clear that I am not here to do anything but to take that legacy into a different medium,” the 66-year-old said.

The actors were told not to imitate the originals in acting and dialogues, as to not tamper with the precious memories that audiences have carried for three generations.

“It is a homage, a respect that we are giving to the original. We are not trying to come up and say, ‘look I am going to turn around everything completely and do my version of it’,” Khan said.

The play, produced by Deepesh Salgia of Shapoorji Pallonji group, features Nissar Khan as Akbar and Shahab Ali as Salim, the roles enacted by Prithviraj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, respectively, in the film.

The musical features 12 compositions from the original film, including the unforgettable qawwali "Teri Mehfil Mein Qismat", the elegant "Mohe Panghat Pe" and the song of defiant love "Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya".

Priyanka Barve, Neha Sargam and Kirti Killedar, who are also classically trained singers, helm the character of Anarkali on a rotation basis and are required to sing live on stage.

Barve said they had to rigorously rehearse for three months before the first show. The training included yoga sessions, diction coaching, dance lessons, and song practice. “We did a lot of work. We are talking about 'Mughal-e-Azam', not just any other film. It has a legacy and that is a responsibility. And on top of that to play a role that was played by Madhubala and sing songs that were sung by Lata ji,” Barve said.

The actor-singer has been playing the role of Anarkali since its inception in 2016. ”I had not seen the film, and he was really surprised at first that how come my Anarkali hasn’t watched 'Mughal-e-Azam'. Then he asked me ‘don’t watch the film because I don’t want you to imitate Madhubala ji’,” the 34-year-old said.

Ali, who has graduated from the National School of Drama, admitted that the role has posed its challenges, one of the foremost being able to match the calibre of Dilip Kumar in portrayal of Salim.

“This stage is grand and to perform here, and to achieve that conviction and truth to perform here has taken a long time. After seven years I am at a point where things are a little easier but it still requires just as much concentration and effort,” “The Family Man” actor said.

“I was glad to find out that Feroz sir did not want anything that was in the film. He wanted the truth of the character. And as an actor you look for that kind of a role,” the 36-year-old said.

One of the biggest challenges that the production has faced is uprooting the elaborate sets, and setting up the complex system of sounds and light after each season, moving to another city or another country and then erecting it all again. This is more difficult in Delhi that lacks a theatre to accommodate a play of this scale.

“When you go to a theatre, you assume that certain things are available, you go and you perform. Here we have nothing, we have to start from scratch, it’s an empty shell and we have to create the entire technology and mechanism and the entire infrastructure and that takes a lot,” Khan said.

In Delhi, the performance is held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium’s weightlifting auditorium.

During the production’s tour of 14 cities in the US, the team moved between theatres that were well-equipped to stage musicals. “The technology was there, the infrastructure was there. We just got all our equipment, our people and we put it, so it was more like a touring production,” Khan said.

The play will be staged in Delhi till February 23. The tickets range from Rs 1,000 to Rs 15,000.