You would think that if it’s a historical web series on Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad Babur, the first emperor of the Mughal dynasty in the Indian subcontinent, the battle scenes will be its mainstay. But that’s not so. Surprisingly, what makes the eight-part series The Empire interesting and engaging is the family drama. It’s actually the ladies in the drama that spans 36 years of Babur’s (Kunal Kapoor) 47-year life, which add more spice in the series. Till Babur gets married, his maternal grandmother, Esan Daulat (Shabana Azmi), is the major reckoning force in his life. In fact, as she reveals before dying, she was instrumental in Babur becoming king even while he was a kid. After their grandmother’s demise, Babur’s sister, Khanzada (Drashti Dhami), plays a key role in his life and in all his decisions. His two wives, Maham (Sahar Bamba) and Gulrukh (Toranj Kavyon), are the other two ladies who are shown to make his life more happy/complicated.
Bhavani Iyer adapts Alex Rutherford’s novels Empire Of The Moghul for the web series which is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. Bhavani Iyer and Mitakshara Kumar’s screenplay is not consistently engaging. While the duo does justice to the family drama, it seems to be at sea in the battle scenes. In fact, the war scenes look unconvincing, partly because each war is done with in a few minutes. The scale and the grandeur which one expects in the scenes of the battlefield are missing. Coming back to the screenplay, it could’ve definitely been tighter. Frankly, each episode ought to have been of 30 minutes’ duration. Mitakshara Kumar and A.M. Turaz’s dialogues are excellent at places but once again, not consistently so.
The series’ shooting started in February 2020 but had to be discontinued due to the lockdown announced a month later. It resumed in September 2020. Obviously, it was either completed before the second lockdown was announced in April 2021 or it had to be stopped midway once again, only to be resumed months later. Whatever the case, the shooting of the web series seems to have been rushed through.
In a series about Babur, one would expect the actor playing the Mughal king to impress the most. But although Kunal Kapoor does a decent job as Babur, his is not the best performance among the cast. Shabana Azmi dominates in the first two or three episodes. Special marks to her for her clear diction which stands out from among the entire cast. Dino Morea springs a pleasant surprise in the role of Shaibani Khan. Drashti Dhami’s is a dignified performance in the role of Khanzada. Rahul Dev performs well as Wazir Khan. Saher Bamba looks fetching as Maham and she also acts with utmost confidence. As Gulrukh, Toranj Kavyon looks very pretty and also acts with all the conviction at her command. Aditya Seal is very promising as Humayun. Imaad Shah is natural to the core and lives the character of Qasim. Karan Pandit is quite good as Kamran. Aayam Mehta leaves a fine mark as Aitbaar. Mehroos Mir is brilliant as young Babur. He looks very cute. Naved Aslam (as Qambar Ali), Charu Shankar (as Kutlugh), Gireesh Sahdev (as Baisanghar), Gracy Bitin Goswami (as young Khanzada), Rishabh Sawhney (as Mahmud), and Khalid Siddiqui (as Umar Shaikh) lend decent support. Kalliroi Tziafeta (as Roxanna) is very nice.
Mitakshara Kumar’s direction is quite good. Although the director has not been able to do full justice to the battle scenes, she has handled the family scenes with élan. Sahil Hada’s music and A.M. Turaz’s lyrics are alright. Kruti Mahesh’s choreography is okay. Background music (by Ashutosh Phatak) is of a fair standard. Nigam Bomzan’s cinematography is excellent. Mohd. Amin Khatib’s action and stunt scenes are suitably gruesome. Priya Suhas’ production designing and Vijay Ghodke’s art direction are lovely. The palaces in which, and the sets on which the series has been shot are eye-filling. Editing (by Atanu Mukherjee and Sagar Manik) is sharp.
All said, Nikhil Advani’s creation, The Empire, holds your attention in the last four episodes. If you can tolerate the first two episodes which are average, you will find the rest, especially the last four, worth your while. Lovers of history and historicals will, of course, like the web series more.