Mumbai: Aditya Birla’s Applause Entertainment and Contiloe Pictures partnered together to produce a period drama on the rise and fall of the Mughal Empire covering three centuries.
The shooting for the series titled, Taj – A Monument of Blood, with the story to be told over five seasons each comprising 12 episodes, is set to commence shortly.
Starting and ending with the birth and death of emperor Shahjahan (1592-1666), the television opus explores Mongol origins, the mixing of bloodlines by Persian and Rajput royalty, court intrigues, the repeated violent purging of aspirants to the throne, regional kings and, amid it all, the arrival of the British and Portuguese.
“I am a big fan of revisionist narratives of history. Our history books have been written by victors and often paint very two-dimensional pictures about past empires,” said Sameer Nair, CEO, Applause Entertainment.
“When Abhimanyu and I first discussed this idea, we immediately moved away from a typical historical to a darker and edgier version of the Mughal Empire, a version in which symbolically the Taj is more a monument of blood than a monument of love.”
Agra’s marble mausoleum the TajMahal is the most famous symbol of the Mughal Empire (1521-1857), which ruled India for just over three centuries. At its zenith, the empire’s geographic boundaries extended from Bengal in the east to modern-day Afghanistan in the northwest, and from Kashmir in the north to modern-day Andhra in the south.
Contiloe Pictures CEO Abhimanyu Singh added: “Sameer Nair’s industry experience and deep-seated understanding of the content space has always shown through in every endeavour he has undertaken.
“We are thrilled to have associated with Applause Entertainment for this show. It will take viewers on a historic journey showing them an unseen perspective of this illustrious dynasty which leads to their rise as the greatest empire in medieval times and the quest for power, within it, that finally lead to its downfall.”
Sameer Nair joined Applause Entertainment a year ago to reinvigorate Applause and make content for converging telecom operators and digital platforms such as Netflix, Amazon and Hotstar.
