Directed by K Asif and produced by Shapoorji Pallonji, this stage adaptation of Mughal-e-Azam is a ground-breaking new musical and love letter to South Asian history and legend.
Our Bureau
Houston
The very first original Broadway-style musical ever written and produced in India will make a stop on its first North American tour to Houston’s very own Brown Theatre at the Wortham Center on 14th and 16th July. Based on the 1960 Bollywood film of the same name, directed by K Asif and produced by Shapoorji Pallonji, this stage adaptation of Mughal-e-Azam is a ground-breaking new musical and love letter to South Asian history and legend. The North American tour is presented by Bollywood Entertainment who have partnered with the Indo-American Association (IAA).
The original Indian production, which premiered in 2016, was also produced by Pallonji and directed by Feroz Abbas Khan to bring to life the spectacle and wonder of Deepesh Salgia’s creative vision for the show. The Asian production graced the stages of Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore, where it received rave reviews from audiences and critics alike.
This colorful production transports audiences back into the era of the Mughal Empire to tell a love story as familiar to Indians and their Eastern neighbors as Romeo & Juliet is to the West. The Quint referred to the show as “Indian theatre’s coming of age” which “succeed[s] in giving the audience its own […] set of timeless memories.” MEA’s North American tour beautifully brings to the Western World all the treasures, history, legends, and art of its Eastern counterpart.
In the era of the Mughals, Emperor Akbar’s desire of a son is fulfilled when his wife, Jodhabai, gives birth to Salim, who grows up to be a spoiled brat filled with disrespect and self-indulgence. Consequently, he’s sent off to war in Akbar’s army and returns as a reformed person with perseverance and discipline fourteen years later. Salim, now a young man, falls in love with Anarkali, a lowly courtesan. Bahar, a dancer who covets the love of the Prince, is filled with jealousy upon discovering the secret affair and exposes it to Akbar. The emperor, full of royal pride, vehemently disapproves of the relationship and imprisons Anarkali, which leads Salim to declare an open rebellion against him. The war between father and son changes the lives of everyone in the empire threatening the foundations of the Mughal rule in India.
The show’s dialogue and song lyrics are spoken and sang in the Urdu and Hindi languages – English subtitles will be displayed on LED screens at either side of the stage.
