Nikkhil Advani made his foray into television with 2016 series POW: Bandi Yuddh Ke, which garnered immense praise from the audience and critics alike. Now the filmmaker is all set to helm a web-series, tentatively titled Moghuls, a screen adaptation of Alex Rutherford’s six-volume historical fiction novel, Empire of the Moghul. Now as per a report in a leading daily, the show will feature an ensemble cast including Ronit Roy, Shabana Azmi and Dia Mirza and it went on floors last week in Jaipur.
Just like the novel, the show will begin with Babur's journey and will end with the reign of Aurangzeb. While Ronit will be seen playing the role of Babur, Shabana will essay the role of his grandmother, Esan Daulat, and Dia Mirza will feature as his sister, Khanzada. The screenplay of the show is written by Bhavani Iyer and Kausar Munir has penned the dialogues.
Confirming the news, Nikkhil informed the daily, "I have always been fascinated by the Moghul era, its politics and the lives of the emperors, so when the channel came to me with the adaptation rights to the book, I was happy to come on board. The first season will revolve around Babur, his obsession with the city of Samarkand and his rule in Kabul before he came to Hindustan."
After Jaipur, the team has now moved to Karjat for two weeks, after which the show will resume in February next year. While Dia claimed to be "extremely excited" to be a part of the historical, Shabana described her character as a "feisty lady" who crowned Babur as King after his father Umar Shaikh died in an accident.
Ronit, on the other hand, cannot help but praise Nikkhil for the project. Talking about it, he revealed to the daily, "Whenever I start working on a new project, what matters most is the energy of the person who has cast me. Nikkhil and I are like brothers, I’ve known about this project since its inception and had said ‘yes’ to it long ago."
Well, with such a stellar cast, we cannot help but wait for the show to air soon.
