Taj Is Downright Defamatory To The Mughals

Taj: Divided  By Blood(Zee5, 10 Episodes)

Rating: * ½

If I were a Mughal emperor—which unfortunately  I am  not—I would sue the makers  of this ten-tiered  tinsley  tormenting schlock  for defamation. The entire bauble-and-babble exercise is devoted to showing the Mughal invaders as a  bunch of  over-sexed, under-intellectualized despoilers  with nary a redeeming quality in their libidinous personality.

To make it worse, the  Mughals are  all  played by  a  bunch of certifiable hams, each trying to outdo the other in the  school  of freakonomics. Even the mighty Naseeruddin Shah joins in the  collective effort to  fry a epic hamlet(an omelette made  of  ham). His Akbar is  a blend of buffoon and  lecher.

His sons  are no better. Murad as played by Tanha Shah  scowls  so much I feared more for his  jowl than the Mughal sultanat.

“You  must exercise  some selfrestraint,” Murad is counseled  by  the wise ones  in theMughal court . These  wise ones , a pitiable minority,  include  Akbar’s wise counsellor  Birbal and the  evil and  cunning Wazir Abdul Fazal , played by  decent actors  Subodh Bhave and Pankaj Saraswat who struggle  to  infuse decorum into a  show that’s hellbent on shooting itself in its feet.

Not that there were guns during those  Mughal days, unless  you want to  find a  pun in the gun.

While  Murad scowls, Salim as played  by  Ashim  Gulati looks like Aditya Roy Kapoor on a bad-‘heir’ day. Suffice it to say he is  no Dilip Kumar. As for  poor Akbar’s third son Danial(Shubham Kumar Mishra, struggling to show  Daniyal’s struggles) ,he is  portrayed as  a traumatized queer struggling to come  out of the closet…or armour,if you please. As  Julie Andrews would ask, how do you solve  a problem like Daniel?

If  we are to be believe  writer Christopher Butera and screenwriters  William Borthwick and Simon  Fanatuzzo,  then  Emperor Akbar and his  son Salim used the lower part of their body  as their thinking tools. Rushing inebriated  into  harems of  squealing women(and sometimes men), these  pathetic specimens of  soldiership could barely stand  on  their  feet unsupported,  let alone fight those  epic battles that  we are told about, but seldom shown.

The women are  no better. Akbar’s three wives played by Zarina  Wahab, Sandhya Mridul  and Padma  Damodaran, plot  and plan over what likes  a never-ending shitty…sorry, kitty party. While Ms Damodaran  flares her nostrils and  curls her lips  to  show queenly vanity.Zarina Wahab maintains her peace in a passion-prey where everyone  strains hard to be heard. Sandhya Mridul  looks completely  lost as Jodhabai.

I hope Durga Khote  forgives Mridul. The same goes for those who have executed  this incapacitated  tribute to the spirit of  bacchanalia and debauchery. Not  to mention, incest: Akbar and  his son Salim are  both shown to be actively lusting after Anarkali.Mughal-e-awesome!

As for Aditi Rao Hyder’s Anarkali, Madhubala  must be  turning in her grave.