Even if NCERT has done away with the chapters on the Mughals, Vibhu Puri, who has directed Season 2 of Taj, is happy to tell a story which he feels is un-erasable
Sheetal
Taj-Reign of Revenge is currently streaming on Zee5 and its director Vibhu Puri talks about the period drama, its reception and everything in- between.
Talking to The Tribune brought back memories from childhood, when Puri used to cycle from Sector 32 to his school in Sector 8. He says, “While there’s a lot to remember about the city, from Sector 17 to Sukhna Lake, I cherish those memories of reading the bulletin board on the top of The Tribune building, which was a source to update oneself about election results during the time of polls and score for cricket matches during the cricket season. It used to be put manually with placards.”
The writer-director of Taj feels period dramas are best suited for long formats. He explains, “Long format does justice to every character in the play. For instance, Season 1 may look like the story of Akbar the emperor as we were setting the foundation of an empire for the viewers but Season 2 is about Akbar the father, Saleem the rebel, and as much about women characters such as Anarkali and Mehrunnisa. Also, viewers will witness a different side of the characters in the second part. There’s time leap of 15 years between the two seasons.”
As both seasons were shot simultaneously and Season 1, directed by Ronald Scalpello, was appreciated by the viewers, it was normal for him to feel nervous about Season 2. “But that didn’t dent my confidence. Ronald and I were shooting at the same time and were doing completely different things as both the seasons tell the story of the Mughal Empire from different timelines. However, going by the audiences’ reactions to the first season, I rewrote and re-directed a few scenes. Those scenes were not even in the original script. For instance, I wrote scenes about Anarkali (Aditi Rao Hydari) and Sheikh Salim Chisti (Dharmendra) as people want to see more of them.”
In times when the NCERT history syllabus has done away with the chapters on the Mughals, Puri is confident that a series like this would tell the story of something un-erasable from the history of India. On a serious note, he adds, “From three cities of architectural brilliance, Agra, Delhi and Jaipur, often known as the golden triangle, two were built by the Mughals. So, to say that one can erase the empire which existed for hundreds of years would be wrong. In fact, it would be impossible. On Independence Day, Tricolour is hoisted at the ramparts of the Red Fort.”
Having assisted Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Puri hails him as an institution in himself. While the influence of SLB on those who has worked with him is permanent, Puri says, “But maintaining your own identity always goes a long way.”
Probably the reason why SLB protégés like Puri, Mitakshara Kumar and Vikramaditya Motwane are making period films on SLB’s scale with a dash of their own brilliance.
