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The Empire Review Ep 1, 2: Kunal Kapoor, Shabana Azmi's drama is Game of Thrones meets Sanjay Leela Bhansali
The Empire's grandness lies in its big budget production design, costumes department and hair and makeup but does not necessarily translate to a riveting screenplay.
The Empire
Cast: Kunal Kapoor, Dino Morea, Shabana Azmi, Drashti Dhami, Aditya Seal, Sahher Bambba, Rahul Dev, Kallirroi Tziafeta
Creator: Nikkhil Advani
Streaming Platform: Disney+Hotstar
Envision a grand setting straight out of a Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie. Now, take a screenplay of war, betrayal and power. Infuse the two. The result is the streaming platform's latest offering - The Empire. Created by Nikkhil Advani and directed by Mitakshara Kumar, The Empire is based on the novel adaptation of historical fiction novel series Empire of the Moghul by Alex Rutherford.
The show spans across eight episodes that is set in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. It documents the rise and fall of the Mughal Empire and Babur's dynasty. Starring Kunal Kapoor, Dino Morea, Shabana Azmi, Drashti Dhami, Aditya Seal, Sahher Bambba and Rahul Dev among others, The Empire is all things grand.
The Empire begins with Babur (Kunal Kapoor) and his growing up years. The writers establish how he's been escaping death since the age of 14 and the lost of a loved one bolsters him to avenge their death and take hold of kingdoms. However, as a nascent ruler, Babur falters and pays a heavy price.
Mitakshara Kumar, who has been an associate director on Sanjay Leela Bhansali movies such as Padmaavat and Bajirao Mastani, brings her grand envision to the screen and as a SLB alumnus it shows. The Empire's grandness lies in its big budget production design, costumes department and hair and makeup. However, this does not necessarily translate to a riveting screenplay.
While the first look will instantly take you back to the not-too-old Game of Thrones, the characters' looks will further remind you of them. Dino Morea as Muhammad Shaybani Khan is a mix of SLB's Alauddin Khilji and GoT's Khal Drogo. While you may expect his character to instill a fear of sorts, Shaybani Khan rarely evokes any emotion. Not even of disgust when he is skinning an animal.
The Empire begins by establishing the kingdoms of Ferghana and Samarkand and its rulers. While we get to see Kunal Kapoor as Babur only in glimpses, it is his childhood that makes up the first two episodes. The Empire seems promising on the surface with its grand scale of wars, betrayal and greed for power, but it does not dig deep enough and offer anything new. The heavy dialogues definitely scream Mughal era and seem right in the show's context.
Nikkhil Advani's show overall offers decent performance but there are a few standouts. Veteran actor Shabana Azmi as Aisan Daulat Begum demands your attention every time she appears in frame. Calling the shots, Azmi adds weight to the screen presence of other mediocre performances. Another notable performance is by Rahul Dev as Wazir Khan, a father figure to Babur. His measured performance and onscreen presence with a decently written character arc is applaud-worthy.
The Empire is an ambitious attempt but is also riddled with cliche's. The Mughal saga's trailer is enough to give you a sense that it is Game of Thrones meeting a Sanjay Leela Bhansali-esque production. Does it live up to the mark? Well, the first two episodes definitely score full for efforts.
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