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The Empire: Shabana Azmi on wanting to play a ‘historic character’: Begum Esan Daulat is an interesting woman
Shabana Azmi speaks on the approach to her character Begun Esan Daulat in the upcoming series The Empire. Scroll further to read what she said.
The upcoming series The Empire has an ensemble star cast where Kunal Kapoor is portraying the role of Mughal emperor Babar while Shabana Azmi is portraying Babar’s grandmother Begun Esan Daulat. Dino Morea plays Babar’s nemesis, Shaybani Khan. According to a report in Indian Express, Shabana Azmi spoke about playing a historical character for the first time in a press conference. She said, “I loved the part as it had so many layers and I love how it gave me the choice to make choices”.
Shabana further spoke on why she signed up for the show and her character. She said, “I always wanted to play a historic character. Begum Esan Daulat is such an interesting woman. She lives with a secret which you will get to know in my last scene. Generally, it is a man who is a kingmaker, but I think it is for the first time that a woman is handling the mechanisation of the entire empire. Also, I love Urdu language and I was getting to speak it so I hopped on the opportunity.”
Shabana further added, “All the women here have really strong characters and this is something that we need to see more. We need to give far more visibility to our female characters.” Director of the show Mitakshara Kumar has worked previously as an associate director Sanjay Leela Bhansali in films like Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat. Mitakshara mentioned that she showed some parts of the show to Sanjay. “I did show a few parts of the series to Sanjay Leela Bhansali. His reaction was what I expected. He is my teacher, I showed him to not get appreciation but to know what I have done wrong,” Mitakshara said while answering a question by the Indian Express.
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