New Delhi:
K Asif's "Mughal-E-Azam" will be back to stage. Director Feroz Abbas Khan is all set to bring "Mughal-E-Azam" back to stage and believes that the tension and drama of the story will tranform inteo a great Broadway Style musical.
The 1960 romance, starring Dilip Kumar, Madhubala and Prithviraj Kapoor, is one of the most important films in India's cinematic history.
Khan, known for directing critically acclaimed plays "Tumhari Amrita" and "Mahatma Vs Gandhi", calls the stage adaptation of the movie his most ambitious and exciting project so far.
"Mughal-e-Azam was adapted from a play. It has a very theatrical structure. When I thought about doing a musical play on a a large scale the film came to my mind. It was made in 1960 but people are attracted to the story even today," Khan told.
The director says he has been careful in respecting K Asif's vision while lending the stage adaptation modern sensibilities.
"It is a great challenge. One has to respect the memories of the people and yet we are in 2016. I am bringing modern sensibilities to the play. It is modern theatre." "There will be live singing. Eight of the original songs from the movie will feature in the play. We are doing the stage adaptation as a tribute to Mr K Asif. It is his work, I am only translating it into play. I am inspired by his madness and passion. I have grown up loving the story."
The play will be performed at the NCPA (National Centre For Performing Arts), where it will play daily from October 21 till first week of November for a limited engagement of two weeks followed by the staging at Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi in November.
Khan, a theatre veteran, is known for his sensitive handling of stories and the success of "Tumhari Amrita", starring Farooq Sheikh and Shabana Azmi, is a testament to that. For him, "Mughal-E-Azam" is a passion project.
"When you take on something new, you are always factoring in that it is going to be challenging. If you are going to take a simple play that would be fine but the fact that you are doing 'Mughal-E-Azam' puts a lot of pressure on you." "I am going to do my best... This is a legacy and I am very respectful towards what I have with me.", Khan told.
