Sons Of Babur, based on Salman Khurshid’s book of the same name, juxtaposes history with the present age while raising fundamental questions about India’s identity.
Salman Khurshid, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Corporate Affairs and the Minority Affairs penned a book Sons Of Babur: A Play In Search Of India 2008 that combined history with a contemporary flavour and gave readers a chance to learn more about the Mughal era. An English play based on the book of the same name is now being staged at the National Centre for Performing Arts in Mumbai.
The last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar is the central figure of the production that features about 20 actors with legendary Tom Alter in the lead role, who has also directed the play. Sons Of Babur revolves around Bahadur Shah, who pines for his beloved Delhi and takes solace in his poetry, while languishing in exile in faraway Rangoon. In the contemporary era, he has an ardent admirer in Rudranshu Mitra, a university student of history, who is seeking a grant to visit Bahadur Shah’s grave in Myanmar for his research work. Gradually, the play swings between fantasy and reality, logic and emotion, as Rudranshu is so obsessed with the life of the last Mughal that he has a supernatural experience that transports him to meet Bahadur Shah in person. Rudranshu is then taken on a guided tour by the emperor himself through various milestone events of the Mughal era and the duo effortlessly slides into the world of Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb.
Through the play, Khurshid seems to have explored his own roots in Afghanistan from where his ancestors came to make India their permanent home. His ancestral home of Qaimgunj in Uttar Pradesh was once a collection of mullahs of Pathans and while writing this play, the politician visited Babur’s grave in Kabul. On one hand, Sons Of Babur examines the contribution of individual Mughals and makes subtle forays into questions of right and wrong, while on the other hand, it also traverses between past and present and imagination and reality.
The play’s Urdu and Hindi versions were based on the translations of Ather Farouqui, a freelance writer with a Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. Both these versions that premiered last December have been directed by Dr. M Sayeed Alam, who has earlier helmed productions like Maulana Azad and Mirza Ghalib, and featured Tom Alter as Bahadur Shah Zafar. Alter, who is helming the English version, says he became a part of the project after Farouqi approached him and Dr Alam. Both of them liked the original idea and gradually things began to shape up.
What attracted Alter to the project was the different take on history. He says, “I loved the audacity of the concept. It takes a fresh look at Mughal history, through the combined eyes of a student of today, and an aging and exiled Bahadur Shah Zafar.” The prolific actor-director, who was also a part of the Hindi version, explains how he made subtle changes to the English version. He says, “Though the story remains the same, I have only fine-tuned it and made slight dramatic changes to suit the language. We recreated both the eras through different lighting and sets.”
Ask him about Khurshid’s contribution to the project and he says, “Salman sahib has guided us right through, he has not interfered, but guided us. It is his vision of art, history and Hindustan which makes this play possible.”
The actor, who has impressed us with his acting prowess in productions like Tughlaq, Waiting For Godot, City Of Djinns, Black With Equals, didn’t find it too difficult to balance acting with direction. “ I have found immense joy in not only portraying the role of the emperor but also directing this production. Directing was a natural outgrowth of acting in the play. As far as challenges are concerned, I love history and poetry, so the mood was not difficult. I simply imagined myself exiled from India, and dying in a foreign land,” he laughs out aloud.
Alter, a self-confessed fan of art and literature who has also written several essays on Hindi, Urdu and English theatre, says that Sons Of Babur helped him broaden his perspective about Indian history. He says excitedly, “My limited knowledge but deep passion for literature and history was a great help while acting in and directing this play. And by doing this marvellous production, my knowledge and passion have found new meaning.”
Sons Of Babur was staged at Mumbai’s National Centre for Performing Arts on March 11.
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