The Empire Review: Kunal Kapoor, Drashti Dhami Are Impressive in Disney+ Hotstar's Half-Baked Historical Drama Series (LatestLY Exclusive)

The Empire Review: The Empire, the new series on Disney+ Hotstar, is a period saga based on Alexander Rutherford's novel series Empire of the Moghul. The novel series puts a dramatic twist to the rise and fall of the Mughal empire in the India. The Empire is presented by Nikhil Advani and is directed by Mitakshara Kumar who has also co-written the screenplay. Did You Know That The Empire Actress Drashti Dhami Was Featured in Saiyan Dil Mein Aana Re Remix Song?

The first season of The Empire - I believe there would be more to come here -  focuses on the first Mughal emperor Babur (Kunal Kapoor). Forced into becoming a badshah at the delicate age of 14 after his father is killed in a freak accident, Babur becomes an emperor without an empire. The violent Uzbek ruler Shaybani Khan (Dino Morea) had set his sights on Babur's first capital, Farghana, and captures it while the latter was trying to siege Samarkand.

Soon even Samarkand goes out of Babur's hands to the ruthless Shaybani, who forces the former to hand over his elder sister, the feisty Khanzada Begum (Drashti Dhami), for a safe passage. While Babur plans to take over both his kingdom and his sister from Shaybani, Khanzada is planning within the walls to first survive and then to defeat her captor from within.

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Apart from these three main characters, there is a myriad of other players in Babur's journey to regain his kingdom and expand it to Hindostan, the golden bird that his father often sang praises of. There is his calculative, sharp-tongued maternal grandmother Aisan Daulat Begum (Shabana Azmi). Wazir Khan (Rahul Dev) is Babur's mentor turned general who is faithful to the core. We also meet Qasim (Imaad Shah), the shrewd young thief from Samarkand who becomes Babur's friend, and harbors an emotion that goes deeper than friendship (any similarity with Malik Kafur from Padmaavat is upto conjecture). There is also Maham Begum (Sahher Bambba), Babur's lover who becomes his chief consort and the mother of Humayun (Aditya Seal).

The Empire has ambition, I must say, though there are times when the show's not-so-mammoth budget rails it back (especially in the CGI department), It also possess a certain guts in showing the complicated politics of the Mughal foundation, right at a time when right wing narrative is happy sharing demonised versions of their rule here. At the time of posting this review, #UninstallHotstar is already trending on Twitter. OTT Releases Of The Week: Kunal Kapoor’s The Empire on Disney+ Hotstar, Barkha Singh’s Engineering Girls Season 2 on ZEE5, Aishwarya Rajesh’s Boomika on Netflix and More.

The Empire isn't about white-washing the Mughals, but rather about showing how power struggle is often an unhappy process, of depicting those who sit on the throne always bear the crown of thorns. Babur's journey isn't a happy one. Every victory comes with a terrible consequence, every defeat stings more than it should, and most battles never even reach the battle-field. This is a story for all times.

One show that The Empire will keep reminding you of is the popular HBO show Game of Thrones. It may not have dragons or whitewalkers but certain influences can't be ignored. If Tywin Lannister skinned a deer in the show, then Shaybani does that atrocity on a bear! If Khal Drogo gave Viserys Targaryen a 'crown' that literally killed him, then Shaybani does that to Babur's half-brother.  Yes, we have seen comparisons between Shaybani's look with than of Ranveer Singh's Khilji from Padmaavat, but his arc, and moreover his equation with Khanzada shares some nuances with Drogo-Daenerys relationship.

The parallels are at times annoying, but in the latter half, The Empire grows beyond those influences and cliches. There are some good moments in there, like the first time Babur's warrior side is shown, or any scene between Shaybani and Khanzada. The battle between Babur and Lodhi empire is impressively done. The cinematography by Nigam Bomzan gives the series a grand feel.

The trouble with The Empire is that at times, it feels rushed (the way it jumps years between events), or at times, it is quite languid especially the when it focuses on soap-opera elements. The casting is another issue I felt. Not that the performances were bad, especially Drashti Dhami who was the most outstanding of the lot, and Kunal Kapoor, who does a good job of bringing out the moral suffering of Babur. Dino Morea at first felt like he is going for Khilji 2.0, but thankfully, he reins it in when his character turns from an out and out villain to being a someone a little less villainy in nature. Shabana Azmi is, as always, fantastic in every scene she is in, only that I needed her in more scenes. Rahul Dev is great, reminded me of the best performance of his career in Asoka. Towards the lag end of the show, Aditya Seal manages to leave an impression as Humayun.

So the performances may not irk you but the casting done in certain sequences, would. For a show that is heavily inspired by GoT and Bhansali movies, I wish The Empire also took a page out of The Crown when it comes to casting age-appropriate actors. Like there is a character who is seen to be elder to the young Babur (Mehroos Mir), but when Babur is played by Kunal Kapoor, the other actor remains the same. This makes for some awkward scenery, since Kunal looks way older than him.

Similarly the pretty Sahher Bambba's casting as Maham Begum also feels out of place when she is shown playing mother to Aditya Seal's character. Clearly her son looks older than her.

Yay!

- Most of the Performances

- Some Good Dramatic Moments

- The Battle Sequences Aren't Bad

Nay!

- Its Ambition Limited By Its Constraints

- Casting Troubles

- Pacing Problems

- Heavy Influences and Cliches

Final Thoughts

The Empire has to be appreciated for its (at times, over-arching) ambition and its attempt to portray the complexities of monarchial politics. However, it deserved a more original treatment and more room for some of the characters to develop beyond their sketchline. I hope the makers look into these teething problems, before they go for the second season. The Empire is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 27, 2021 11:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).