The musical production will tour 13 cities starting with Atlanta on May 26, 2023
Indian theatrical Mughal-e-Azam will be making its American debut. The cast and crew of the musical play will be touring 13 cities in North America in May 2023.
An interpretation of K Asif’s hit classic film that was released in 1960, the play is set in the Mughal era when Emperor Akbar was in power. It is centred around the forbidden love story of Akbar’s son Prince Salim and the courtesan Anarkali. Emperor Akbar who disapproves of the relationship is forced to take the difficult choice between responsibility towards his subjects and duty as a father.
Produced by Shapoorji Pallonji Group and directed by Feroz Abbas Khan, the play will be enacted in both Hindi and Urdu with dance sequences, spectacular lighting, extravagant costumes, and live singing. With 70 people on the cast and 150 crew members working behind the scenes, the musical is one of the most expensive theatre productions to have toured in India.
Prominent Indian designer Manish Malhotra has designed over 600 costumes for the play using rich silks, velvets, bandhani, and brocades, and crafted with zardozi embroidery. Its value is worth crores of rupees, making Mughal-e-Azam’s costume design the most expensive in the history of Indian theatre.
The play has received critical acclaim and has scooped up several awards in the year following its premiere. Some of the awards to the play’s credit include Best Costume Design, Best Choreography, Best Original Set Design, Best Original Lighting Design, and Best Ensemble Cast. Director Khan was honoured with the award for Best Director at the BroadwayWorld India Awards. It also won the award for Best Play.
Bollywood stars Rishi Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, filmmaker Karan Johar, and industrialist Mukesh Ambani have praised the play. The North American tour will kick off on May 26 in Atlanta, followed by New York, Baltimore, Lakeland, Chicago, Newark, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, and San Jose among others. Tickets are available on Cinema On Stage’s website.
