Back to the Mughal era

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Birth of khayal, sarangi’s attainment of classical status and the royal sherwani have a shared history. They belong to the era of Muhammad Shah II, referred to as Rangeela owing to his love for music, poetry and dance.
Muhammad Shah began his reign with tremendous enthusiasm and zest but got so immersed in song, dance and kingly splendour that he ignored his royal duties. Nadir Shah exploited this situation to his advantage and invaded India.
Capturing this period, Living Room Theatre presented Badshah Rangeela, a musical directed by Sarita Vohra. “As a student of history, I have always been fascinated by Muhammad Shah’s reign owing to its cultural richness. With patronage of poets and composers like Mir Taqi Mir, Sada Rang and Ada Rang, this period was all about best poetry and bandish composition. I wanted to make a musical on it for sometime and as I found a talented team of dancers, actors, singers and musicians, I took the leap,” says Sarita. The proceeds of the sale will be shared partly to aid HelpAge India.
Theatre actor Teekam Joshi played the role of Muhammad Shah. Sharing his experience, he says, “I have done historicals earlier as well, but playing Muhammad Shah was a great experience. He is a different character altogether. With a strong ear for music and poetry, the emperor was always lost in his own world. I even got to perform a solo piece, where I dance. That was superb!”
The play used a lot of thumri, khayal and qawwali to represent the era. Renowned Hindustani classical singer Vidya Shah has composed the music and given playback along with Ustad Shafqat Ali Khan.
“As a khayal singer, it was such a beautiful feeling to work for the musical. I sang lines from Amir Khusrau and Mir Taqi Mir’s compositions and composed new pieces. Qawwali has also been used. Musical sensibility was on an all-time high in the period,” informed Vidya.
Muhammad Shah was besotted by his courtesan, Noor and gave her undivided attention. A weakness which Nadir Shah took advantage of and raided Delhi and robbed its immense riches. Kathak dancer and actor Astha Dixit performed the role of Noor and choreographed various portions of the musical drama. “Right from the bright, colourful costumes, heavy jewellery to the music, every thing is grand as it would have been in the Mughal era. Being an actress and dancer, I got the golden opportunity to express emotions through dance,” smiles Astha.
The audience sat in rapt attention at Shriram Centre and IHC over the weekend and were transported to the mesmerising 18th century, the last bastion of Mughal hold in the subcontinent.