The National Musuem threw light on lesser-known characters of the Mughal era with its debut show in performing arts
Sidetracking from its customary presentation of artefacts, National Museum (NM) chose performing art as a means to unveil fascinating layers of history — by hosting a play that throws light on lesser-known characters of the Mughal era with focus on two opposing sisters of emperor Aurangzeb.
In the process, the 1949-established institution used its central courtyard for the first time to stage a cultural programme, as the famed round space became the venue for a nascent theatre group to enact a minimalist production that essayed the intrigues in the palace of the sixth Mughal king known for his unbridled and brutal ambitions as well as bigotry.
A crowd of around 400 people gathered under an autumn sky last weekend when a mellowed evening sun cast tasteful shadow on the floor-level dais that played out Shah Jahan’s Daughters: A compelling story from Mughal History by artistes of Darwesh, which was founded last year and is known for excavating stories that are hidden in the past.
The 40-minute show featuring sisters Jahanara and Roshanara largely in conversations that sometimes get animated before a narrator’s intervention was an all-female work. Amid the occasional recorded background score marked by Spartan drumbeats and a wistful-sounding flute, the five-scene play portrayed the eventually-tragic personal profiles of the two daughters of Shah Jahan.
“The basic idea is to woo more people towards the museum — to our heritage and past stories,” said NM, DG, Venu V, after the successful debut show of the monthly ‘National Museum Performance Series’.
Added Joyoti Roy, NM’s outreach consultant, “Besides theatre, there will be music and dance programmes in the future.”
Shah Jahan’s Daughters, which featured Jahanara and Roshanara in colourful Mughal costume moving and talking against an otherwise unlikely backdrop of two 8th-century Nandi bulls which permanently occupy the courtyard, spans a sequence of cloak-and-dagger events from 1632 to 71. While a materially-driven and ambitious Jahanara always wanted philistine brother Aurangzeb to succeed their father Shah Jahan (1592-1666), the younger Roshanara sided with her equally art-loving sibling Dara Shikoh. The resultant squabble forms the crux of the story in which both the sisters eventually meet with a tragic end — Jahanara (who Aurganzeb poisons while she was in the peak of power) and Roshanara die unmarried, leaving no legitimate heir to the throne.
Darwesh co-founder Yuveka Singh gave an introduction to the work, while Meghali Roy was the narrator. Madhavi Menon and Nitika Arora acted as Jahanara and Roshanara, respectively.