Akbar The Great (UA)

Akbar Khan and his brother Sanjay Khan went to war with each other over the serial. Sanjay Khan wanted to make the same serial as The Great Moghuls. Akbar Khan decided to take legal action against Sanjay because Akbar claimed he was the first person to send the application to Doordarshan TV . Sanjay claimed he first did all the research for the subject and be was entitled to make the serial and not Akbar. This would cause the brothers to not speak to each other for years.

Akbar Khan is filming Akbar the Great. The 950-year-old Jaigarh Fort, once home to Maharaja Man Singh I, is teeming with artistes, unit hands and the cast. Quarters that perhaps once housed the royals have been converted into costume rooms, light rooms and make-up rooms. Akbar, who besides producing and directing the serial is playing the role of Salim, is undergoing a 90-minute make-up session to look the part. And Jaigarh is coming alive to the sounds of whirring cameras. The Khans are back. Filmland's overtly macho Pathan brothers, with deep voices and soap opera lives, who have been lying surprisingly low for the past few years, are straddling the limelight again. Elder brother Feroz, not heard of since the debacle of Yalgaar, is all set to launch Agnikund. No star cast has been finalised but the film's overseas and video rights are rumoured to have been sold for Rs 2.4 crore to Venus simply on the strength of the FK banner. Sanjay, who rose phoenix-like from the Mysore fire to make the hugely successful serial The Sword of Tipu Sultan, is back on TV with his latest historical epic, The Great Maratha. And Akbar, lured into television while making the first 15 episodes of Tipu for Sanjay, will hit the national network on March 11 with Akbar the Great. The comeback, though separate (Sanjay and Akbar are not on speaking terms), promises great entertainment. The Great Maratha and Akbar the Great, both 52-episode serials, will make television history, even if only for their budgets. The first, based on the life of the 18th century chieftain, Mahadji Rao Scindia, has over 60 principal characters and a core unit of 325 people, which includes 18 carpenters, six tailors, 12 make-up men and 24 costume people. All of which. Sanjay says, will cost Rs 63 lakh per episode. Akbar, with a core unit of 250 people, is priced at Rs 25 lakh per episode and the first five episodes are already over the budget.Both serials, the brothers insist, are wholly privately financed and they hope to recover the costs from world-wide television sales. Sanjay, who has campaigned for the Congress(I) several times, seems to have strong party backing-the Maratha mahurat was attended by Ghulam Nabi Azad, Balram Jakhar and Madhavrao Scindia (Mahadji Rao is his ancestor). Akbar says he has mortgaged property to finance his epic. "I've bet my last shirt on this," he says. Akbar started work on the serial in early 1989 but it went on the floors only on September 24, 1993, after years of inch-thick correspondence with two i&b ministers, two prime ministers, one court case and a falling-out with Sanjay who wanted to film the same subject. Today the brothers "don't see eye to eye". But, says Akbar: "I feel happy I had the strength and conviction to fight. I want to make a serial of repute. the grandeur of Mughal days Akbar is being played by 23-year-old Syed Nawab Shah, who is facing the cameras for the first time. Shah auditioned for the serial hoping for an extra's role. Akbar Khan cast him as the emperor because Shah is' 'young, fresh, with no image", and possibly resembles Akbar with his cleft chin, wide shoulders and large eyes.The narrative, told in flashback, begins two years before Akbar's death and Shah will play the emperor at 13, 30 and 64. "It's a very challenging role." he says, "but Akbar gave me detailed notes and the confidence to do it." The other actors, including some from the nsd, are mostly unknowns. This, says Akbar, is by design. The historical nature requires no pre-set images. In fact, the principal actors have signed contracts agreeing to act only in Akbar till it is over. The emphasis is on authenticity. Akbar, with over 200 books on the emperor in his personal collection, is himself doing much of the research. "I'm wholly recreating that period," he says. "There can be no compromise on that." Sanjay, clearly revelling in his role of the "emperor of epic makers", also refers to himself as a television-historian. He promises that Maratha, which will span 33 years from the disastrous battle of Panipat to Mahadji's death through poisoning, will be 10 times bigger than Tipu. Many of the actors are from the Tipu stable. Shahbaz Khan, who made a mark as Hyder Ali, is playing the lead. The cast includes Mukesh Khanna, Mangal Dhillon, Farida Talal, Maya Alagh and Parikshit Sahni. While the serial does have episode directors, Sanjay says he is the director-general. "The treatment is all mine," he says. Sanjay is convinced that the serial will eventually give him an 85 per cent viewership but he's taking no chances. From the fourth episode onwards a Maratha contest with prizes worth Rs 16 lakh will begin. Both brothers aim to rectify some misunderstood facts of history. For one, Akbar will puncture the colourful Anarkali legend. She was a minor courtesan, says Akbar, who was friendly with both Akbar and Salim-nowhere near the dramatic figure Madhubala and Beena Rai cut. Sanjay's aim is the glorification of the Maratha culture through Scindia who he says, has been wilfully ignored by British historians. "The Marathas have been maligned by history," he says. "They were a very determined people. While a spate of troubles dogged Tipu - the Mysore fire, the BJP and the VHP calling for a ban-Maratha has had a smooth run so far and Sanjay says he is not anticipating trouble. Neither is he, a Muslim filming Maratha history, apprehensive of possible criticism. "I don't feel I'm walking a tightrope. I'm doing what I do honestly and to the best of my ability." fact, both brothers stress that their respective heroes were visionaries who saw beyond religion and that the main message of their serials is national integration. Akbar begins with a dedication reminding the young that "there is no greater religion than humanity". Mahadji, Sanjay insists, was Indian first and Maratha second. But as the centuries-old intrigues, treachery, wars of religion, and the castes and creeds of Indian history are recreated, what becomes most obvious is how little things have changed. Perhaps, even those who remember history are condemned to repeat it.