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The Empire Web Series Review: Kunal Kapoor's Period Drama Begins Strong But Rushes For A Quick End
The Empire presents too many time gaps for the audience to care about the new characters, and yet with good actors and a promising script, the show is a good start for much-needed fictional period dramas based on facts.
Available
On:
Disney
Plus
Hotstar
VIP
Duration:
50
Minutes/
8
Episodes
Language:
Hindi
Story: The Empire follows Emperor Babur's coronation in Farghana to his quest for Hindustan that led to the foundation for 300 years of empire in India.
Review: The show based on the book 'Empire of the Moghul' by Alex Rutherford begins with Babur's childhood, the loss of his father, and his coronation as King. However, the story does not only belong only to Babur but also his sister Khanzada Begum. It follows the brother-sister duo as they are separated due to the greed for the throne and find each other back through war and hardships.
The story begins in Farghana where young prince Babur, son of Umar Sheikh Mirza was brought up with love for poems and the promise of a peaceful Hindustan. After the death of his father in an unfortunate accident, he is made the king at the young age of 14 and has to face an undefeatable foe Muhammad Shaybani (Dino Morea). After being betrayed by his own people, Babur leaves Farghana to Shaybani for the sake of his family and single-handedly manages to capture Samarkand.
A few years later, Shaybani sets his eyes on Samarkand once again forcing Babar (Kunal Kapoor) to chose between war and peace. This time he has to lose more than just the throne on the path to peace. After losing his beloved sister Khanzada (Drashti Dhami) as a prisoner to Shaybani, Babur loses his dedication for peace and chooses the life of a soldier forever on the battlefield to win back the throne and the safety of his sister. With his grandmother (Shabana Azmi) Aisan Daulat Begum's support and sister's love from behind enemy lines, Babur manages to win back Samarkand.
The first four episodes of the show focus on four main characters - Babur, his sister Khanzada, his grandmother and the antagonist Dino Morea. However, after the first victory, the show speeds through every war, every detail of historic importance leaving the character only to narrative moments in their lives. The screenplay written by Bhavani Iyer and Mitakshara Kumar is mainly restricted to certain places and characters instead of sharing the full story.
The show begins with a promise of Game of Thrones but is quickly brought down to the feel of a two-hour film just noting highlights of the era. The audience is hardly given any time to form a connection with most of the characters, who lead the show in the second half. While some of them are quickly dismissed, others raise the stakes high but it leaves the audience with little to nothing.
On the other hand, the background score and costumes are mesmerizing especially because of the evolution it shows from Turkish influence to the Indian colours and patterns. But it is not enough to keep the audience hooked due to the show's subpar CGI and cheap prosthetics not only during the war scenes but with big palaces and towns, mostly leaving the scenes feeling hollow.
The makers have paid most attention to Babur's character, despite giving Khanzada many pivotal moments the second half of the show steals her thunder, reducing her to a mere lady of the court, who has wise advice for the king. Kunal Kapoor as Babur is exceptional even when the dialogues don't catch up to his presence. Drashti Dhami starts strong but mellows down with the second half which is easier to watch. However, she does bring forth a strong female character despite the script's little assistance.
Dino Morea has one of the smallest parts in the show but his presence is dearly missed in the second half. Aditya Seal as Prince Humayun seems to fit right in and is the character I am looking forward to seeing in season two.
Overall, The Empire presents too many time gaps for the audience to care about the new characters, and yet with good actors and a promising script, the show is a good start for much-needed fictional period dramas based on facts.
