Mughal-E-Azam: The Musical, India’s longest-running Broadway-style musical, to premiere in the US

For more than 60 years, K Asif’s glorious epic ‘ Mughal-e-Azam’ has enchanted legions of fans across the globe. And now after more than 200 spellbinding performances across six Asian countries, its sublime stage adaptation, ‘Mughal-E-Azam: The Musical’, premieres in North America. The 13-city tour kicks off in Atlanta on Friday, May 26 with stops in New York, Chicago, Toronto, and more.

This is also India’s longest-running Broadway-style extravaganza and has been directed by Feroz Abbas Khan and produced by Shapoorji Pallonji Group. It will be presented in North America by Cinema on Stage and will bring to a global audience, a timeless love story intertwined with the silken skeins of India’s syncretic culture and its rich dance, musical, cinematic, and theatrical traditions.

Says director Feroz Abbas Khan, “There cannot be a better way to end the pandemic-induced lull than to take ‘Mughal-E-Azam: The Musical’ to an international audience. We are well aware of how challenging it will be to keep the energy levels up as we travel from one city to another with a vast crew and learn to familiarise ourselves with a new venue every time, but we are looking forward to it. The last few years of not being able to perform have made us all hungry, and we will invest even more passion and diligence than ever before in every performance and ensure that this tour is a massive success. A very big element of this project is the way Mayuri Upadhya has choreographed dance sequences to do justice to the majestic musical score, and we are sure that the audiences will love every moment of it.”

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Adds Deepesh Salgia, Creative & Strategic Vision for the musical, “Seven years back, when we green-lighted this project, we had not imagined that it would run for 19 seasons and travel to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Muscat, Doha, and now North America. There is a lot of technical and logistic expertise that goes into a massive show like this, but what really makes it universally loved is its emotional core and the love story of Salim and Anarkali. And of course, this is India’s most expensive theatre production and leaves audiences everywhere enchanted with its intricately choreographed dance sequences, spectacular lighting, exquisite costumes by Manish Malhotra, and live signing.”

India’s first Broadway-style musical boasts a cast and crew of more than 150 people, has been met with all-around accolades following its 2016 premiere in Mumbai. In 2017, it won seven out of the 14 BroadwayWorld India Awards, including Best Play, Best Director, Best Costume Design, Best Choreography, Best Original Set Design, Best Original Lighting Design, and Best Ensemble Cast.

This tribute to K Asif’s masterpiece has evolved as a musical of unprecedented scale, intensity, and grace and is perhaps the finest moment in Indian theatre. As Deepesh says, “We at Shapoorji Pallonji are extremely delighted to bring this musical play to a country that prides itself in creating a global ecosystem for a theatrical production.”