Exclusive | &TV gears up for Razia Sultan....!

A few months back the channel was announced on a grand scale and unveiled its first non-fiction offering with super star, Shahrukh Khan, India Poochega Sabse Shaana Kaun, seems quite aggressive with some more healthy mix of shows. &TV, another GEC from ZEEL's bouquet is all geared to take its viewers back to the 13th century with Razia Sultan. The show will revolve around the journey of a girl and how she rose up the ranks proving her mettle is a story worth knowing!

&TV with Swastik Productions will be presenting this visually stunning biopic of the first and only woman emperor of Delhi Sultanate, from 1136-1140. The show will be going on air from March 2, Monday to Friday, at 7.30 pm.

Designed by Omung Kumar, the spectacular sets, larger than life battle scenes and glittering costumes will be adding magnum value to the show. It highlights the contemporary outlook that prevailed way back in the 13th century.

The elaborately designed and painstakingly constructed sets is spread across a sprawling 3.5 acres and has a crew of over 200 members working round the clock, on the sets in Umergaon. The set structures are designed on the lines of Turkish/Morrocan architecture, the blue domes of Afghanistan's Jami Masjid and Samarkand (Uzbekistan).

Adgully while on a familiarization trip to the opulent sets in Umbergaon caught up with Raj kishore Swain, Programming Head, &TV; Siddharth Tiwary, Co-Founder, Swastik Productions, the man behind this magnum opus and Husnian Hyderabadwala, Director, who is working hard to add big screen values to the smaller screen.

Swain shared, "This is one of the opening shows of our channel so we wanted to give an amazing experience to our audiences. To fulfill the same we ideated upon a historical show which has never been told so far. In an effort to do so we created our labor of love, Razia Sultan. A thorough research has been done by our teams whether it is in terms of reading the necessary literature or for that matter closely studying the cultures of ancient Turkey and Iran."

As it is the first Muslim historical show after Tipu sultan hence there is a challenge and a risk both. The channel is keen on overcoming all the challenges and risks. With a keen eye on every detail and extraordinary caution the channel seems to be quite geared up for the show and is working hard towards giving the best product possible.

When asked what prompted them to come up with this show, he said, "This is the story that not many are familiar with so with an aim to create something different for the viewers we thought of exploring the biopic and presenting the same in a creative way."

As we all know that creating a historical show requires a lot of research, Tiwary explained that since Razia Sultan's subject is not so well-known one so it took a lot of time for an in-depth research. "We researched a lot before executing the script and the idea for the show," he added.

He also stressed upon the fact that it took around 7 to 8 to months to knock down the kind of clothes and aura that used to be there during that era.

As the production house recently concluded one of its biggest shows, Mahabharata, when asked whether Razia Sultan is also on the same footing in terms of budget, Tiwary told us that the show is pretty expensive but not like Mahabharata. 

As it is observed that today historical shows do not always abide by the actual facts and figures, Tiwary also told us that though there will be few additions and subtractions in the show but it all depends upon the need and demand of the viewers.

Director speaks:

The rich Persian influence of heavy blue and green hues, ornate/mosaic work on ceilings, props from Turkey and Egypt, liven up the set. It’s one of the first sets for TV made on the lines of authentic Turkish-Iranian architecture. Massive on both interior and exterior, it has a 68500 Sq ft of exterior space with an average height of 40ft which gives you a larger than life real palace feel.

Husnian Hyderabadwala said, "Muslim history is one the rich cultures of our country. And with any historical show there has to be an in-depth focus on the intricacies of the culture whether it is the costumes, art, forts or anything else." 

Hyderabadwala also stressed upon the fact that it took around 7 to 8 months to create and design the entire set. "Looking at the way the set has been created it is no where less than a movie hence I, as a director, am also keeping in mind the minutest details while shooting."

Razia Sultan is the story of a bright eyed princess without any expectations in life. But she was born with a curious mind, much progressive for that era. A doting daughter and a zealous princess, Razia sought equality and justice amongst masses.

The magnanimous durbar will see the Emperor Iltutmish (Sooraj Thapar), Shamshad Begum (Seema Kapoor), Qutub Begum (Khalida Turi), Princess Razia (Pankhuri Awasthy), and Ruknuddin (Ankit Arora), the one who stood out amidst the crowd was Sambhavana Seth who makes a debut on small screen as a courtesan Shah Turkan.