Taj Web Series REVIEW
Taj Web Series Review By Shubham
Taj Divided by Blood: A Winning Period Drama
Period dramas and historical fiction epics are a genre of entertainment that has often left many viewers exhausted and disengaged with the storylines. The massive productions with grandeur and visually stunning worlds tend to focus more on beauty than substance, often giving the audience very little to hold on to. But Taj Divided by Blood, a new 10-episode series on Zee5, has broken the mold, providing a well-acted, accessible, and oddly fun drama about the Mughal Empire and the increasing tension between Emperor Akbar and his three sons.
Set in 1568, Taj Divided by Blood follows the story of Emperor Akbar, played by Nasiruddin Shah, who has decided that the throne will pass to the most capable son, not necessarily the eldest, as is the tradition. The show introduces us to the three princes - Prince Daniel, Prince Murad, and Prince Salim - who are all vying for the throne. Prince Daniel is deeply religious and fragile, Prince Murad is a hot-blooded and brutish warrior, while Prince Salim has no interest in the throne and prefers to be lost in his world of sex, drugs, poetry, and art. Things become complicated when Prince Salim falls in love with his father's most prized concubine, Anarkali, played by Aditya Taj.
The series is written by William Bothwick and Simon Fontozo, directed by British filmmaker Ron Scalpello, and features a story from Christopher Butera and Indian author Anna Nilakanthan. It infuses Masala elements and a new age sexy sensational sensibility to a bygone era and an age-old familiar story. Taj Divided by Blood is essentially a Succession but within the Mughal Empire, with a light pinch of Game of Thrones thrown in.
The show's Game of Thrones-ness comes to life by creating a world of colorful calculating characters and slimy advisors who begin to manipulate the three princes and pull the strings behind the scenes. Between the Emperor's three wives and his power-hungry wazirs, there's enough criss-crossy conniving scheming and underhanded plotting to keep things moving and give this series a sparkling lightness and urgency.
However, the show could have been even more sensational if it had committed fully to its pulp and juicy drama. There are a few miscasts, such as Rahul Bose as the self-serving brother Mirza Hakim, who seems out of place in the world. Additionally, the show's shaky politics may also irk some viewers. Any religious Muslim in this show is portrayed as an extremist nut job vying for power and control.
Despite its shortcomings, Taj Divided by Blood is thoroughly enjoyable to watch, with a breezy backstabber violent guilty pleasure family saga packaged within a lavish period drama. The show's final few episodes are explosive, where all the setup finally pays off in style. Taj crescendos with its great 8th and 9th episode, but instead of ending on a narrative high point, it tapers off and deflates with a finale that could have just as easily been an epilogue covered in a few scenes.
In conclusion, "Taj: Divided by Blood" is a refreshing take on the historical drama genre, infusing Masala elements and a modern sensibility into a bygone era and an age-old familiar story. The series manages to create a world of suitably colorful and calculating characters, packed with criss-crossy conniving, scheming, and underhanded plotting to keep things moving and give it a sparkling lightness and urgency. While the show flirts with pulp and juicy drama, it doesn't entirely commit, and not everyone fits into this world quite so smoothly. The shaky politics and religious extremism in the show are a bit problematic, but it's in the final few episodes where the series' power corrupts all messaging springs to life, offering us a familiar truth in the race for the throne. All in all, Taj is an accessible, watchable, and oddly fun series that manages to sustain for ten episodes without feeling daunting or imposing, making it worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of the genre.
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Shubham Jaiswal
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