‘Mughal-e-Azam’ Play at NYC’s Times Square with Stunning Flash Mob

By sanJana shenoy

new yorK City: The USA’s iconic Times Square transported New Yorkers back in time with its Bollywood movie magic. ‘Mughal-E-Azam: The Musical’, a Broadway show is here in the USA with its 13-city tour. Offering New Yorkers a glimpse, the Mughal-eAzam play group transformed the street with a mesmerising flash mob as dancers gracefully performed the iconic song “Jab Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya”.

While the 13-city tour of ‘Mughal-E-Azam: The Musical’ kickstarted in Atlanta, the short glimpse in Times Square was what caught everyone’s eyes. Feroz Abbas Khan’s ongoing play tour based on the classic film by K Asif is here in the USA to take visitors on a journey back in time to the Mughal era. Dressed in beautiful white and red-hued anarkalis, the dancers presented a flash mob on Times Square.

As the vintage score, “Jab Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya” played, they beautifully performed a Kathak number. Onlookers across various nationalities watched in awe as the dancers twirled gracefully and the iconic Hindi song melted into their hearts. The official account of the play shared a reel of the same. In the caption, they mention that the Broadway-inspired musical first originated in India to immortalise the love for the classic film Mughal-e-Azam.

In their words, wow, it has reached a major milestone. Elegant Kathak dancers presented a stunning flashmob for the ex- clusive promotions of the show’s North American tour. The director of the Mughal-E-Azam play, Feroz Abbas Khan revealed to Outlook India that the dancers created a carnival-like atmosphere on Times Square. They are now looking forward to bringing this epic musical to a diverse global audience in the USA.

Actor, Rajesh Jais who gave the voice-over for the play stated to In-

By suKhpreet Kahlon

diaTimes that ever since its inception in 2019, they’ve done over 300 shows. In his words, this time it was very special as the artists performed at the coveted Times Square.

Houston Masala Radio’s Sunil Thakkar was at Times Square to serve as the emcee. He is expected to perform a similar function during the play’s tour of the US.

-- Curly Tales

By Monita soni

“Mughal-e-Azam” is a choreographed Broadway-style Indian musical that pays an extravagant homage to the 1960 Bollywood film. This large-scale stage production premiered its North American tour in Atlanta. I saw it on the Memorial Day weekend.

I remember Feroz Abbas Khan’s evocative play Tumhari Amrita, and I was curious to see how he would interpret K. Asif‘s “Mughal-e-Azam.” It was surreal to experience Naushad and Shakeel Badayuni’s soundtrack and lyrics echoing in the Cobb Auditorium. The songs were sung live by the singers to a pre-recorded orchestral and choral score.

The LED screen, projection and stage display of the court scenes, shish mahal, and the war sequences were commendable. The actors conversed in Urdu and Hindi with unforgettable lines. Two-sided screens displayed English subtitles. But for me and many who have the dialogues, songs and even expressions of the much loved original “Mughal-e-Azam” memorized, it was like being in a mesmerizing dream. -- American Kahani