The grandeur of Mughal Emperor Akbar’s palace was recently presented to the Doha audience through a skillfully designed and exquisitely coloured stage of multi-ward winning musical Mughal-E-Azam at Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC). 
A galaxy of talented stage artistes aptly directed by Feroz Abbas Khan succeeded in taking the awestruck audience close to what would have been a real- life palace in the era of Akbar, the Great. The stories related to palaces have always been fascinating people and the scene was not different at QNCC where audience got engrossed in the love story between Prince Salim and courtesan Anarkali. 
Mughal-E-Azam portrays the conflict faced by Mughal Emperor Akbar: his responsibility towards the future of his empire and his duty as the father of a beloved son.
The engaging story coupled with catchy and crispy dialogues kept the people glued to their seats till the very end of the musical. The audience seemed to enjoy every bit of the royal story portrayed with sumptuousness and majesty at QNCC’s Al Mayassa Theatre.
Brought to Qatar by Q-Tickets for the first time, Mughal-E-Azam marked the “grand finale” of the Qatar-India 2019 Year of Culture, the organisers said. 
A world-class theatrical production with seven Broadway World Awards and 175 sold-out shows worldwide, the musical, the musical brought together a total of 125 Indian talents to showcase live singing and dancing performances and promising acts on lavish stage sets.
Mughal-E-Azam, a Broadway-style musical, is based on the 1960 Bollywood film of the same name, directed by K Asif and produced by Shapoorji Pallonji. The musical is produced by Shapoorji Pallonji Group. The 1960 K Asif film was inspired by a play called Anarkali, written in Lahore in 1922 by dramatist Imtiaz Ali Taj. Feroz Abbas Khan had wanted to recreate the film onstage since he saw the black-and-white film re-released in colour in 2004.
It is the first large-scale Indian Broadway-style musical that remained in production for 10 months. The show had been well received by critics in the media and entertainment industry. In 2017, it won seven out of the fourteen BroadwayWorld India Awards including Best Play, Best Director, and Best Costume Design.
In the era of the Mughals, Emperor Akbar’s desire of a son is fulfilled when his wife, Jodhabai, gives birth to Salim, who grows up to be a spoiled brat filled with disrespect and self-indulgence. Consequently, he is sent off to a war in Akbar’s army and returns as a reformed person with perseverance and discipline 14 years later. Salim, now a young man, falls in love with Anarkali, a lowly courtesan.
Bahar, a dancer who covets the love of the prince, is filled with jealousy upon discovering the secret affair and exposes it to Akbar. The emperor, full of royal pride, vehemently disapproves of the relationship and imprisons Anarkali, which leads Salim to declare an open rebellion against him. The war between the father and son changes the lives of everyone in the empire threatening the foundations of the Mughal rule in India.
Feroz Abbas Khan, while talking to Community, said: “Though I have directed many stage plays, Mughal-E-Azam was a dream for me. I have grown up watching the original film. I thought it was an outstanding piece of work. As I grew older, I realised that it has a very theatrical structure. I was dreaming to bring it to the stage because that is the medium I am most comfortable with. It remained impossible like something you dream and forget it. It was when I spoke about it and they said that it was a fantastic idea, particularly the original producers of the film and they decided to back up the idea.”
What started as a dream started becoming a reality for the director. “For me it is exactly like going against my grain. My other works are rather minimalistic. They did not have this kind of big sets. I go for the power of symbolism in theatre. Yet I was trying to do something completely different from what I have ever done. That was a great challenge and it was stretching me, taking me to the places where I have never been to. That is an exciting journey. When you go to a place that you do not know, you actually grow. Taking on a classic was in think the most difficult part. Everyone thought that I was making the biggest mistake of my career trying to take on Mughal-E-Azam¸ the movie. If you take on something smaller and you flop, it is OK. But, if you go for something like Mughal-E-Azam, the consequences can be very serious. I thought somewhere down the line if I can convert this great legacy and give it a live theatre experience, we may be able to one again relive the magic of Mughal-E-Azam.
The man behind the event and its success is Dr Tejinder Singh, founder of Q-Tickets. He is once again, in the ‘Spotlight’ of Forbes Middle East, featuring his “futuristic innovations and revolutionary ideas in the global market”, the event organisers have said in a statement.
P Kumaran, Ambassador of India to Qatar, said: “I am happy that the finale of the culture year is with Mughal-E-Azam. I am very happy that the Qatar National Tourism Council, Qatar Museums, the government of Qatar have supported in bringing the musical here for South Asian community, I would say. I knew that is a very high-levelled performance.
“I think this is the 42nd event that we have done during the course of the year and I think it is the fitting finale. We have shown various aspects of our culture.”