Naseeruddin Shah, Aashim Gulati, Taha Shah Badussha, Shubham Kumar Mehra and Aditi Rao Hydari's magnum opus web series Taj-Divided By Blood was among the most-viewed shows on OTT. Directed by Ron Scalpello, the series released on March 3 on ZEE5. The 10-episode period drama ended on a cliffhanger with a hint at the second season.
In an exclusive interview with PeepingMoon.com, director Ron reacted to the possibility of Taj-Divided By Blood's second season. He said, "I’m not too sure where we are with the second season. I directed the first. As far as the second season is concerned, I know that they’re shooting it. I know it's going forward but don’t know much about it."
Talking about Taj-Divided By Blood, Ron opened up about deriving inspiration from family dramas and cinematic films. "My inspiration for Taj-Divided By Blood was family dramas. I had seen grand cinematic films and wanted to bring an epic to the audience. The scale of the series highlights the glorious lives of the Mughals which included opulent palaces, and extravagant fights etc. I wanted to bring something visually stunning and emotionally overpowering."
Speaking of the kind of research that went behind making it, Ron shared, "We had production designers on the set to create the world of the Mughal Empire. They did a lot of research to add life to the structures. The action choreographers made sure to give their best with the sequences. The main challenge for us was to tell an epic story in a contemporary way for the young audience. Before finalising the screenplay, we went through several books and materials written on the Mughal dynasty."
Historical shows often have debatable content. Did Ron worry about criticism? He told, "Yes and no. If the content is done with a sense of humanity in terms of characterization, there's no reason to complain. I believe the content was right for the era Taj was set in. We made sure to make it with good taste and a lot of respect. The audience does understand that it was made purely for storytelling."
Was creative liberty taken while shooting the show? Ron replied, "Not exactly because I was honest about the story and script I received. It is a dramatized take on the era in which it is set." Reacting to the comparison with Mughal-E-Azam, the director stated, "Mughal-E-Azam is an epic and one of the iconic films. But, that's old now. While I respect the film and people's sentiments towards it, I would also like to say Taj is a different story. Our series is more contemporary and connects with the young audience. It is a family drama with emotions like love, jealousy, anger, etc. I believe the audience now did connect with those emotions."
