Siyaasat

Indian historical television series

Siyaasat
Genre	Historical fiction
Based on	The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan
Directed by	Siddharth Anand Kumar,Jay Dev Banerjee, Danish Aslam, Yogesh Bhati, Rishab Seth
Starring	Charu Shankar Sudhanshu Pandey Uday Tikekar Deepika Amin Shaynam Ladakhi Jannat Zubair Rahmani
Country of origin	India
Original language	Hindi
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	42
Production
Producer	Jay Dev Banerjee
Production location	Rajasthan
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	60 minutes
Production company	Indigo Creation Productions
Original release
Network	The EPIC Channel
Release	20 November 2014 (2014-11-20)

Siyaasat (English: Politics) is a 2014 Indian fictional drama which aired on The EPIC Channel.^[1] The series is an adaptation of the popular 2002 award-winning fictional novel The Twentieth Wife by author Indu Sundaresan.^[2]

The series revolves around Mughal politics, inter-personal conflicts, sabotage, grandeur, power and the love between Prince Salim (the Mughal emperor Jahangir) and Mehrunissa also known as Nur Jahan, who was Salim's twentieth and final wife.^[2]^[3] It is now available on EPIC On, EPIC TV's streaming platform and on Prime Video as well.

Plot

Siyaasat is mainly about the journey of Mehrunissa to become Nur Jahan. It is based in the era of Mughal rule where Akbar is the Emperor. The show focuses on the battle between the princes to become the heir to the throne and also on Salim - Mehrunissa's love story. The other prominent aspects of the show are the politics in the harem between Jagat Gosaini, Ruqaiya Sultan Begum and other women, the rivals of Akbar like Malik Amber, Chand Bibi and Rana Pratap and the political turmoil in Akbar's court between Abul Fazl, Mirza Ghias Beg and Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana

Cast

Uday Tikekar as Emperor Akbar
Deepika Amin as Empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum, Akbar's first wife and Padshah Begum.
Karanvir Sharma/Sudhanshu Pandey as Prince Salim (Emperor Jahangir), Akbar's eldest son^[4]
Charu Shankar as Mehrunissa (Empress Nur Jahan),^[4] wife of Ali Quli Sher Afgan and illicit lover of Prince Salim. She eventually marries her lover, the emperor Jehangir.
Neetha Shetty as Maan Bai,^[5] Salim's first wife and mother of Prince Khusrau.
Shaynam Ladakhi as Mehmood, Nur Jahan's brother and Hoshiyar's lover.
Nayani Dixit as Jagat Gosaini, Salim's second wife and later Padshah Begum and the mother of Prince Khurram (future Emperor Shah Jahan).
Jannat Zubair Rahmani as Young Mehrunissa
KC Shankar as Ali Quli (Sher Afghan), a nobleman and husband of Mehrunnisa, who hates Prince Salim because the latter is Mehrunnisa's illicit lover
Pawan Chopra as Mirza Ghias Beg, Mehrunnisa's father
Suparna Marwah as Asmat Begum, Mehrunnisa's mother
Gurpreet Saini as Prince Murad,^[6] second son of Akbar
Mokshad Dodwani as Prince Daniyal, third son of Akbar
Bikramjeet Kanwarpal as Abu'l-Fazl,^[6] a beloved friend, advisor and courtier of Emperor Akbar
Nagesh Salwan as Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana, a courtier of Akbar and Salim who later supports prince Khusrau in his rebellion against his father Salim (Emperor Jehangir)
Kavin Dave as Qutubuddin Koka, courtier loyal to Salim, appointed commander-in-chief after Salim becomes Emperor
Omkar Kapoor as Mahabat Khan, courtier loyal to Salim, appointed Grand Vazir (Wazir) after Salim becomes Emperor
Ravy Sharma as Abu'l-Hasan Asaf Khan, brother of Mehrunissa, father of Arjumand Banu Begum (Mumtaz Mahal)
Ashraf Nagoo as Hoshiyar Khan, Mehmood's lover.
Ashnoor Kaur as Arjumand Banu Begum (Mumtaz Mahal)
Rupali Krishnarao as Sharif un-Nissa (Nadira), a courtesan from Lahore
Devansh Dixit as Shah Jahan

Production

The series was shot over a period of six months in Bikaner, Rajasthan,^[4] with the Laxmi Niwas Palace acting as a substitute for Emperor Akbar's palace in Lahore. Costumes for the series have been designed by Pia Benegal, the daughter of director Shyam Benegal.^[7]

Charu Shankar made her Indian television debut with Siyaasat. She described how she bagged the lead role, "I had read all three books in the Taj Mahal trilogy and liked them. The producers called me and said that they were trying to make a Game of Thrones-style series out of it, to which I said, "Excellent. What role do you want me for?" And that is when I got to know that it was for Mehrunissa [Nur Jahan's birth name]. I was driving at that moment and I almost banged my car out of excitement." Shankar described how she prepared for the role of Nur Jahan. "I had a month to prepare for the role before we went to Bikaner, which is where we shot the series. I happened to be doing an art history course at the National Museum at that time and I spent it at the gallery studying Mughal miniatures and trying to imagine the world that Mehrunissa lived in."^[4]

The show has been shot across various scenic locales in Rajasthan and real palaces of Bikaner.^{[citation needed]} Siyaasat brings alive the decadent lifestyle, architecture, art, and stories of the Mughal royalty.^[8]^{[failed verification]}

References

^ "Can a mythology and history-based channel be an #EpicWin?". Best Media Info. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
^ ^a ^b "A genuinely interesting TV serial at last?". Deccan Herald. 30 August 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
^ "Mahesh Samat's 'Epic' run to begin on November 19". AFaqs. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The reigning queen of Siyaasat: Charu Shankar on playing Noor Jehan". The Sunday Guardian. 3 January 2015. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
^ ""We know we have to work on awareness level," says Epic's Mahesh Samat". Indian Television.com. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
^ ^a ^b "India's first genre-specific Hindi entertainment channel, The EPIC Channel, to go on air". Times of India. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
^ Team, Tellychakkar (10 March 2014). "Pia Benegal designs costumes for Samvidhaan". Tellychakkar.com. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
^ "Siyaasat: Celebration turns into a murder plot". The Times of India. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2015.