''Siyaasat'' (English: ''Politics'') is a 2014

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n fictional drama which aired on The EPIC Channel. The series is an adaptation of the popular 2002 award-winning fictional novel ''The Twentieth Wife'' by author Indu Sundaresan. The series revolves around Mughal politics, inter-personal conflicts, sabotage, grandeur, power and the love between Prince Salim (the Mughal emperor

Jahangir Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...

) and Mehrunissa also known as Nur Jahan, who was Salim's twentieth and final wife. It is now available o
EPIC On

EPIC TV Epic TV is an Indian television channel that airs action, drama, comedy and narrative non-fiction and fictional programming with a focus on Indian history, folklore and epic genre. Launched by IN10 Media Network on 19 November 2014, a compan ...

'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 Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

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 A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

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

* 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 * Charu Shankar as Mehrunissa ( Empress Nur Jahan), wife of Ali Quli Sher Afgan and illicit lover of Prince Salim. She eventually marries her lover, the emperor Jehangir. *

Neetha Shetty Neetha Shetty is an Indian television actress. She has starred in the TV series '' Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann'' as Gauri, one of the Garodia sisters, and '' in Kahiin To Hoga'' as Dr. Archita. Career Neetha has played the role of ''Sanjana'' ...

as Maan Bai, 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 Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

). * 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, second son of Akbar * Mokshad Dodwani as Prince Daniyal, third son of Akbar *

Bikramjeet Kanwarpal Major (rank), Major Bikramjeet Kanwarpal (29 August 1968 1 May 2021) was an Indian film and television actor. A retired army officer, Kanwarpal had played supporting roles in many films and television serials. Kanwarpal shared screen space wit ...

as Abu'l-Fazl, 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 Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the States and territories of India, state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. It is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Fo ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, with the Laxmi Niwas Palace acting as a substitute for Emperor Akbar's palace in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. Costumes for the series have been designed by Pia Benegal, the daughter of director Shyam Benegal. 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 ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

-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 ur 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." The show has been shot across various scenic locales in Rajasthan and real palaces of Bikaner. Siyaasat brings alive the decadent lifestyle, architecture, art, and stories of the Mughal royalty.

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, tt6847292, Siyaasat 2014 Indian television series debuts Indian historical television series Indian period television series Hindi-language television shows Indian drama television series Epic TV original programming Television shows based on Indian novels Works set in the Mughal Empire Cultural depictions of Akbar Television series set in the 17th century Cultural depictions of Jahangir