By Joginder Tuteja
This weekend saw the arrival of much ambitious The Empire which has been mounted on a huge scale and set as an epic action drama. Telling audience about the life and times of Mughal king Babur, this Kunal Kapoor led web series has just premiered on Disney+Hotstar.
What makes it special is the fact that it is one of the rare Indian OTT outings that gets into the historical space. Though in the past there have been countless stories about the era gone by shown on satellite channels, on OTT it has been quite far and few. Reason being that OTT audiences demand certain class, finesse, grandeur and scale when it comes to such offerings, and anything lesser qualifies it as a regular television outing. However when it comes to streaming, a movie like experience is expected and that's what The Empire turns out to be.
This was expected as well considering the fact that Emmay Entertainment (Nikkhil Advani, Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani) are at the helm of affairs, and they have recently been associated with Bell Bottom as well. Moreover, the director is Mitakshara Kumar and she has been an assistant to filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. No wonder, the grandeur is pretty much there in this ensemble affair with Dino Morea, Shabana Azmi, Aditya Seal and Drashti Dhami along with Imaad Shah coming together.
From the core storyline perspective, it's a lesson in history, albeit in an entertaining manner due to the audio-visual appeal. You get to know how Babur rose from being a teenager to being a king and what happened in his court as well as out there on the battlefield. The game of politics is in abundance too, which reminds one of the core of Game of Thrones as well, something that made the British web series truly entertaining. Of course, not that The Empire hits notes as high as that but from Indian play arena perspective, it succeeds quite well.
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For those hunting for something different than the crime sagas that are usually played on OTT, The Empire is a truly different outing which lasts 8 episodes.
Coming soon
This week has just one notable outing on OTT, Helmet. As is the known fact, this is also a slang used for condoms and the original film picks that as a subject matter and spins a comedy around it. Premiering on ZEE5, the film stars Aparshakti Khurana in the leading role. Considering the kind of superb impression that he has already made in supporting roles in films like Stree, Luka chuppi, Pati Patni aur Woh and Dangal, one expects his comic timing to be on display in this film with a small town middle class setting where contraceptives are still a taboo.
His leading lady in the film is Pranutan Bahl who has already made her feature film debut with Salman Khan production Notebook. The film couldn't find much of an audience in theatres but Pranutan was noticed for her performance. Now in this riotous comedy in the offering, she should be seen in a different light altogether. The duo would be joined by Abhishek Banerjee who is a man for all seasons, as seen in performances as distinct as Stree and Paatal Lok. Now in Helmet, he would be seen in a quintessential small town youngster avtar all over again.
One expects a breezy lighthearted outing here from director Satram Ramani who has been an assistant director on films as distinct as Salman Khan's Jai Ho and Sunny Leone's Jism 2.
Release dates
Helmet - ZEE5 - 3rd September
(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. Views are personal)