Ron Scalpello, British filmmaker who has helmed Mughal saga Taj: Divided by Blood, sees India as an incredible land of passionate storytellers

Mona

A writer needs a pen, an artist needs a brush, but a filmmaker needs an army,’ said actor-director Orson Wells, and the one who quoted his name, British filmmaker Ron Scalpello, literally had an army on his side to ace his maiden Indian project — Taj: Divided by Blood.

Set in the 16th century, this period drama charts the story of Akbar and the war of succession amongst his sons —Salim, Murad, and Daniyal — capturing through it both the beauty and brutality of the Mughal Empire.

A filmmaker for 25 years, Ron had filmed all across the world except India. During the Covid lockdown, as the script from ZEE5 made its way to this fan of historical dramas, Ron saw an opportunity. It came with a huge responsibility to stay true to its mega scale as well. “I did panic a little bit as we got going, but blessed with an amazing team this was an incredible journey.”

Capturing the times

Staying true to the times the story is set in, extensive work was done with regard to production design to costumes, the battle scenes were quite a task. “For this series, hundreds of soldiers, horses and cannons were used. One particular sequence we shot for seven days in the heat of 40 degrees at the Maharashtra-Gujarat border. It was a huge task.”

A show in Hindi, it posed a further set of challenges that team Taj ably surmounted. “We rehearsed in English, blocked in English, by the time of the shooting, language was like a musical river; not necessarily that I understood every note, but could feel it.” Ron also credits his team of directors, “Our directors were amazing with the language and would point out, ‘Ron, you might need to look at that’, whenever they saw the story slipping.”

Another big challenge was to bring out the emotions right. “To send two hundred horses marching in a certain direction was pretty straightforward, it was the human emotions — loss, longing, love, anger, despair — that were truly challenging to capture on screen. ”

Incredible India

Being in India has been an incredible experience for Ron. “This country is so vast and diverse that one needs a lifetime to explore. Being in Mumbai, which has a population of over 21 million, is in itself intimidating.”

Working with great cast members —Naseeruddin Shah and Dharmendra — was another aspect that Ron enjoyed. “Naseeruddin Shah is an international actor, I have seen his plays before. I feel honoured to have such an impressive cast to work with.”

What touched Ron the most through his India shoot was the country’s love for stories. “Actors, writers and directors, there are so many passionate storytellers here. And, it feels great to be in the land of storytellers.”

On an epic scale

Much in love with epic stories, part of the writers’ team Anand Neelakantan loved working on Taj: Divided by Blood. “I love history and mythology and just like my books - Asura: Tale of the Vanquished, Mahabharata and Baahubali series, or telly shows like Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat, I love how they offer a heightened sense of conflict. The show sure borrows from history, but aims at entertainment. It has been shot on an epic scale.”

(Taj: Divided by Blood streams on ZEE5 today)

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