The Woman who did ! (Noor Jahan : An Empress Reveals : An overview)

The Woman who did !

(Noor Jahan : An Empress Reveals : An overview)

- Prateeti Bhattacharya,

Department of Islamic History and Culture,

University of Calcutta

Vidushi Mehra and Vani Vyas shine, but Oroon Das steals the show !

Director : Avijit Dutt

Cast : Vidushi Mehra, Vani Vyas, Oroon Das, Yuvraj Singh Bajwa, Anhad Singh Anand, Rea Krishna, Priyanka Sharma, Eesha Singh, Sarthak Mattoo & Shekhar Murugan.

Running Time : 90 minutes

[Disclaimer : This is not a formal review but a write-up based on my understanding of the play.]

          In total contrast to the majestic Taj Mahal, the mausoleum of Shah Jahan and his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, Noor Jahan lies in a plain-and-simple tomb in current day Shahdara Bagh, clearly referring to her humble origins.

            Noor Jahan’s story is perhaps known to all. She was born, Mehrunnnisa on 31 May 1577 in Kandahar to Ghiyas Beg, she was married off to the early age of 17 to Ali Quli Istajlu, who later became the future Sher Afghan. Sher Afghan was posted in Bengal along with Qutubuddin Koka, and later both were killed in a conflict. Mehrunnisa then lived in Agra as a widow, introducing designs for dresses. She married Jahangir after four years, in 1611. He gave her the titles Noor Mahal, Badhshah Begum and Noor Jahan (the last one enduring in his History). 

The older Noor Jahan (Vani Vyas) and the younger one (Vidushi Mehra)

The play comprises two faces of  Noor Jahan – the young Mehrunnisa (Vidushi Mehra)  and the older and mature Empress (Vani Vyas). While the older Empress narrates the story from her point of view, Vidushi as the younger Mehrunnisa portrays the complexities of the character in her early life. She is seen, during her interaction with Ruqaiya Begum (Jahangir’s foster mother) to be dissatisfied with being betrothed to Ali Quli Istajlu saying, “Nobody asked me what I wanted !” She suffered two miscarriages and lived an unhappy life with him. While introducing designs for dresses, she inspired her daughter Ladli Begum as well as the other widows to follow her lifestyle. She initially did not marry Jahangir, saying,” I never want to be restricted to the Harem !”. After her marriage with Jahangir (she being Jahangir’s 20^th wife) , she as the Empress, asserts herself  by  making visits to the Jharoka, issuing coins in her own name, and also acting as  a poetess, a designer, an architect, a perfumer, a lover and an Empress who defined women’s emancipation long before it became a term the world knew. The most impressive scene is where the older Noor Jahan confronts the younger character questioning her intentions when she got her daughter Ladli Begum married to Shahryar. The younger Noor Jahan replies “What else could I have done ?”, clearly referring to her keeping her near-and-dear ones in exalted positions of the Mughal Court. Avijit Dutt shows the inner conflicts within the characters, throughout the play.  She forces Jahangir to quit drinking. When Mahabat Khan imprisons Jahangir, she uses her intelligence and diplomacy to rescue him. However, the real incident is not shown in the play, we hear about it from the darogah of the palace. She does not permit Jagat Gosain (Jodha Bai), the mother of Khurram to visit Jahangir, when he is taken ill. As an architect, she designs and builds gardens in the empire and  also becomes the first person to introduce the pietra dura design in the tomb of her father, Itimad-ud-daula. It is during Jahangir’s illness that she is forced to enter politics. I feel that if the incident of  Khurram’s rebellion in the Deccan and Noor Jahan’s contribution in making Khurram surrender was made a part of this play, we would have seen another dimension of Noor Jahan’s character and the alliance between her and Mahabat Khan in that time. Vidushi, does her job well.

            The older Noor Jahan, while she is kept in confinement in Lahore, Shah Jahan, is informed daughter about  Khuram’s transformation into Shah Jahan, the grandeur in which  her niece Arjumand Banu Begum (Mumtaz Mahal) was being welcomed to Agra, and the Arjuman’s tomb which was then being planned by Shah Jahan was following the architectural pattern of  her father’s tomb as its model and also asked as to whether Noor Jahan feels jealous about it, Noor accepts her own destiny . She says, “I’ve had everything I wanted and much more. I’ve now understood true peace comes from a lack of want.” Probably this is where the audience is made to realise how Noor Jahan changed from an assertive empress to an ordinary prisoner who accepts her destiny. Vani Vyas too lives up to our expectations.

Jahangir and Noor Jahan

Although both Vidushi Mehra and Vani Vyas shine, it is Oroon Das who steals the show ! The most impressive performance in the play comes from Oroon Das who portrays Jahangir, straight out of History. Right from his gesture and his style of delivering the dialogues, we feel that the Historical Jahangir is presnt in front of us ! He shows his fondness of Noor Jahan, saying  It took me twenty marriages to find love !”,  allows her to come out into the outside world but does not allow his fondness for her to overshadow his love for justice.  When a widow complains that her husband has been killed by an arrow shot by Noor Jahan, he immediately orders Noor Jahan to be imprisoned and even to be put to death if found guilty and says “justice shall be rendered irrespective of who she is !”  When the widow withdraws the case saying , “ I don’t want a life for a life !”, he orders Noor Jahan to pay compensation to her every year and takes back Noor Jahan respectfully into her Mahal. Jahangir’s addiction to drinking too has been shown. When made by Noor Jahan to quit drinking, he first says, “ I am the Emperor and this is none of your business !” and then  he does not speak to her for a few days but later makes up to her. Oroon Das is the backbone of the play and delivers the most impressive performance.

Aroon Das as Jahangir

The widow seeks justice

Jagat Gosain and Mahabat Khan serve as the main opposition to Noor Jahan. To ensure the succession of Khurram, first Mahabat Khan on Jagat Gosain’s orders causes Noor Jahan’s miscarriage and later accuses Jahnagir of allowing Noor Jahan to control the state, saying ,“ [You are] allowing a mere woman to take the matters of state in her hand.” His plans to keep Jahangir imprisoned is partially successful as Noor Jahan comes to rescue him.

 Other important characters in the play are Ladli Begum, the darogah of the palace and the Sikh peasant, the last one showing his desperation in seeing Noor Jahan unveiled  “ I must see the Queen unveiled once !” loses his life despite previous warnings by the darogah (“We’ll see where this leads us to !”).

The younger Noor Jahan and Ladli Begum

The Older Noor Jahan and Ladli Begum

The darogah and the Sikh peasant

The play ends with these lines :

People admire the Taj Mahal…           

And what happened to Noor Jahan ?

She lies in a tomb in Lahore  which carries the epitaph "On the grave of this poor stranger, let there be neither lamp nor rose. Let neither butterfly’s wing burn nor nightingale sing".

                                  

Personally, I believe that these lines are a constant reminder of Noor Jahan being aware of the fact that she was an Iranian of humble origins who had almost all she wanted in life and much more. In her last few days, she accepted her destiny and preferred to spend her last few days in like an ordinary woman in peace. She lived a retired life till her death in 1625 in Lahore.

The Team with their director Avijit Dutt

P.S. : A Note

            Noor Jahan was not the first woman whose face appeared on her coins, neither was she the first woman in Medieval Indian History to define women empowerment. Th entry of women into the outside world first took place with Jalalat-al-din Razia (popularly called Razia Sultan), the daughter of Sultan Shams-al-din Altamash and the first and only Empress of India in her own right.

            However, despite its little faults, the play does impress us and can also be understood both by History Students and by people who are not familiar with the History of Noor Jahan. Do watch this play, if you are interested in the History of Noor Jahan !

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