Kashmir Digits

Disney Hotstar’s newest web show ‘The Empire’ is getting all sorts of attention. The period drama based on Alex Rutherford’s “Empire of the Moghul: Raiders from the North, is being criticized by netizens with ‘Uninstall Hotstar’ trending on social media.

The series depicts Babur, the founder of Mughal Empire in India, and his saga from the valley of Ferghana to Samarkhand and beyond. It showcases how Babur came to India and conquered the lands here establishing an empire lasting generations.

The show has an impressive star cast including Shabana Azmi, Dino Morea, Drashti Dhami, Kunal Kapoor, Aditya Seal, Sahher Bambba, Rahul Dev and others.

Fans started objecting to the series soon after its trailer popped on the internet, accusing the makers of glorifying the Islamic invader Babur.

However, Hotstar rejected grievance complaints against the series and released the 8 episode epic saga.

Reacting to the series, one Twitter user said, “Those invaders who destroyed and looted India, killed Hindus, converted them in the name of their intolerant Jihad are being glorified in 2021? Is this what we are doing?  Shame on you producers, writers, actors, etc.” Another asked, “Hotstar rejects grievance complaints against their series on Babur, claims they are not glorifying the Islamic invader. I have uninstalled, Have you??”

Kunal Kapoor the actor who plays the titular role of Babur said it was intriguing for him to play an emperor in the series as the character has a lot of complexities. “We have heard many stories about Babur and the Mughals, but very little about who they were, where they came from and how they came into India. In this fictional take, this is a character with a lot of complexities, and that is what intrigued me as an actor,” he said.