‘Not writing a script on Covid-19, it’s a trope’
If you remember the character of Inspector Gopal Singh in Anurag Kashyap’s gangland epic series -Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), it means Faisal Malik has stayed with you. The lockdown hasn’t been about leisure for Malik. The actor, who also runs a production house, is currently perfecting projects he was already on before the over 50-day lockdown came into force. “One of my productions was due for release, but the lockdown has delayed deadlines. However, the work goes on,” he says.
Malik coordinates with his team on video conference regularly. He confesses he has not been able to cultivate a new hobby, unlike most others. He further says, “Once we get caught up with work, we keep giving in to that whirlwind. I keep wishing for a scope to hone my passion, but none of that doesn’t happen.” The actor-cumproducer’s cooking trials have left him in awe of what most Indian women have been doing for years. Malik can’t fathom how homemakers or working women cook on a daily basis. “The toil and thought that goes into a dish is unimaginable,” he admits.
Ask him if he has prepared anything fancy and he says, “I took Youtube lessons and made some pasta and kofta.” About his recent success with the insistent and heartful rusticity of Prahlad in the OTT series Panchayat, Malik says, “It did not require a lot of hard work when you are working with an actor like Raghubir Yadav. He leaves his dialogues with an intonation that makes my part spontaneous.” He explains why he doesn’t intend to write a script on the pandemic. The actor says, “The topic has become a trope. I think like a producer and want to offer something fresh.”
For someone who claims to be an “accidental writer of history”, Ira Mukhoty’s writing is perfectly nuanced and deeply personal. The author of two books, Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire, and Heroines: Powerful Indian Women of Myth and History, her third and latest work is the herculean effort to chart the life of Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great.
Titled Akbar: The Great Mughal, its pages paint the life of a personality, “intensely invested in experiencing the world and forging his destiny”. It is through her previous works that she got interested in the life of the crown jewel of the Mughal Emperors. “Once I had written Daughters of the Sun, it was almost inevitable that I would turn towards him because he dominates Mughal history in such a comprehensive way,” she says.
A devout Muslim, who made frequent visits to Hindu temples, participated in Zoroastrian fire rituals and was deeply interested in Christianity, Akbar once famously said, “All religions are either equally true or equally illusionary”.
“Akbar was the sort of person who inhabited his world in a visceral, all-consuming way, so every experience was valuable in shaping various facets of his personality,” says the author about Akbar’s formative years, living in exile when his father Humayun lost the Mughal Empire to Sher Shah Suri. It would take Humayun 15 years to reestablish the Mughal Empire, before he stumbled on the stairs of his library, to his eventual death, handing over the reins of the dynasty to a 14-year-old boy.
This young boy would go on to rule for more than five decades, expanding the empire to its zenith, a feat that could only be matched by his great great grandson, a somewhat less tolerant, Aurangzeb. “It is this gradual layering of Akbar’s personality and humanity that I have tried to illustrate in this book,” concludes the author. help avoid emergency situations. “Try to lower sugar content and acidic drinks. Use interdental brushes and floss to clean between teeth. Orthodontic patients must avoid sticky and hard foods,” he suggests.
Dr Neeraj Verma, a senior consultant, says, “Limit frequency of snacking as it increases risk of cavities. Avoid smoking as it limits blood flow to mouth. Too much alcohol can also dry out the cells in cheeks and gums.”