Kunal Kapoor talks portraying Emperor Babur in 'The Empire'

Actor reveals he was asked to play Babur in a “vulnerable way, not in the way we see people play kings”

Actor Kunal Kapoor entered Bollywood with a bang, with his second film Rang De Basanti becoming a soaring success. The star hasn’t looked back since. As he continues to make waves with his projects, the latest one to have been applauded by viewers and critics alike is The Empire.

Speaking about the response he received when the series first aired, Kunal told The Indian Express, “It was probably the best sort of response that I’ve gotten to my work since Rang De Basanti.”

He also shared that times have changed since he first started out and with the advent of social media, the feedback is immediate and looks like it is working in his favour. Kunal essays Mughal emperor Babur in The Empire. Talking about his role, he said, “Here, I found a character who is very insecure, who is not sure whether he deserves the throne or not. He is constantly falling apart and needs the women in his life to put him together and show him the right way.”

The series is based on Alex Rutherford’s book series Empire of the Moghul so Kunal chose to take guidance from the book and the script for research, instead of looking into everything that has been penned about Babur in real life. Director Mitakshara Kumar asked him to play Babur in a “vulnerable way, not in the way we see people play kings” and Kunal made sure to stick to that.

The actor continued, “This is a character who is not really in charge of his destiny. It is not about his genius or his brilliance. It’s just about some things falling in place and other people taking the right decisions for him.”

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