Playing a royal entity entails learning a whole lot of skills. In the web series, Taj: Divided by Blood, actor Taha Shah plays the menacing, ruthless, power-hungry, and passionate prince. In our conversation, he opened up about his extensive physical training as well as his mental preparation for his role and the challenging days.
PNS | HYDERABAD
Ever since the trailer of the web series Taj: Divided by Blood was released, there has been immense excitement across the internet to witness the untold and unheard realities of the Mughal era. While history books in school taught us about Akbar and his successor, Jahangir, it’s not known to many that Akbar had three sons.
Playing the middle child, Murad, actor Taha Shah Badussha unleashes the beast within to play the menacing, ruthless, power-hungry, and passionate prince. The series is now being premiered on Zee 5.
Gearing up for the role wasn’t an easy task for the young actor. In fact, Taha Shah Badussha had to undergo an extensive training regime that prepared him physically as well as mentally to ace his part. Talking about his physical training for playing Murad, Taha Shah Badussha revealed, “I went through extensive physical as well as mental preparation. Playing a royal entity entails learning a whole lot of skills physically, from riding a horse to acing weaponry, as well as imbibing the mannerisms and body language of a prince and a warrior at the same time. It was definitely a few challenging months.”
He started off with a few horseback riding classes, which were arranged by the film team. But then he felt he wasn’t really touching the potential of acing the skill, so he joined another horse riding school! He continued, “I would eventually attend two horse riding schools. Amidst that, there would also be my own physical training, but specifically for the show, I trained in sword fighting and axe fighting. I specifically brought down a coach from Delhi at my own expense, and Aftab bhai has been incredible in teaching me to work with the stick. He also actually made an axe for me, which I still have with me and practise with even today. It has become a part of my practice routine now.”
In addition to teaching him the tricks of the axe, such as how to flip it and turn it around, he also trained the actor in double swords, which he would practise for at least an hour or two every day. A result of this has been the many, many cuts on his hands! “Overall, my journey included a lot of blisters, some blood, and a lot of sweat. Apart from the personal training, we also had action classes to learn the choreography.
The stunt director Daniel Locicero, who has earlier worked on films like Mission Impossible: Fallout and Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, came down from LA and is also a good friend now, choreographed the whole fight sequence in LA, sent us the recording, and then we would try to imitate what he did. Over time, we also created some of our own choreography because I am just a big fan of action and I train in it every day, so we just thought that we could use some of my strong points.”
Adding further, Taha said, “While the physical training was exhausting, it was aided by multiple people who helped and supported me at every turn. However, the mental preparation was another level altogether! Murad has a very dark character and is unwavering in his approach. Although there’s good and bad in each of us, as we grow in age and experience, we learn to suppress our evils and nurture the goodness.
But for Murad, I had to delve into my darker side; I had to go back into the past and think about all the people in my life who have abused me, insulted me, or made me feel insecure and unloved. I had to channel that rage in my character and still not go all Murad on them, as my character would directly chop their heads off (he laughed). The ability to draw just the right amount of inspiration and bounce back to reality has been a challenge, but I am glad I could feel those emotions. I feel much more connected to my emotions now, and I have also gotten better at controlling them.”
Taha Shah Badussha also took diction lessons for his character to ace his Urdu enunciation and pronunciation. Shooting in heavy armour and costumes on grand sets has genuinely been a challenging yet enriching experience for the actor. Now, making ripples across the town with his power-packed, impactful performance, he is inundated with praise and love. Overwhelmed by the great response, Taha Shah Badussha expressed gratitude for scaling his journey in the entertainment world!
Taha had begun his journey with YRF and waited to earn his due, struggling through the harsh realities of showbiz. Finally receiving the opportunity to put forth his talent through this historic drama, he feels he has outdone himself by unleashing the beast within himself. Taha said, “Shukriya Murad. It’s like waking up and walking in a dream.
This Indian boy from Dubai was launched by YRF a decade ago, yet he has been struggling each day. Since there are more roles, more opportunities, a little bit of acceptance, and some stability. Acceptance from this industry, my peers, and my own self to achieve the tall goals I set! A couple of films, numerous commercials, and varied projects later, a dream did come true of being in a historical drama and having someone use my acting skills on screen. I watched a few episodes at the premiere a couple of days ago, and all I could say was a loud thank you.
Grateful to the woman who never gave up even when I did, to Abid and Monica for being the best brother and sister-in-law anyone could ask for. Shoutout to Neerusha for making me feel regal and living my childhood dream of being a warrior. The support crew and the extraordinary unit, the massive sets, the extensive shoots, and the painstaking training, both physical and mental, have been worth every bead of sweat.”
