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FATEHPUR SIKRI - AKBAR'S VISION IN STONE

By Manu REWAL

KARMA PRODUCTIONS / DUNIYA VISION (INDIA) PVT. LTD. - as PROD

Documentary - Completed 1998

- Year of production
- 1998
- Genres
- Documentary, Art - Culture
- Countries
- INDIA
- Languages
- ENGLISH
- Duration
- 31 mn
- Director(s)
- Manu REWAL
- Writer(s)
- Manu REWAL
- Producer(s)
- Manu REWAL (Duniya Vision)
- Synopsis
- The city of Fatehpur Sikri was created by Akbar, the greatest of the Mughal Emperors, in 1571. Its planning and architecture are analysed to evoke the underlying ideals and principles that determined their design.
  Akbar's free thinking, open minded and innovative attitude is expressed in the way the main mosque - the Jama Masjid - has been built, in the way simple village hut rooves and Central Asian glazed tiles have been combined to create innovative roofscapes, and of course in the very original composition of the palace complex, based on a delicate system of a series of balancing axes.
  At the same time the quality of the craftsmanship, as seen in the very original brackets, the intricate jalis or stone screens, the chajjas or sunshades, clearly show a strong sense of discipline.
  Fatehpur Sikri was Akbar's capital only during fourteen years - a period in which Akbar laid the foundations of a culture whose impact still reverberates in North India .
  Miniature paintings from the Akbar Nama, the book on Akbar's reign, illustrated by the painters of the imperial atelier and written by his friend, the poet Abu'l Fazl, have been used in the film in order to evoke the imperial court and the events linked to the creation of Fatehpur Sikri.
  Classical North Indian music (three ragas which are said to have been composed by Tansen, the legendary " jewel " of Akbar's court) accompanies the images.