Several movies revolve around love stories but not many are about a tryst between an Englishman and a local royal. In what may be a treat for true blue Hyderabadis, well-known historian and author William Dalrymple’s book ‘The White Mughals’ may see a movie adaptation in the coming days.
Though nothing is certain for now, there have been slight hints of who may play the lead and the locations for the shooting. A few days ago, Mr. Dalrymple on Twitter posted a picture of Khair-un-nissa (granddaughter of Nawab Mahmood Ali Khan, Prime Minister of the erstwhile State of Hyderabad) and actor Aditi Rao Hydari with the cover of ‘The White Mughals’ reflecting the uncanny resemblance between the two. Mr. Dalrymple’s tweet had read ‘Have we found our Khair-un-nissa’? ‘The White Mughals’ tells the story about a love affair between an Englishman, James Achilles Kirkpatrick, and Khair-un-nissa, in the late 18 and 19 century, which took place in what was then Hyderabad State.
And two locations that were believed to be considered as shooting sets for the movie are the Chowmahalla Palace and Koti Women’s College. On contacting Mr. Dalrymple in July on Facebook, he said that “it’s still very early, but looking very likely to happen,” and had added at that time that Princess Esra, who belongs to the Asaf Jahi dynasty, had given a ‘preliminary assent’, based on a meeting. However, on Wednesday, when asked if there has been any headway about the movie plans, he replied that he was not so ‘sure’.
Initial excited posts on the social media reflected that the Chowmahalla Palace and the University College of Women, Koti, were the two most likely shooting locations since the royal love story happened in the historic British Resident’s once opulent palace and the royal palace. However, current occupants of the heritage palaces have no clue about the purported film shooting. “We have no information about the shoot and no one has sought our permission,” said G. Kishan Rao, director, Chowmahalla Palace. Even the college principal, B.T. Seetha, echoed the same observation but with a rider. “Repair works are on and it will be very difficult to let out the premises for any movie shoot,” she added.
