New Delhi, Sep 13 (UNI) After enthralling several generations of cinegoers over the last five decades, the cult classic 'Mughal-e-Azam' is now set to be presented as a Broadway-style musical play. To be helmed by acclaimed director Feroz Abbas Khan, known for his award-winning film 'Gandhi My Father’ and successful plays like 'Tumhari Amrita', 'Salesman Ramlal' and 'Mahatma VS Gandhi', the Broadway-style musical play will be a tribute to the original film. Sources associated with Feroz Abbas's production house said the play is being prepared on a grand scale, to be performed at the National Centre For Performing Arts (NCPA). The play will be staged daily from October 21 till first week of November for a limited engagement of two weeks followed by the staging in end November and for another two weeks in December at Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi. The musical play will not only be made on a grand scale like the film, but will also feature eight songs from the film to be performed as part of the narrative. Officials at the production house claim that this project will be the grandest musical live theatrical production witnessed in India and is expected to set a new benchmark for Indian theatre. Speaking about his theatre production, Khan said, "Mughal-E-Azam is apt because even the film was inspired by a play, Anarkali, which K Asif saw and borrowed passages of dialogue from. It's a dramatic father-son story with the nation at stake. In its writing skills and mounting, it was close to perfection with great dialogues and emotional story-telling, complemented by eye-catching visuals and a terrific score." The upcoming musical has another connection with the original cult classic- the musical play will be co-produced by none other than Shapoorji Palanji, the 150-year old business conglomerate that had funded K. Asif’s ‘Mughal-E-Azam’ with a budget of three million dollars in 1960, making it the most expensive film made at the time. Apart from Khan, other names attached to this ambitious project are costume designer Manish Malhotra, award-winning lighting designer David Lander, Emmy award nominee projection designer John Narun, production designer Neil Patel and choreographer Mayuri Upadhya. Starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Madhubala, ‘Mughal-e-Azam’, released in 1960, was the most expensive film made at that time and is still considered the greatest Indian motion picture ever. UNI AR SHS ADG 1132