‘Taj – Divided by Blood,’ India’s largest homegrown OTT platform and multilingual storyteller, has announced its biggest original series to date.

‘Taj – Divided by Blood,’ produced by Contiloe Digital with William Borthwick as showrunner, Simon Fantauzzo as a writer, and Ronald Scalpello as director, is a revelatory telling of the inner workings and succession drama that played out in the hallowed chambers of the Mughal empire.

The show was announced in a grandeur way in Mumbai amidst the presence of veteran actor Dharmendra, the stunning Aditi Rao Hydari, handsome men – Aashim Gulati, Taha Shah, Shubham Kumar Mehra, and the versatile Sandhya Mridul along with spokespeople Manish Kalra (Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India), Nimisha Pandey (Chief Content Officer – Hindi Originals, ZEE5) and Producer Abhimanyu Singh of Contiloe Digital.

The show’s logo was unveiled at Mumbai’s most popular hangout spot, Carter Road promenade, by drawing the curtains and lighting a 40-foot logo structure on fire, leaving the audience stunned and excited.

‘Taj – Divided by Blood’ depicts King Akbar’s reign as he searches for a worthy successor to his grand legacy. The series dramatizes the rise and fall of subsequent generations, showcasing the beauty and brutality of this great dynasty, their passion for arts, poetry, and architecture, but also their remarkably cold-blooded decisions regarding their own family in the quest for power.

‘Taj – Divided by Blood’ stars a worthy ensemble cast comprising Naseeruddin Shah as King Akbar, Aditi Rao Hydari as Anarkali, Aashim Gulati as Prince Salim, Taha Shah as Prince Murad, Shubham Kumar Mehra as Prince Daniyal, Sandhya Mridul as Queen Jodha Bai, Zareena Wahab as Queen Salima, Sauraseni Maitra as Mehr un Nisa, Rahul Bose as Mirza Hakim and Dharmendra as Sheikh Salim Christi. Subodh Bhave, Aayam Mehta, Deepraj Rana, Shivani Tanksale, Padma Damodharan, Pankaj Saraswat, Digambar Prasad, and Zachary Coffin also appear in supporting roles.

Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India said, “As a consumer-first brand, our strategy has been to invest in high-quality content with best-in-class viewing experience; and ‘Taj – Divided by Blood’ is our most ambitious project which encapsulates the Mughal era and the war for dynasty, unlike ever-before. We are excited to bring forth this epic saga of war and succession which will unravel many untold stories to our viewers. We are confident that this magnum opus will excite and entertain our viewers and reinstate ZEE5 as India’s foremost storytellers”.

Nimisha Pandey, Chief Content Officer – Hindi Originals, ZEE5 said, “Taj is a succession drama set against the majestic Mughal backdrop. We have witnessed the stories of the great battles of this era, but this is a story of the war that ensued within the walls of the Sultanate. What made it exciting was to look at these historical figures as humans with ambitions, desires, and flaws and more importantly a family that had to make difficult choices. A brilliant team from across the globe has brought this series to life. We are excited for the viewers to immerse themselves in this world and witness the chapters that got left out of the history books”.