Naseeruddin Shah on working with Sandhya Mridul in 'Taj: Divided by Blood': Thank god! I don't have romantic scenes with her

Working on the new series Taj- Divided by Blood alongside legendary actor Naseeruddin Shah, according to actor Sandhya Mridul, was a total pleasure. She described how he frequently made jokes about their age difference. The renowned actor, 72, plays the Mughal emperor Akbar on the drama, while Sandhya, 47, plays Jodha. The ZEE5 series aspires to be an insightful account of the "inside workings and the succession drama" that transpired inside the Mughal empire's palaces.

Sandhya claimed in an interview with ETimes that Akbar and Jodha have a "nice camaraderie," but she added that she is unable to determine whether they are sensual. She claimed that because Naseeruddin made her feel at ease, it was simple to capture the warmth and compassion between them on camera. Also, Sandhya revealed that Naseeruddin would make fun of how young she appeared and would think that the actress might have played his daughter if only the hair had been dyed white.

“He always joked when I came in front of him, like he always used to say, ‘Oh My God! this girl looks too young, Sandhya Mridul do you ever age? Thank god! I don’t have many romantic scenes with this girl,'” Sandhya said, adding that Naseeruddin was fond of her and would “always joke” if there was slight “discomfort during the scene.”

“He used to say, ‘iske baal toh safed kar diye hote, she can play my daughter (should’ve dyed her hair, she looks young enough to play my daughter)’,” she added.

Taj is produced by William Borthwick, with Ronald Scalpello serving as the show's director and Simon Fantauzzo as its writer. In addition to Aditi Rao Hydari, who plays Anarkali, Aashim Gulati, Prince Salim, Taha Shah, Prince Murad, Shubham Kumar Mehra, Prince Daniyal, Zareena Wahab, Queen Salima, Sauraseni Maitra, Mehr un Nisa, Rahul Bose, Mirza Hakim, and Dharmendra, Sheikh Salim Chisti are also featured in the ensemble cast of the show.

ZEE5 is streaming on Taj: Divided by Blood.