Aurangzeb

Written by Indira Parthasarathy

Directed by Sathish Sattanathan

May 31 – Jun 7, 2025

Sunnyvale Theatre

"One nation, one language, one religion" — this is Aurangzeb’s vision for Hindustan in Indira Parthasarathy’s gripping historical drama. 

Set against the backdrop of the brutal battle of succession to Shah Jahan, the aging Mughal emperor, the play unveils the ideological and moral conflict between the emperor’s sons — Dara Shikoh, the enlightened scholar who envisions a pluralistic India, and Aurangzeb, the ruthless strategist who seeks to impose a singular order. As ambition clashes with philosophy, faith with power, and brother with brother, Aurangzeb unravels the sacrifices and betrayals that shaped the history of India. 

With sharp dialogues and deep political insight, this timeless play explores the exercise of imperial power, ideology, and the cost of absolute rule.

English | Age 15+ | 140min incl. intermission

Original music composed and sung by Shubhangi Sakhalkar

Trailer - by Rita Bhatia (video 1:26)

On Stage Photos by Pranav Koundinya

AURANGZEB - a play for our times, by Artistic Director Basab Pradhan

Director Sathish Sattanathan talks about AURANGZEB (video 1:00)

Cast photos by Vinay Vijayakumar

BTS reel by Rita Bhatia (video 1:00)

The Cast

Varun Iyengar as DARA, Sarika as JAHANARA, Harish Jayakumar as AURANGZEB, Shweta Amre as ROSHANARA, Basab Pradhan as SHAH JAHAN, Richa Pareek as VOICE OF ART

and

Vinay Vijayakumar, Shekhar Sakhalkar, Jaydeep Marathe, Karthik Vishwanathan, Sriram K.E., Arunkumar Senthilnathan, Srinath Kameswaran and Ram Rajagopalan.

Director

Sathish Sattanathan is a theater enthusiast keenly interested in all aspects of theater. He has acted in many Tamil and English plays with prominent Bay Area theater groups. He debuted with BADCo as Mohan Hattangadi in Girish Karnad’s Wedding Album. Aurangzeb is his third time directing for BADCo after The Cherry Orchard and Our Stories (Tamil).

Production Team

Thanks to Arvind Raghu and Sudarshan Kandaswamy for their help on sets. And to the many people, too numerous to name here, who volunteered to help us in the lobby, loaned us props or helped us in other ways during this production.