Saraswati Datar of
The News Minute welcomed the series by writing that "The Empire is an ambitious and sincere attempt to tackle a brand-new genre in the Indian OTT space, and it prompted me to go find out more about Babur than what textbooks had taught us." ''
Lehren's'' Bharathi Pradhan praised the performances of actors Shabana Azmi, Rahul Dev, Drashti Dhami, Kunal Kapoor and Dino Morea and added "when Babur's sister, well played by Drashti (Dhami), adds her bit to the tome titled ‘Baburnama,’ you know history is always part fiction. Take it with a pinch of salt." In a similar review, Shubham Kulkarni of
Koimoi wrote "The Empire is a huge step in creating extravagant shows for the Indian OTT. There is everything a period drama lover craves for. Go in and get to witness the saga that talks about love, war and betrayal. But [...] watch it with the word ‘fiction’ in your mind. It doesn’t intend to educate you. Writing for
Film Companion, Rahul Desai called The Empire “a weak cocktail of fact and fiction”. He criticised the “diplomatic identity” and “free fictionalization” of the Mughal story. Rohan Nahaar of
Hindustan Times wrote that “a potentially engaging story of palace intrigue is wasted in Disney+ Hotstar's consistently dull adaptation of Alex Rutherford's Mughal era novels.” Sampada Sharma of
The Indian Express wrote that the show "excels in the aesthetic department. From the intricately crafted sets, to the beautifully designed costumes, the show leaves you in awe but what it gains in aesthetics, it loses out in VFX." Additionally, Sharma criticised the length of the series but praised the performance of the cast by writing that "The Empire’s eight episodes feel a little too long, especially in places where there is song-and-dance. [...] Shabana Azmi has an aura about her that that evokes respect for her character. It is evident that a character like hers often wonders why she lives in a patriarchal world when clearly she is the smartest one around. Later in the series, Drashti Dhami’s Khanzada tries to take her legacy ahead." Shefali Deshpande of
The Quint wrote that "The Empire is an engaging story of family & the casualty that is war, The first thing that hits you is the breathtaking visuals. Barring the sometimes tacky VFX of the palaces, castles and buildings, the actual sets and some special effects are beautiful." Appreciating the series, Shilajit Mitra of
The New Indian Express wrote "In the Indian arena, The Empire beats out its contemporaries in scale and ambition. Some of the exterior shots and battlefield vistas are stunning to behold. [...] The action, too, is smoothly choreographed and rendered. I’ll look out for Season 2, just to see how they scale up from here. The Empire has found its feet." Anuj Kumar of
The Hindu appreciated the performances of the cast, the aesthetics and the series, in general, but opined that it skipped numerous significant historical events by writing that "we get to see the First Battle of Panipat, but the equally important Battle of Khanwa is glossed over. Similarly, for an emperor who grew up listening to multicultural poetry of Amir Khusro, his interaction with his new subjects, particularly the Sikhs, remain untouched [...] Babur’s bond with the new land and its rich flora and fauna — something he has written about extensively — remains out of the script. His love for opium and music has been airbrushed [...] how Babur crossed the mighty rivers curiously remains out of the canvas."
Hindu nationalist users on the Internet criticized the web series for glorifying
Mughals, causing a grievance complaint to be filed against the web series. The grievance officer appointed under Information Technology (Guidelines for intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 received complaints against the web series., but he rejected those claims. Addressing this controversy, Nikkhil Advani told
IANS: "For me, the force field in this case has been the book. I am following the book. If you have an objection you need to understand that as a maker and storyteller I have been fascinated by the book and by the story they have told in the book" == References ==