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Prof. Fatima Meer
Prof. Fatima Meer first met Akbar Khan whilst attending a conference on Mahatma Gandhi in Calcutta. A friendship pursued and after her excellent attempt with "The Making of the Mahatma" it came as no surprise when Akbar Khan approached her to write the script for Taj Mahal. Prof. Meer holds Akbar in high esteem and describes him as a man with integrity "highly hospitable with a passion for filmmaking and a passion for the Mughals". The first script was written some two years back and Prof. has been to India and spent time with Akbar in Mumbai researching the project. Lots of reference works were sent to her as she carefully recreated the story to fit the visual appeal Akbar had in mind.
"Every scene of the movie has been painted by artists", says Meer. "it's a fascinating story. I was fascinated with the Mughals as a kid. It highlites amongst others the close relationship between Shah Jahan and his daughter and is filled with so many characters".
Prof. Meer has been a close friend of Nelson Mandela and Winnie Mandela, having been imprisoned and banned together. She also wrote his authorised biography 'Higher than Hope'.
Akbar Khan
 Taj Mahal is an immortal love story of gigantic proportions. It encapsulates the splendour of the Mughal times, that of the Peacock throne; it is an attempt to make those characters feel a part of the living time and recreate an era that will linger in the minds of the people.
I've always had a flair for history. Even when I was making The Sword of Tipu Sultan and Akbar The Great, I knew I would take up this project some day. So it's like a dream come true after a long time.
Fatima Meer has been a great inspiration to me; without her I wouldn't have been able to structure this script. We're a great team and she has been a great writer, and together, we have put into the script a kind of a story, which should surely touch people's heart. And with Fatima Meer's ability as a writer, you can rest assured she has done a great job.
I must say that we're a great team as writers, and complete professionals on that front. I constantly kept her abreast with all the material I had collected on the subject over the years - even some that I came across during the making of Akbar The Great. I kept her inspired with a lot of research material and my own personal inputs, and together we went through hours of long-distance telephone calls, which, incidentally, has only added to the budget of the film - and came up with this final script.
It's taken me a while to conceptualise it and put it together - and that makes the challenge even greater. It's a driving force for me to make sure nothing goes wrong. And the feeling of accomplishment at the end of it is what I crave for…
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