Abhishek's birthday bash cancelled

Jaipur, Feb 5 (IANS) Controversy seems to hound the Bachchan family wherever they go. The grand birthday bash planned Tuesday for Abhishek in Jaipur had to be cancelled after a Rajput community protested in front of their hotel and Amitabh fell ill.

Amitabh, who was shooting for Shoojit Sircar's untitled film with Sarika in Shimla, left the shooting and reached here Monday for his son's 32nd birthday. His wife Jaya, daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai and Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh also joined him.

However, Amitabh is down with fever and, therefore, the party plans have been dropped, said a source.

'Abhishek cut a cake in the afternoon and no other event has been planned,' said a source in the luxury Rambagh Palace hotel where they are staying.

Meanwhile, the Karni Sena, a Raput community that is spearheading a campaign against the release of Ashutosh Gowariker's historical romance 'Jodhaa Akbar' starring Aishwarya and Hrithik Roshan, shouted slogans against the lead pair in front of the hotel. They also burnt posters of the film.

The activists also tried to forcefully enter the hotel, but the police and hotel staff prevented them.

The Karni Sena is opposing the film's release as they feel Gowarikar has distorted facts about the relationship between Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Akbar and Rajput princess Jodhabai in the magnum opus.

The Rajput community says that Gowarikar is presenting Jodhabai as Akbar's wife, which is 'factually incorrect'.

'The Karni Sena does not want the movie to be screened in the state,' Lokendra Singh Kalvi, president of the Karni Sena, told IANS earlier.

According to them, Jodhabai was not the daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber near Jaipur. Motaraja Udai Singh of Marwar was her father and she was married to Akbar's son Salim alias Jehangir. And Mughal king Shahjahan was her son.

The film, scheduled to release Feb 15, was partly shot in and around Jaipur.