JODHA-AKBAR

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ruqaiyah

@~LiNa~

Inactive

Posted: 18 years ago

Ashutosh in conversation with Rajeev on CNN-IBN Idol Chat

Jodha-Akbar is big budget movie about the romance between Mughal king Akbar and his Rajput wife Jodhabai. Ashutosh will both direct and produce the film and it has been reported that AR Rehman will provide the musical score while Javed Akhtar will pen the lyrics. Ashutosh Gowariker is an actor who has now taken up film direction. He directed the critically acclaimed blockbuster Lagaan (2001) that was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. His more recent film Swadesh (2004) starring Shah Rukh Khan was commercially less successful but found favor amongst oversea Indians. Speaking with CNN-IBN Idol-Chat host Rajeev Masand, Ashutosh revealed that his actor friend Hyder Ali had given him the story idea for Jodha-Akbar a few years ago. The idea stuck in his mind even though he got busy with other projects. The story focuses on the romance between Emperor Akbar and his beloved queen Jodha Bai. The film confines itself to the period before Akbar reached the age of 27 and their son Salim was born. As such, the film is essentially a young love story. In a manner of speaking and only as far as the story is concerned, the film maybe considered a prequel to the epic Mughal-e-Azam. Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, also known as Akba-r-e-Azam, Akbar the Great (October 15, 1542 – October 27, 1605), son of Mughal Emperor Humayun, was the ruler of the Mughal Empire between 1556 and 1605. He ascended the throne at the young age of 13. He is widely considered the greatest of the Mughal emperors. Akbar was brought up in the rugged country of Afghanistan during the period when Humayun had been driven into exile. Consequently, Akbar never learnt how to read and write. However, he had books read out to him and maintained an extensive library. He acquired wisdom, developed a secular outlook and a keen sense of diplomacy. In order to regain the lost splendor of the Moghul empire, Akbar chose diplomacy over military conquest. Rather than subdue the Rajput princes, he forged alliances with them through marriages. His marriage to Jodha Bai was part of this grand strategy.

In his quest for historical accuracy Ashutosh has read Akbarnama, a biographical account of Akbar written by Abul Fazl, one of the Navaratans of Akbar's royal court and Ain-e-Akbari translation of Abul Fazal's Persian text. He has also consulted historians such as Irfan Habib of Aligarh Muslim University. However, his efforts notwithstanding, the film may still ending of drawing flak because literary text seems to contradict historical evidence on whether or not Jodha Bai was indeed the mother of Salim, or even the wife of Akbar.