Jodha-Akbar - the greatest fiction ever created

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BlackWitch

@BlackWitch

Rocker

+ 12

Posted: 12 years ago

It IS highly amusing the way a fabricated romance between Jodha and Akbar has reached such heights in movies and TV. One erroneous but beautifully made film on this fictional romance between a Queen whose name wasn't even Jodha has become like a cult of sorts for historical fiction writers to emulate. Indeed, it would have been the stuff of legends had Emperor Akbar fallen for his Rajput Queen and the battle had taken place in their bedrooms.

Though, Ruqaiyya can be reasonably concluded to be his chief consort and most loved Queen, I can understand the reason as to why a romantic epic can't be made on them. Childhood friends and then lovers is hardly the sort of romance that can be the stuff of legends. Romance thrives in strife, and the formula for Indian movie makers and serial writers has always been extreme enemity and then passionate love.

I can only imagine the shock Mariam Uz Zamani (the real Mughal name of Jodha/Harkha Bai) would have had could she see her fairytale romance with a King she had probably despised. Her tomb was made by her son Jahangir and is situated 1 KM away from Akbar's. Though she enjoyed certain political rights, no mention of any affection between Akbar and her has been ever recorded. In fact, Jahangir spoke about his great love for his step mother Ruqaiyya. Akbar also publicly suggested monogamy, saying he regretted having more than one wife i.e. Ruqaiyya.

One can only marvel at the wonders of the human mind which saw an epic love story in a non existent historical scenario and which can now be touted as one of the most amazing subjects on which a drama can exist 👏👏

Edited by gurl-enchanted - 12 years ago

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sun29

@sun29

Trailblazer

+ 2

Posted: 12 years ago

it is indeed true ,people love to see forbidden love stories and romance hence a prince and his courtesan became cult classic lovers salim and anarkali and now jodha akbar...the imagination takes over the subject and you can create a mass appealing love story which can send the audience into a dizzy ...and yes how can there be a love story without strife,tensions and wars ...no one wants to see that hence the writer takes liberty in creating the story with all the seasonings to make it palatable

what actually happened only akbar and his queens would know ...😆..even historians claim versions that has been passed down and i believe even an autobiography provides that truth and lie as a fact as rendered by the person himself...he or she chooses to be honest or not ,that is his or her calling and the rest can simply assume ...

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sashashyam

@sashashyam

Sparkler

+ 3

Posted: 12 years ago

I agree completely with your take on all this.

But this is nothing new, is it? Nor is it limited to Indian history. Queen Elizabeth I of England furnished enough material for God knows how may semi-fictional and purely fictional accounts of her reign, including Sir Walter Scott's classic Kenilworth,plus any number of films, from those of Bette Davis and Errol Flynn to Shekar Kapur's diptych with Cate Blanchett. No one really knows whom, if anyone, she loved, whether she lived and died as the Virgin Queen, and a whole lot else.

It was the same with so many of British Kings, an in fact with an endless list of great personalities the world over. And closer to home, who knows the true story of Rani Rupmati, to take just one example?

It is the same now with Jodha Akbar. She was shown as a key figure even in K.Asif's Mughal-e-Azam, but not then as Jalal's immortal beloved, that is all! I think it is the idea of love triumphing over barriers of religion and race that attracts people to this particular story..Plus, most of the contemporary accounts of Akbar's reign do not dwell much on his personal life. And one cannot discount the bias in such contemporary accounts, depending in who was writing them.

So you take your pick and enjoy yourself, that is all. At least it is a perfectly harmless pursuit!😉

Shyamala B.Cowsik

Originally posted by: gurl-enchanted
It IS highly amusing the way a fabricated romance between Jodha and Akbar has reached such heights in movies and TV. One erroneous but beautifully made film on this fictional romance between a Queen whose name wasn't even Jodha has become like a cult of sorts for historical fiction writers to emulate. Indeed, it would have been the stuff of legends had Emperor Akbar fallen for his Rajput Queen and the battle had taken place in their bedrooms.
Though, Ruqaiyya can be reasonably concluded to be his chief consort and most loved Queen, I can understand the reason as to why a romantic epic can't be made on them. Childhood friends and then lovers is hardly the sort of romance that can be the stuff of legends. Romance thrives in strife, and the formula for Indian movie makers and serial writers has always been extreme enemity and then passionate love.
I can only imagine the shock Mariam Uz Zamani (the real Mughal name of Jodha/Harkha Bai) would have had could she see her fairytale romance with a King she had probably despised. Her tomb was made by her son Jahangir and is situated 1 KM away from Akbar's. Though she enjoyed certain political rights, no mention of any affection between Akbar and her has been ever recorded. In fact, Jahangir spoke about his great love for his step mother Ruqaiyya. Akbar also publicly suggested monogamy, saying he regretted having more than one wife i.e. Ruqaiyya.

One can only marvel at the wonders of the human mind which saw an epic love story in a non existent historical scenario and which can now be touted as one of the most amazing subjects on which a drama can exist 👏👏

Edited by sashashyam - 12 years ago

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Sara

@smile.sara

Sparkler

+ 3

Posted: 12 years ago

Originally posted by: gurl-enchanted
It IS highly amusing the way a fabricated romance between Jodha and Akbar has reached such heights in movies and TV. One erroneous but beautifully made film on this fictional romance between a Queen whose name wasn't even Jodha has become like a cult of sorts for historical fiction writers to emulate. Indeed, it would have been the stuff of legends had Emperor Akbar fallen for his Rajput Queen and the battle had taken place in their bedrooms.
Though, Ruqaiyya can be reasonably concluded to be his chief consort and most loved Queen, I can understand the reason as to why a romantic epic can't be made on them. Childhood friends and then lovers is hardly the sort of romance that can be the stuff of legends. Romance thrives in strife, and the formula for Indian movie makers and serial writers has always been extreme enemity and then passionate love.
I can only imagine the shock Mariam Uz Zamani (the real Mughal name of Jodha/Harkha Bai) would have had could she see her fairytale romance with a King she had probably despised. Her tomb was made by her son Jahangir and is situated 1 KM away from Akbar's. Though she enjoyed certain political rights, no mention of any affection between Akbar and her has been ever recorded. In fact, Jahangir spoke about his great love for his step mother Ruqaiyya. Akbar also publicly suggested monogamy, saying he regretted having more than one wife i.e. Ruqaiyya.

One can only marvel at the wonders of the human mind which saw an epic love story in a non existent historical scenario and which can now be touted as one of the most amazing subjects on which a drama can exist 👏👏

🤗🤗

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Arya75

@Arya75

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

Haye what lovely post after a long time...

Ya and its so true our Indian history has many shocking things that will shock you yaar...

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Alyx

@mystic786

Dazzler

Posted: 12 years ago

Bravo, an awesome post! 👏 What u have stated is the truth and I completely agree with u. Even i sometimes feel that Mariam uz Zamani i.e. Harkha bai would be shocked if she were alive to see this. This whole Jodha (which isn't even her real name for god's sake!) and Akbar romance thing doesn't even have the slightest bit of historical accuracy.

Ruqaiya was Akbar's chief consort as it is clearly stated in the Jahangirnama and his most loved queen, and as u pointed out that even "Jahangir spoke about his great love for his step mother Ruqaiyya". Jodha's certain political rights just arise out of the fact that she was Salim's mother.

And Ekta proudly declares in her disclaimer that this serial isn't historically accurate at all, she might as well say "just be ignorant and watch what I've done to such an important historical figure like Akbar".

They're portraying a great emperor like a B-grade Hindi movie villain who is evil and power hungry (he's an emperor ppl !!) and will suddenly get reformed after meeting the love of his life "Jodha" and get lovesick, yeah right.

The eternal romance that DID happen i.e. Shah Jahan's with Mumtaz Mahal or Jahangir's with Nur Jahan, is not even portrayed in any movies, TV shows etc.

''One can only marvel at the wonders of the human mind which saw an epic love story in a non existent historical scenario and which can now be touted as one of the most amazing subjects on which a drama can exist'' 👏

Edited by mystic786 - 12 years ago

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Gargi

@sweet_gargi

Dazzler

+ 3

Posted: 12 years ago

Fabulous post girl..👏👏.you are absolutely right...History itself is something we can only imagine, as we know it only the way it is depicted in the history books..So whether history books of many kings and queens give us correct information, or something re-edited for the convenience of society or not, we don't know...We have to believe it as true. But from the time i watched the movie Jodha-Akbar i found it strange that i could never find any word of romance or romantic connection, in my history books of school.

But one thing i always remember about Jodha and Akbar i.e it was a marriage of political alliance, which made Akbar know the hindu culture, and from what we got to study was that after his marriage with the rajput princess, he was a changed man. He started respecting other religion, specially hinduism and became a kind king, and got the title of Akbar...

My point here is whether there was a romantic impact on his life or not we can't say, but there must have been some influence of Jodha on him. 😊

Sorry to bore everyone with my long lecture😆, but this post was definitely interesting and so i could not stop myself from commenting😳

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sashashyam

@sashashyam

Sparkler

+ 3

Posted: 12 years ago

No, no, my dear, you are being totally unfair to the Hindi film industry. They did make a film called Taj Mahal, about, what else, the eternal romance you have mentioned. Since it starred Pradeep Kumar and Bina Rai, arguably two of the worst hams in the industry, who had earlier made a hash of Anarkali, the film was, unsurprisingly, lousy. But you cannot say that nothing was made on that subject.

The likely reason for the Shahjahan-Mumtaz love story not having been popular as a subject for films is exactly what you have mentioned. It is too placid. No star-crossed lovers, no familial objections and strife, no rebellion for the sake of love, nothing.

Boy meets girl.
Boy marries girl as Begum No.Whatever (he had earlier Rajput wives, as per the prevalent practice post-Akbar)
Boy and girl have about 16 children before girl (this is by now merely a figure of speech, after 16 kids!😉) dies in childbirth.

What can one make of this? Nothing. The only heart tugging thing that can be shown is of a grieving Shahjahan after her death, and that is not going to sell tickets. End of story.

Whereas the totally fictional Anarkali has always sold tickets.

As for the present topic of controversy, Jodha, she at least existed, and so it behoves us not to protest too much!😉

Shyamala Aunty

The eternal romance that DID happen i.e. Shah Jahan's with Mumtaz Mahal is not even portrayed in any movies, TV shows etc. Yeah, this stupidity can happen only in our India.

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Alyx

@mystic786

Dazzler

Posted: 12 years ago

Originally posted by: sashashyam
No, no, my dear, you are being totally unfair to the Hindi film industry. They did make a film called Taj Mahal, about, what else, the eternal romance you have mentioned. Since it starred Pradeep Kumar and Bina Rai, arguably two of the worst hams in the industry, who had earlier made a hash of Anarkali, the film was, unsurprisingly, lousy. But you cannot say that nothing was made on that subject.

The likely reason for the Shahjahan-Mumtaz love story not having been popular as a subject for films is exactly what you have mentioned. It is too placid. No star-crossed lovers, no familial objections and strife, no rebellion for the sake of love, nothing.

Boy meets girl.
Boy marries girl as Begum No.Whatever (he had earlier Rajput wives, as per the prevalent practice post-Akbar)
Boy and girl have about 16 children before girl (this is by now merely a figure of speech, after 16 kids!😉) dies in childbirth.

What can one make of this? Nothing. The only heart tugging thing that can be shown is of a grieving Shahjahan after her death, and that is not going to sell tickets. End of story.

Whereas the totally fictional Anarkali has always sold tickets.

As for the present topic of controversy, Jodha, she at least existed, and so it behoves us not to protest too much!😉

Shyamala Aunty

Yeah, but those Hindi films about them were made decades ago...but anyway there are many other countless examples even Akbar's own son, Jahangir, and Nur Jahan's romance, now that would have been interesting!! 😆

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sashashyam

@sashashyam

Sparkler

+ 3

Posted: 12 years ago

#10

Ah, that is a possibility, but at the risk of being labelled a Grinch, let me set out the problems there.

1) It would be not Jahangir and his Noor-e-Jahan, but only the lady, and it would have been like Mahaam Anga mild, with very good looks thrown in. Jahangir,as you might remember, features in the popular consciousness mainly as the emperor who declared:

Ek ser sharab ho,
Aadh ser kabab ho
Hai sultanat Noor-e-Jahan ki,
Khoob ho ki kharab ho.

Not quite hero material, would you not say?

2)Then again, he married Noorjehan when she was 34 and had a fairly grown up daughter by her deceased husband, Sher Afghan. Not a coy, blushing maiden or even a young warrior goddess, but more like a Punar Vivah circa 1611 (Jahangir apparently had 19 earlier begums)😉.

Now you see why no one risked making a film about this couple!😉

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: mystic786

Yeah, but those Hindi films about them were made decades ago...but anyway there are many other countless examples even Akbar's own son, Jahangir, and Nur Jahan's romance, now that would have been interesting!! 😆