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Jodhaa-Akbar (Hindi: जोधा-अकबर, Urdu: جودھا اکبر) is a film released on February 15, 2008. It is directed and produced by Ashutosh Gowariker, the director of Academy Awards nominated Lagaan. It stars Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in lead roles. This film also marks the debut of newcomer Abir Abrar. Extensive research went into the making of this film which begun shooting at Karjat. Noted Indian historian, Irfan Habib, acknowledges that director of this movie did consult with him but Habib disagreed with pretty much everything the director has put in this film. Claim of extensive research is dubious at best.

There is popular perception that Rajput wife of Akbar, mother of Jahangir, was known as "Jodha Bai". However, Akbar's Rajput wife was never known as "Jodha Bai" during her lifetime.

The name of Akbar's wife was kept out of the Mughal records deliberately because the islamic clergy and the mughal populace could not come to terms with the future mughal emperor being the son of a Hindu woman. In Tujuk-i-Jahangiri she is clearly referred as Mariam Zamani. During the Mughal period, Akbar's Rajput wife was never known as "Jodha Bai". Neither the Akbarnama (a biography of Akbar commissioned by Akbar himself), nor any historical text from the period refer to her as Jodha Bai. Tuzk-e-Jahangiri, the autobiography of Jahangir, doesn't mention Jodha Bai either.

According to Professor Shirin Moosvi, a historian of Aligarh Muslim University, the name "Jodha Bai" was first used to refer to Akbar's wife in the 18th and 19th centuries in historical writings. According to the historian Imtiaz Ahmad, the director of the Khuda Baksh Oriental Public Library in Patna, the name "Jodha" was used for Akbar's wife for the first time by Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod, in his book Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan. According to Ahmad, Tod was not a professinal historian and depended on folk literature of Rajputs. According to the historian Lifaq Ali Khan, the name Jodha Bai seems to have become popular after the film Mughal-e-Azam.

According to N R Farooqi, Jodha Bai was not the name of Akbar's Rajput queen; it was the name of Jahangir's Rajput wife, whose real name was Jagat Gosain. Jagat Gosain was referred to as "Jodha Bai" or "Jodhi Bibi", since she belonged to the royal family of Jodhpur. Jodhi Bibi was the daughter of Udai Singh of Jodhpur, and a wife of Jahangir. She was the mother of Prince Khurram (later Shah Jahan).

The film centers around the romance between the Muslim Mughal Emperor Akbar, played by Hrithik Roshan and his Hindu wife, Jodhabai, played by Aishwarya Rai, although in reality Akbar's wife was never known as Jodhabai. The music is composed by acclaimed music composer A. R. Rahman. The soundtrack of the movie was released on January 19, 2008.

Synopsis

Jodhaa Akbar is a sixteenth century love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodhaa.

Political success knew no bounds for Emperor Akbar (Hrithik Roshan). After having secured the Hindu Kush, he furthered his realm by conquest until his empire extended from Afghanistan to the Bay of Bengal, and from the Himalayas to the Godavari River. Through a shrewd blend of diplomacy, intimidation and brute force , Akbar won the allegiance of the Rajputs. But little did Akbar know that when he married Jodhaa (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), a fiery Rajput princess, in order to further strengthen his relations with the Rajputs, he would in turn be embarking upon a new journey – the journey of true love.

The daughter of King Bharmal of Amer, Jodhaa resented being reduced to a mere political pawn in this marriage of alliance, and Akbar’s biggest challenge now did not merely lie in winning battles, but in winning the love of Jodhaa – a love hidden deep below resentment and extreme prejudice. Jodhaa-Akbar is their untold love story.

Cast

• Hrithik Roshan ... Emperor Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar
• Aishwarya Rai ... Jodhaa
• Abir Abrar ... Bakshi Banu Begum
• Kulbhushan Kharbanda ... Raja Bharmal
• Sonu Sood ... Rajkumar Sujamal
• Suhasini Mulay ... Rani Padmawati
• Shaji Choudhary …Adham Khan
• Mrs. Punam S Sinha… Mallika Hamida Banu
• Digvijay Purohit…Rajkumar Bhagwan das
• Pradeep Sharma…Sheikh Mubarak
• Rajiv Sehgal…Raja Viraat
• Gurmmeet Singh…Raja Shundi
• Balraj…Raja Balraj Singh
• Yuri…Bairam Khan
• Disha Vakani…Madhavi
• Indrajeet Sarkar…Maheshdas/ Birbal
• Sudhanshu Singh…Raja Shimalgarh
• Nikitin Dheer…Sharifuddin Hussain
• Rajesh Vivek…Chugtai Khan
• Surendra Pal…Rana Uday Singh
• Raza Murad…Shamsuddin Atka Khan
• Ila Arun…Maham Anga
• Pramod Moutho…Todar Mal
• Pramatesh Mehta…Chandrabhan Singh
• Visswa Badola…Saadir Adaasi
• Manava Naik…Neelakshi
• Sayed Badrul Hasan…Mullah Do Pyaaza
• Dilnaaz Irani…Salima
• Tejpal Singh Rawat…NiMat
• Raju Pandit…Raja Bhaati
• Bharat Kumar…Raja Chauhan
• Jassi Singh…Raja Bhadra
• Ulhas Barve…Raja Mankeshwar
• Abir Abrar…Bakshi Banu Begum
• Aman Dhaliwal…Rajkumar Ratan Singh
• Shehzor Ali…Raja Hemu
• Sanchita Kaur... Special Appearance
• Amitabh Bachchan... Narrator

Crew

• Production Design: Nitin Chandrakant Desai
• Visual Effects: Pankaj Khandpur (Tata Elxsi - Visual Computing Labs)
• Chief Assistant Director: Karan Malhotra

Production

Ashutosh Gowariker hired a research team of historians and scholars from New Delhi, Aligarh, Lucknow, Agra and Jaipur to guide him on this film and help him keep things historically accurate. He clarified that the name of the film remains Jodhaa-Akbar, and not Akbar-Jodhaa as reported by sections of the media. Over 80 elephants, 100 horses and 55 camels were used in the movie. Name Of Main Titled “Azeem O Shan, Shahenshah”, the song featured about one thousand dancers in traditional costumes, wielding swords and shields at a grand location in Karjat. The budget was about 37 crores.

The first television promo was aired on 9th December, 2007.

The movie used over 400 kg of gold jewelery made by Tanishq

Music

The official soundtrack contains five songs and two instrumentals. The music was released on January 18th, 2008.

Reviews

• AOL india (Noyon Jyoti Parasara) gave it four stars, saying " Ashutosh Gowariker has proved that he is one of the best filmmakers we have today. While your heart goes for the love between the two protagonists, the film leaves you at such heights of emotions that you would literally be shaking with excitement! The film also comes at a very right time as Akbar indeed could be a role model for people and rulers today. The king not only had a secular vision, but also a will to know what the common man wanted, apart from being kind hearted and noble,"

References

1. "25th January, 2008". IndiaFM. 2007-09-12. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
2. "Aishwarya gets summons by Customs Department". IndiaFM. 2006-11-15. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
3. ^ Atul Sethi (2007-06-24). "'Trade, not invasion brought Islam to India'". The Times of India. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
4. ^ Ashley D'Mello (2005-12-10). "Fact, myth blend in re-look at Akbar-Jodha Bai". The Times of India. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
5. Syed Firdaus Ashraf (2008-02-05). "Did Jodhabai really exist?". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
6. Fact, myth blend in re-look at Akbar-Jodhabai-Mumbai-Cities-The Times of India
7. 'Trade, not invasion brought Islam to India'-India-The Times of India
8. "27th December, 2008". JodhaaAkbar.com. 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
9. Jodhaa Akbar :: Official Website
10. Oneindia.in

External links

• Official Website: Jodhaa Akbar
• Jodhaa Akbar at IMDb

• 2008 films
• Indian films
• Hindi-language films
• Urdu-language films
• Biographical films
• Films directed by Ashutosh Gowariker