Scoop on Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodha-Akbar

 The Story

Jodha 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.

Politically, success knew no bounds for Emperor Akbar. 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 tolerance, generosity, and force, Akbar won the allegiance of the Rajputs, the most belligerent Hindus. But little did Akbar know that when he married Jodhaa, 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.

The Director

History may have been his favourite subject in school, but at the moment Ashutosh Gowariker is gearing up for his latest test – his new film Jodha-Akbar.

From Kuchchi Dhoop, one of his first TV serials as an actor opposite Bhagyashree to Jodha Akbar, Ashutosh Gowariker has come a long way and the issue that he is all set to explore in his latest film, Jodha -Akbar is finding love after marriage. “I want to explore how the love between emperor Akbar and his Hindu wife Jodhabai developed and how she came to be his head queen from the 33 other wives he had.”

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. Rajput’s have protested about the film saying that Ashutosh has distorted the facts and actually Jodha Bai was Akbar’s daughter-in-law. So to be on the safer side, Ashutosh Gowariker says Jodha Akbar is 20 per cent history and 80 per cent his imagination.

Speaking with CNN IBN , Gowarikar says, “I started working on the film way back in 2001. While making Swades, my actor friend Hyder Ali, who acted in Nukkad, came up with this idea. That is when I thought of making this film after Swades. I had to work on a bigger set-up, research its historical aspects and wanted to be sure about all the facts. It was not a case of doing one more film with Ronnie. Morever, it is not just another historical, but an epic love story which has been never attempted in the past. In fact, this is the first time I will be attempting a love story. I needed a huge set-up to handle its marketing and international release.”

The otherwise mild-at-heart Ashutosh Gowariker becomes quite a disciplinarian on the sets of his films. The prolific director has restrained cast members, including Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan, from carrying mobile phones to the sets.

Since his film is a sync sound production, the director fears that even the faintest ring or vibration from a mobile phone will have an impact on the sound. Says a crewmember, “Ashutosh has given strict orders to all the assistants here. He doesn’t want to see any mobiles in the vicinity.”

While the shocked cast members were left complaining on the first day, they eventually complied with the director’s terms. So after heavy discussions over this phone menace plaguing actors Aishwarya Rai, Hrithik Roshan, Sonu Sood, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Ila Arun, they have all decided to leave their phones in the hotel rooms.

Hrithik, who updates himself with hourly reports of son Hrehaan’s whereabouts, has been heard complaining to his fellow colleagues. A source informs, “That’s the father in Hrithik, who can’t do without information about his son. But everyone is a thorough professional and all the actors are co-operating.”It is also believed that Gowariker didn’t want his actors to get distracted by calls, which would eventually affect the film.
The Producer

UTV who earlier had associated with Ashutosh for Swades will be bonding with him again for “Jodha -Akbar”. The film’s budget is approximated to around 35-40 crores. Ashutosh has reportedly hired the services of foreign technicians to supervise the war scenes at an enormous cost, amounting to several crores. That’s what we call blending period romance with brain-blowing action! Director Ashutosh Gowarikar and UTV seem to be really excited about their renewed collaboration. Don’t they?

The Music

“Akbar-Jodha”, to be directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and starring Hrithik Roshan will have 12 songs composed by the maestro musician, A.R. Rehmaan. Jodha Akbar will also be A.R. Rehman’s last period film. As A.R. rehman has expressed on record that he does not want to do anymore period films. Renowned lyricist Javed Akthar will be penning down the lyrics of Jodha Akbar.

Do watch this space tomorrow for more news about the cast and crew of Jodha –Akbar .