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All eyes are on the first true high profile movie of 2008. Here are some interesting tid-bits on the self-acclaimed “magnum opus of the year” (whatever that means!). This is what
wikipedia has to say -

The film centers around the romance between the Muslim Mughal Emperor Akbar, played by Hrithik Roshan and his Hindu wife, Jodhabai, played by Aishwarya.
In reality Akbar’s wife was never known as Jodhabai. The use of the name Jodhabai appears to have been a 19th century mistake.^[4][5] Her real name was Hira-Kunwari before marriage and after marriage she was known as Mariam-uz-Zamani.

According to historical texts, Akbar actually did meet Jodha before they were married. It was Akbar who proposed to her father for her hand in marriage to create an alliance and also because he somehow became very fond of her. Akbar had many wives, some of them Rajput princesses.

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.

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.

Personally, I am more interested in the way the political drama unfolds in comparison to the romance. History will be history, it will always be them vs. them. I would be happy, if the story is captivating.
Watch this space for updates with interesting buzz on Jodhaa Akbar on the web.

Update: Thanks for the link, Pooj. Excerpts -

Some historians have questioned the very existence of Jodha Bai and some are of the view that it was Jehangir who had one of the wives by that name. ?The historians are divided over the name, not the person. Most of them agree Akbar married the daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber. Jehangir was born out of this wedlock,? says Ashutosh.

…

He relates his research. ?I started from the top. Abul Fazal?s ?Ain-e-Akbari? and ?Akbarnama? have no reference to Jodha Bai. The name also doesn?t find mention in Jehangir?s memoirs. Similarly, there is no mention of Jodha Bai in Badauni?s ?Muntakhib-al-Tawarikh?.?

…
Contrast this to the small-budget, risk-free cinema and Ashutosh says, ?We are fast becoming part of world cinema. Ninety and 100-minute formats are a reality. But personally, I can?t do without 180 minutes interspersed with five songs!?

Also check out the discussion here about the movie’s publicity or lack thereof -

Today is the time of ghor kalyug at the box office, of aggressive hardsell, of driving people nuts with your publicity drive to the extent that they sing Dard-e-Disco (or Saawariya) in their sleep. To hell with the ridiculous theory that says that ?a good film always works?- it doesn?t take a rocket scientist to know that is just politically correct crap.

Jodhaa Akbar - Cast and Crew

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 7:25 am and is filed under Buzz, Hindi Movies, meetu. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.