Check your facts
by: P.B. Chandra
- mumbaimirror.com
The Rajput community of Jaipur has urged producer-director Ashutosh Gowariker, who is researching for his film on the life and times of Emperor Akbar and Jodha Bai, starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai, to check historical facts before attempting the subject.
Narendra Singh Rajawat, secretary of the Rajput Sabha told Mumbai Mirror, "The facts in various 'historicals' made in Bollywood, particularly those set in Rajasthan have been full of distortions."
"Rajput Sabha will not tolerate any distortion or twisting of facts anymore, and it is for this reason that we have asked Ashutosh Gowariker to check his facts on Jodha Bai before making his film. The community will vehemently oppose the production of the film and would not allow Gowariker to shoot in Rajasthan unless the script is approved by the community."
Rajawat says he had tried to contact Gowariker when the director had visited Jaipur recently on a location-hunt, but could not meet him. The reason Rajawat says he is keen to meet Gowariker is to apprise him of the actual antecedents of Jodha Bai.
He says, “I want Gowariker to know that Jodha bai was not the real daughter of Raja Bharmal, the ruler of Amber. She was actually the maidservant of his wife. Her actual name was Heera Kunwar. When Emperor Akbar demanded the hand of Raja Bharmal's daughter, the Raja presented his maid-servant instead, rechristened her Jodha Bai, indicating that she was from Jodhpur. So Jodha Bai was not from the royal stock at all, and Raja Bharmal had tricked Akbar to marry a maidservant, posing her as a princess. It was political compulsion that had led Raja Bharmal to agree to the alliance."
On his part, reacting to a controversy even before he has begun shoot for his film, director Gowariker says, "I am consulting researchers to ensure that the film as historically accurate as possible."
"But I should also make it clear that I am not depicting or suggesting a love story before the marriage of Jodha Bai and Akbar, because I know it was a marriage of alliance. I am concentrating on the relationship that must have developed after the marriage."
Related Links:
Forthcoming Films
