In The Times of India, Sharmistha Gooptu, who is doing a PhD thesis on Indian film at the University of Chicago, on the Jodhaa Akbar cntroversy
Jodhaa Akbar, the love story of emperor Akbar and his Rajput queen Jodhabai, has been decreed non-historical by historians. That’s no great surprise: the love story of Jodha and Akbar as a Bollywood film would necessarily need to be ‘created’ by the director. No history book in the world provides much insight into, whether Akbar had, or had not, ever married a Rajput princess named Jodhabai.
One does not need to be an expert of Mughal history to spot discrepancies in the film’s period reconstruction. For instance, would a Mughal queen step into the shahi (royal) kitchen and cook a meal for her husband, or would she actually make an appearance before his courtiers to serve him lunch, with the queen mother looking on? Possibly not. The film is most clearly a work of fiction built on a skeleton of history, with some characters who are ‘real’, others imaginary.
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- Jodhaa Akbar: the verdict
- Age of intolerance
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