JAIPUR: Ashutosh Gowariker's historical epic Jodhaa Akbar is facing trouble, with the Rajput community of Rajasthan threatening to stall the release of the movie in the state.

The community says Gowariker has distorted facts in his magnum opus which is to be released on Feb 15.

Narendra Singh Rajawat, head of the Rajput Sabha, said Gowariker is presenting Jodhabai as Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Akbar's wife, which is factually incorrect. He also said that Jodhabai was not the daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber near Jaipur as shown in the film.

Jodhabai was the daughter of Motaraja Udai Singh of Marwar and was married to Akbar's son Salim alias Jehangir. And Mughal king Shahjahan was her son, he added.

Rajawat said such distortion of historical facts had hurt the feelings of the Rajput community. He urged the courts to restrain Gowariker from showing Jodhabai as the daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber.

He said the name of Raja Bharmal's daughter was Harkabai alias Heera Kunwar.

"You cannot make your own history and Ashutosh Gowariker is making his own history. He is projecting Jodhabai, who is Akbar's daughter-in-law, as his beloved and making a love story out of that. He is totally distorting historical facts," Rajawat said.

He said that the community would boycott the film.

"We are also approaching the high court against this," informed Rajawat.

The president of the Rajput Karni Sena, Lokendra Singh Kalvi, is also up in arms against the director. He said the Sena had apprehended the distortion of Rajasthan's historical facts in Jodhaa Akbar , which is based on the Jodhpur royal family.

"The Karni Sena would watch the movie when released and, if required, it would not allow the screening in the state," said Kalvi.

Mahaveer Singh Sarwadi, a leader of the Shatriya Yuvak Singh, said: "We would oppose the release of the film if it shows the community in bad taste."

A number of scenes for the film, which features Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai in the lead roles, were shot in and around Jaipur. Gowariker has consulted several eminent Mughal historians for his movie.

Change it to DARA JODHA!

Are they also complaining about this in Mughal-E-Azam?

i think bollywood should threaten to boycott the Rajputs lol

seriously its a movie..not a documentary..
it does not have to be 100% factual if the maker doesnt want it to be..

This is getting pathetic - every time a new film comes out, some party or the other finds some problem with it, and manage to get in the news. This happened with Aaja Nachle as well - surprisingly, it's only the big banner films that people have problems with

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what was the objection then? that Madhuri was looking toooooooooo nice?!

Protests against Jodhaa Akbar in Rajasthan

Onkar Singh in New Delhi | February 05, 2008 19:06 IST


Aishwarya Rai as Jodhaa








Activists belonging to an outfit calling itself the Sri Rajput Karni Sena have protested against the screening of Jodhaa Akbar in Rajasthan.

"We shall not allow the filmmaker to distort history," said Lokendra Singh Kalvi, a leader of the outfit, at a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday.

According to him, none of Mughal emperor Akbar's 34 wives were named Jodhabai. Akbar married the former maharaja of Ajmer, Bharmal's elder daughter Karkbai alias Heer Kumar in Fatehpur Sikri on Feburary 6, 1562. Prince Salim was born in 1569.

"Jodhabai was the daughter of Moteraja Udai Singh and she would have been three years younger than Salim and hence, in no way could she have been his mother," Kalvi claimed.

According to these organisations, Jodha was the daughter of Udai Singh of Marwar and was married to Salim, Akbar's son.

"Thus, she was Akbar's daughter-in-law. So, depicting Jodha as Akbar's wife is not tolerable," Karni said.

He claimed that he had met Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priyarajan Das Munsi and the latter had assured him that the film would not be allowed to be released.

He also claimed five historians had worked on the subject and had come up with well researched documents that prove the film historically incorrect. Ain-e-Akbari (page 619), Akbarnama (page 212) and a National Council of Educational Research and Training's Class XI history book on medieval India by Professor Satish Chandra are amongst the books that were consulted by the experts, he said.

"The Rajasthan high court has passed an order and if necessary, we shall go to the Supreme Court of India and seek a ban. In any case, the producers are losing money on the Rajasthan territory where they have not been able to release their music. We will not allow Jodhaa Akbar to be screened in Rajasthan," Karni said.

He could not give us the names of the historians or produce the high court papers when the media asked him for a copy.

"I will send you copies of the CDs to reporters in Delhi," he said.

Rajput activists also burnt posters of Jodhaa Akbar in Rajasthan. At least 100 activists gathered outside the Rambagh Palace hotel in Jaipur -- where the Bachchans are celebrating Abhishek's birthday -- and shouted slogans against Aishwarya [Images] for playing the role of Jodhabai in the film, as well as against director Ashutosh Gowarikar.

Slogans like 'Jodha Akbar nahin chalega, band karo Jodha Akbar' and 'Amitabh (Bachchan) Aish ko samjhao, Aish ko Jodha mat banao' filled the air as the protestors burnt posters of the big budget film that also stars Hrithik Roshan [Images].

Kalvi said the protest was a symbolic one, since Amitabh was ill.

Jodhaa Akbar has faced heavy weather right from the time the crew landed on the outskirts of Jaipur in 2006, with the Rajputs saying it was historically incorrect and animal rights activists accusing Gowarikar of being cruel to horses used in some sequences.
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I am afraid this might delay jat bhaii's SS posting on pirate dvd lol