'Jodha Akbar', a Bollywood epic

A movie,which has two of the best looking actors in Bollywood, is 'Jodha Akbar'. It has Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan in the roles of a Hindu princess and the Mughal ruler, Akbar. It is a movie that is more of a fictionalized love story than one based on historical facts. Before its release, this movie generated quite a bit of controversy related to its adherence to historical fact. The angle that the director of the movie, Ashutosh Gowarikar, wanted to explore was the human, romantic one - what must it have been like for a Rajput Hindu princess to be married to a Muslim ruler. In my opinion, while it is true that Akbar was an enlightened Mughal ruler and some of that is shown in the movie, whether he would have paid quite so much attention to a particular queen when he had countless others and concubines too is a moot point. Especially as he was supposed to have married her for political considerations rather than any personal reason. However, it is a tantalizing glimpse into what may have been, except that historians are not privy to such matters.

For its sheer pageantry and portrayal of that period in Indian history, this movie could easily rival Hollywood's 'Troy', even if it does not have its pathos.The songs have beautiful lyrics by Javed Akhtar, one of the finest lyricists in the industry and the music composed by the renowned A.R.Rahman is outstanding, especially my favorite 'Khwaja Mere Khwaja', a Sufi devotional song. For those interested, there are many translations available on the Net of this song.