Members of the Rajput community staged a protest here today against Bollywood biopic "Jodhaa Akbar." Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan in a still from Jodhaa Akbar.By Vijainder K Thakur
20 February 2008 (Sawf News) - If Ashutosh Gowarikar can be faulted for his interpretation of history in the film Jodhaa Akbar it can only be for showing both the Rajputs and the Mughal in better light than they merited.
Akbar was a lot more ruthless than he was shown. He had to be, in order to subdue all his enemies including the Afghan descendants of Sher Shah.
The Rajputs were a lot less honorable than they were shown to be. Their legendary pride was a double edged sword that made them fearsome and weak at the same time, the latter by thwarting their attempts to forge a united front.
Unfortunately for the Rajputs, and arguably for India too, the Mughals were the victors and the Rajputs the vanquished. So if the Rajputs come through as weak in the film it is only because that is their history.
It is not in the Rajput tradition to give away their daughters to their victors, something that Raja Bharmal did.
The truth rankles but filmmaker Ashutosh Gowarikar can hardly be faulted for it.
His film Jodha Akbar is nothing but a sincere attempt to see the good in our history, even those parts of it that we find unpalatable.
None of us made our history but all of us can help make the future. The agitation by the Rajputs will achieve nothing more than make our future history unpalatable also.
Anyway, we are glad Jodhaa Akbar has wowed audience world wide. Its box office collection from the opening weekend in the US was $1.6 million, only a little short of Om Shanti Om which grossed $1.76 million.
The difference between the collections for the two film is so small that we believe is not significant. It could well be accounted for something as trivial as the weather (A large part of the US is in the throes of peak winter conditions) or the fact that Om Shanti Om was released in the midst of the festive season.
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