Jodhaa Akbar (2008) - Review by Madison Miller

The Film Jodhaa Akbar was released in 2008 in India. It tells the tale of the supposed

love between Mughal Emperor Jalal-ud-Din Akbar, and his Rajput wife Jodhaa. The film was created to endear itself to a Hindu Indian audience, and was a way of ensuring their cultural history is remembered. The film after being released was banned in several places including the country of Pakistan, and places such as Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Uttarakhand. While the ban was eventually lifted in the case of the latter three places, it remains a debated film. The people of Rajasthan were offended by the movie, claiming it was inaccurate in its depiction of their history, and portrayed a man who killed so many of their people in a positive light. 1

The film, while entertaining to view, is not very historically accurate. While

Jalal-ud-Din did marry a Rajput princess, her name was Hira Kunwari, not Jodhaa, and she was his third wife, and even then only one of the 300 wives he eventually possessed. The film also portrays her as a strong and steadfast Hindu woman, when in reality evidence suggests that the Rajput princess who married Akbar converted to Christianity at some point following her marriage. Nor was the princess entirely responsible for the religious tolerance found throughout the reign of Akbar. The movie exaggerates not only the importance of Jodhaa’s character, but also grossly misrepresented who she truly was. 2

1 Shahnaz Khan, “Recovering the Past in ‘Jodhaa Akbar’: Masculinities, Femininities, and Cultural Politics in

Bombay Cinema”, Feminist Review , no.99 (2011): 141

2 Shahnaz Khan, “Recovering the Past in ‘Jodhaa Akbar’: Masculinities, Femininities, and Cultural Politics in

Bombay Cinema”, Feminist Review , no.99 (2011):