Click it and Unblock the Notifications
"How much do you know about Akbar" Ashutosh Gowarikar
Q.:
At
the
beginning
we
would
like
to
know
how
is
your
back-pain?
A.:
It's
under
control
now.
I
can
now
sit
for
twenty
minutes
at
a
stretch.
I
endured
worse
of
the
pain
during
the
editing
of
the
film.
I
have
done
the
most
of
the
editing
of
this
film
lying
in
the
bed.
But
I
am
really
happy
as
I
didn't
have
to
endure
the
pain
during
the
shooting.
(Smiling)
otherwise
I
would
have
to
postpone
the
releasing
date
of
the
film
once
again
and
you
would
have
come
to
ask
me
the
reason.
Q.:
What's
the
reason
behind
choosing
Jodhaa
Akbar
as
the
subject
of
your
film?
A.:
Hyeder
Ali,
the
writer
of
the
film,
who
is
my
friend
also,
told
me
the
story.
There
are
many
reasons
choosing
this
story
for
making
a
film
one
of
which
maybe
the
marriage
between
a
Mughal
emperor
and
a
Hindu
princess.
The
marriage
took
place
almost
four
and
half
a
century
back.
It's
really
an
amazing
story.
Though
the
reason
behind
the
wedding
was
the
expansion
of
his
empire
and
for
the
betterment
of
the
relationship
with
Raajputs,
there
were
some
good
social
impacts
also.
Besides
all
these
the
most
important
matter
about
the
story
was
the
reason
for
which
a
Rajput
father
had
to
hand
his
daughter
to
a
Mughal
emperor.
At
the
same
time
I
wanted
to
weave
the
essence
of
love
story
in
the
film,
too.
In
that
film
I
got
exactly
the
same
love
story
that
I
wanted
to
make.
Q.:
Why
did
you
choose
Aishwarya
and
Hrithik
for
the
film?
Was
there
any
influence
of
Dhoom
2
in
characterisation?
A.:
It's
absolutely
wrong
to
think
that
I
want
to
cash
the
famous
Dhoom
2
pair
on
the
screen
once
again.
The
reality
is
that
I
started
my
film
much
earlier
than
Krish
and
Dhoom
2.
While
I
heard
the
story
I
thought
only
about
Hrithik
and
Aishwarya
as
they
really
have
that
princely
touch
in
their
appearance.
I
spent
my
childhood
with
the
books
like
Amar
Chitrakatha
and
Chanda
Mama.
Actually
those
stories
inspired
me
to
think
about
my
own
stories.
I
saw
exactly
the
same
image
in
Aishwarya
and
Hrithik
that
I
used
to
see
in
those
characters.
Q.:
Don't
you
think
your
Akbar
is
little
skinny?
A.:
Before
replying
to
your
question
I
would
like
to
ask
you
something.
Where
did
you
see
Akbar?
The
actuality
is
that
you
have
seen
Prithwiraj
Kapoor
as
Akbar
in
Mughal
E
Azam.
In
that
film
you
have
witnessed
the
Akbar
who
is
in
his
sixties
and
is
a
father
of
a
young
man.
But
in
my
film
you
will
get
the
young
look
of
Akbar.
According
to
the
story
I
have
chosen
the
middle
period
of
twenty
eighth
year
of
his
age.
Hrithik
is
fit
for
the
character
not
only
because
of
his
age
but
also
because
of
his
physical
structure,
mental
ability
and
maturity.
Actually
I
needed
a
passionate
actor
who
would
equally
be
dedicated
to
this
movie.
I
am
happy
that
Hrithik
proved
his
best
for
the
character.
Q.:
There
are
lots
of
conflicts
regarding
the
release
of
the
film.
What's
the
reason?
A.:
Let
me
make
very
clear
that
there
will
be
no
problem
releasing
the
movie
on
the
given
date.
People
are
so
excited
about
the
film
that
their
interest
just
grows
on
and
on
for
the
film
to
get
released.
It's
really
justified
taking
time
to
make
historical
movies.
It's
quite
easy
to
think
and
make
films
on
paper
but
filming
it
requires
pure
technical
knowledge.
My
film
required
lot
of
people
to
work
on.
Even
filming
a
small
scene
I
required
all
the
artists.
There
were
many
times
when
few
of
them
were
not
present
in
the
set
and
then
I
used
to
call
them
to
get
their
shots.
Everything
including
location,
jewellery,
look,
make-up,
junior
artists
as
well
as
animals
are
most
important
for
the
movie.
Despite
all
those
things
I
faced
many
problems
filming
the
movie.
Q.:
How
did
you
think
about
the
references
for
the
movie?
A.:
In
accordance
with
the
story
of
the
film
I
referred
to
the
Mughal
and
Rajput
history
as
well
as
books
like
"Akbar
Nama" and
"Ain
–
E-
Akbari".
Apart
from
them
I
went
through
books
of
Badauni
who
wrote
many
things
about
Akbar's
life.
The
most
important
part
of
that
period's
writing
was
that
people
used
to
write
against
each
other.
And
in
that
way
I
faced
many
problems
deciding
the
truth.
At
the
end
I
accepted
which
I
thought
might
be
the
truth.
Besides,
I
chose
many
things
from
the
royal
family
of
Jaipur
and
information
from
the
Kachchhaya
family.
And
Bhavani
Singh,
the
king
of
Jaipur,
as
well
as
the
queen
Padmini
also
informed
me
about
many
things
regarding
Akbar.
Q.:
Despite
having
so
much
information
the
film
is
not
beyond
debate
especially
in
Jaipur.
Why?
A.:
You
must
have
noticed
that
big
films
always
come
with
debates.
Historians
expressed
their
individual
thoughts
regarding
the
name
Jodhaa.
When
one
says
her
actual
name
was
Harkha
Bai
the
others
claim
names
like
Heera
Bai
or
Shahi
Bai.
Height
of
imagination
is
seen
where
someone
names
Jodhaa
as
Jiya
Bai.
It's
not
true
only
with
Jodhaa
Bai
as
it's
the
same
fate
with
names
of
Jodhaa
Bai's
daughter.
She
had
three
main
names
as
Meera
Bai,
Mani
Bai
and
Jodhaa
Bai.
It
maybe
because
of
the
name
that
people
are
confused
thinking
the
film
is
not
about
Akbar's
wife
Jodhaa
but
his
daughter
Jodh.
Besides
other
people
I
got
the
most
emphasis
on
the
name
Jodhaa
as
the
name
of
Akbar's
wife.
And
thus
I
kept
the
name
of
the
film
as
"Jodha
Akbar".
Otherwise
you
can
place
Akbar's
name
with
any
other
name
given
above
and
then
you
also
can
decide
which
sounds
better.
Q.:
Were
you
ready
for
such
controversy?
A.:
Yeah,
absolutely.
Even
during
the
pre-production
I
knew
there
will
be
some
controversy
regarding
the
movie.
When
there
are
so
many
controversies
in
the
history
itself
then
there
has
to
be
some
difference
in
thought
about
the
movie.
I
would
only
say
that
I
have
taken
the
truth
only.
Through
the
media
I
would
like
to
inform
people
that
I
have
made
the
film
for
general
entertainment
and
there's
little
historical
theory
in
it
comparing
with
the
creative
thoughts.
My
prime
focus
is
to
show
the
proximity
between
two
different
societies
of
people
that
came
together
hundreds
of
years
ago
because
of
a
marriage.
I
have
depicted
the
traditional
collaboration
between
two
completely
different
strata
of
people.
I
appeal
to
all
the
people
to
take
"Jodhaa
Akbar"
just
as
a
film.
Q.:
How
are
you
prepared
to
face
controversies
once
the
film
gets
released?
A.:
First
thing
first
that
controversy
is
absolutely
baseless.
As
far
as
the
release
of
the
film
is
concerned,
I
think,
once
the
film
is
released
people
will
love
it
so
much
that
they
will
forget
to
think
even
about
the
old
controversies.
Q.:
How
would
you
like
to
categorise
yourself
as
the
director
in
future?
A.:
I
don't
believe
in
getting
confined
in
any
image.
If
I
am
offered
the
chance
of
making
a
murder
mystery
I
will
surely
do
that
as
for
that
I
won't
need
to
go
to
research
for
the
film.
Q.:
Don't
you
think
there's
no
market
for
historical
films
these
days?
A.:
You
may
think
so.
But
the
truth
is
that
there
are
very
few
historical
films
made
in
India.
From
the
very
beginning
the
graph
of
historical
films
has
been
below
the
expectation.
Here
eight
out
of
ten
films
are
commercial
films.
Amongst
all
the
historical
films
made
till
date
there
are
only
two
–
Taj
Mahal
and
Mughle
Azam
–
which
are
commercially
successful.
Whether
it's
historical
or
commercial,
getting
success
in
filmmaking
mostly
depends
on
the
story
of
the
film.
The
story
of
my
film
is
good
and
I
believe
it
will
work
better.
Q.:
Did
you
have
any
photograph
of
Jodha
Bai
that
helped
you
finalise
Aishwarya
for
the
character?
A.:
That's
an
interesting
question.
And
for
that,
too,
I
would
like
to
say
that
I
have
researched
very
well.
I
went
through
many
paintings
of
Rajput
queens
to
finalise
the
look
of
Jodha
Bai.
Keeping
in
mind
the
paintings
I
decided
Jodhaa
Bai's
look
before
and
after
her
marriage.
At
the
same
time
I
studied
hard
on
make-up.
In
that
I
came
to
know
about
the
make-up
of
Rajput
ladies
of
that
time
and
accordingly
I
instructed
to
apply
makeup
to
Aishwarya.
I
took
special
care
of
her
cosmetics
and
costume.
At
the
same
time
I
had
to
work
hard
on
Akbar's
look,
too.
At
the
beginning
we
applied
false
moustache
to
him
but
it
didn't
look
good
on
him.
He
then
got
his
real
moustache
that
made
him
look
much
better.
Apart
from
Jodhaa
and
Akbar
we
worked
hard
on
the
look
of
even
soldiers,
too.
We
always
kept
in
mind
that
no
one
in
the
film
look
comic.
To
be
sure
of
their
looks
we
spent
six
months
working
on
each
of
their
looks.
We
applied
make-up
on
all
of
them
to
confirm
their
looks.
Q.:
We
have
heard
that
there
were
some
misunderstanding
between
Aishwarya
and
Hrithik
during
the
shooting.
Is
that
true?
A.:
(smiling)
It's
just
a
gossip,
nothing
else.
Even
I
don't
know
from
where
that
gossip
originated.
Both
Aishwarya
and
Hrithik
supported
each
other
during
the
shooting.
I
am
really
happy
because
of
their
on-screen
chemistry.
Q.:
Which
one
is
your
favourite
pair?
A.:
As
far
as
films
are
concerned
I
like
pairs
as
Hema-Dharmendra,
Rekha-Amitabh,
Amir-Juhi,
and
Shahrukh-Kajol.
And
as
far
as
reality
is
concerned
the
pair
most
close
to
my
heart
is
that
of
Laila-Majnoo.
Q.:
What
do
you
think
is
the
meaning
of
love?
A.:
I
think
love
is
best
where
people
in
love
try
and
understand
each
other's
negativities
and
incorporating
in
each
other's
problems
they
go
on
in
life.
Q.:
How
do
you
see
your
journey
from
Pehla
Nasha
to
Jodhaa
Akbar?
A.:
I
have
been
very
lucky.
I
never
thought
of
coming
to
that
pinnacle
of
life.
Whether
actor
or
director
I
started
working
in
both
the
fields
by
accident.
In
both
the
cases
I
got
chance
and
I
grabbed
them.
Now
you
can
see
me
here
all
because
of
my
readiness
to
accept
things
that
life
offers
me.
