Thursday, February 14, 2008

NRI groups call for boycott of Jodha Akbar movie

With historians having differences on Princess Jodha Bai, some NRI groups have joined the protest against the screening of Bollywood movie Jodhaa Akbar , saying it "grossly distorts" Indian history.

In a press release here, the groups said that they considered these "distortions to be extremely insensitive and it hurts the sentiments of millions of people who love the culture, history and traditions of India."

Calling for a boycott of the movie directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar, the supporters of the campaign-led by Rajput Karni Sena said while this film may be fictional in nature, but a mere disclaimer of 30 seconds or so at the beginning of a movie rarely gets registered in the mind of the moviegoer.

"It is the main movie, its story and the events it depicts that leave a lasting imprint."

The groups joining the campaign include Agni Foundation; the Netherlands, Global Institute for Truth & Awareness (GITA), USA; Hindi USA; Independent NRI Forum, USA; Kashmir Task Force, USA; Save Temples, USA.

"Some people have asked whether even a Bollywood movie can seriously damage a culture of billion people. No, in the long run, it cannot. But that is not the point. The real concern of the campaign is for each and every person," said Naresh Sharma of Global Institute for Truth & Awareness.

Supporters of the campaign say that the depiction of romance between 'Akbar' and 'Jodhaa' prior to their marriage is a total concoction because based on historical records and contrary to what the film projects, nobody called 'Jodhaa' has ever been associated with Jalaluddin, later called Akbar. In fact, there is no mention of 'Jodhaa' in the historical records prepared by Akbar's own historian Abul Fazl.

Courtesy: Indiatimes.com
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Was Jodha Bai the wife of Akbar ?: Some Historical Facts

R.S. Khangarot
Head, Department of History
Agrawal P.G. College
Jaipur. India


Why all this hue and cry about 'Jodha Akbar'? Let us put this issue to rest, once and for all. Let us not behave like immature, illiterate, irresponsible and ignorant people. Let us examine this like a very serious, mature and sincere student of history.
Nowhere in history, Jodha Bai is mentioned as the wife of Akbar. No historical records or historical sources give any indication that Jodha Bai was in any way related to Akbar as his wife. Let us examine as to where it all began.
It began with Col James Tod. In his book Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan Vol II Pg. 965, he says, "on the union of the imperial house with that of Jodhpur, by the marriage of Jodh Bai to Akbar, …..". Here Tod has mentioned Jodha Bai of Jodhpur and not of Amber. But in the same book the editor William Crooke, quoting Ain-i-Akbari I, pg 619 has clarified Tod’s version. Crooke says "there has been some controversy about Jodh Bai, but it is clear that she was wife of Jahangir, not of Akbar"(pg 965).
At another place Col. James Tod refers to Jodha Bai as the daughter of Mota Raja Udai Singh of Jodhpur (Annals…….Vol.I pg. 389). In the footnotes of the same page Crooke says-- "The magnificent tomb of Jodh Bai, the mother of Shah Jahan, is at Sikandra near Agra and not far from that in which Akbar's remains are deposited. Jodh Bai is a title, meaning 'Jodhpur lady'. There were some doubts about her identity, but she was certainly daughter of Udai Singh and wife of Jahangir (Ain-i-Akbari pg 619)."
According to the above statement if Jodha Bai was the mother of Shah Jahan she had to be the wife of Jahangir. Also make a note that she is mentioned as 'Jodh Bai' and not 'Jodha' Bai. ‘Jodh’ naturally is a short for Jodhpur. Crooke makes it clear that Jodh bai is a title meaning 'Jodhpur lady'.
Then came the movie 'Mughal-i-Ajam'. The story of Mughal -i- Azam seems to have taken a clue from Tod's version by showing Jodha Bai as the wife of Akbar. The story writer perhaps overlooked the clarification given by Crooke in the footnotes. It seems that the director, producer and storywriter took little interest in the historical facts. Moreover all those associated with the film had little idea of history.
Mughal -i-Azam was such a grand film in terms of cinematic approach that each one of us who saw the film has registered the name of Jodha Bai as the wife of Akbar. Any attempt to go against this view has therefore proved futile. This goes on to prove that how cinema, whether right or wrong, can influence the minds of a common man.
History is always based on facts and only facts. One can never and should never change the facts. Each event in recorded history has to be based on facts. What can change or be changed is the interpretation related to the event. For e.g. the I Battle of Panipat was fought on 21st April 1526 and Benazir Bhutto was killed in Dec. 2007, are facts. How, where, when, who, is a matter of interpretation.

A Film like ‘Jodha-Akbar’ is also a big social issue. Projecting the daughter-in-law as the wife of Akbar will send a wrong message to the society. Cinema would be taken as correct instead of the history books. It would be very immoral on the part of the filmmaker do so.
On one hand there are scholars like, Jadunath Sarkar, A.L. Srivasatva, S.R. Sharma, Satish Chandra, G.N. Sharma, V.S. Bhargava, Jagdish Singh Gehlot, J.L. Mehta, S.K. Gupta, A.K. Mittal etc. best known historians of Indian History. On the other hand is the film “Jodha Akbar”. Either of them has to be wrong. But at the same time, it is not possible to prove these scholars wrong. If it possible, then we are teaching wrong history throughout the country.
Then, there are records related to Amber and Jaipur, Jodhpur records and N.C.E.R.T. BOOKS. These books and records are of the same opinion. All the historical records and renowned historians, History Text Books and N.C.E.R.T. Books cannot be wrong.
Again this issue does not relate to one community. It is not an issue between the Rajputs and the filmmaker. The issue is related to Indian History, and that too a very important period of Mughal History, that of Akbar, whom we call Great. Any serious student of history will feel offended if history is distorted. The filmmaker should be careful not to hurt the sentiments of history students of India and the society as a whole.

1:43 PM
Unknown said...

Was Mugals so great for India that we are making movies on them? Dont we know that all of them were aggressor and ruled us for 500 years? Why did not Akbar follow hinduism if he was so loyal to India? Our Rajput warriors gave life for land and fought with those agressors. Their soul must have been crying in heaven by seeing these agressors glorified. Are we so low in self respect that we are making movies and keeping these agressors name alive? I am preetty sure that we will be ruled by these muslim very soon again. Those who does not learn from history are always slave.

4:13 AM

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