June 4, 2008, Rediff

Booker Prize-winning author Salman Rushdie believes Jodhabai, widely accepted by many to be Mughal Emperor Akbar’s wife, is a myth, fuelled by the popular imagination.

Speaking at the Rubin Museum in New York on Tuesday to mark the release of his newest novel The Enchantress of Florence, Rushdie said Akbar’s queen was indeed a Rajput princess called Mariam-uz-Zamani.

“You can tell from her name that she is a Muslim convert and is the mother of Jehangir. Jodha is not the mother of Jehangir. His mother is Mariam. Jahangir had a minor wife called Jodha,” Rushdie said.

TThe celebrated novelist — who said he had conducted extensive research before writing his new novel that is partly set in Mughal times — told the audience that primary sources for the history of Akbar, including two works by Abul Fazal, provide long, almost day-by-day, historical accounts of the emperor.

“But in none of them Jodhabai appears. There is no mention of such a person. There are mentions of Rajput princesses from Jodhpur, but there is no Jodha. It is not anyone’s nickname. It is simply one of the great myths that has grown up,” he said at the event organised by the Indo American Arts Council.

But, he added, it is a happy myth. “It is a happy myth about a Muslim ruler who had a Hindu wife, who does not make her convert to Islam and joins her in her religious pursuits and you can see why — it is a happy myth and even a useful myth,” he said.

“The only Jodha in history is the second wife of Jehangir and not his mother. So it is just a thing that has come up, exactly because everybody believes that she exists,” Rushdie said.

And he also had a mole! Yukkkk. Hardly hunk material. But he was one of the top 5 powerful men in the world.

Hey, but what do looks matter anyway? I read somewhere that Anne Boleyn had 6 fingers on one hand. And a massive goiter to boot. Not at ALL like Scarlett Johanssen. No wonder ol’ ‘enry fancied her bereft of form neck-up.

During the swordplay between the lead pair, Akbar recites a couplet in another language. I was hoping the film would translate it at some later point. But I was left wanting. Does anybody know what those lines meant? From any DVD with subtitles, maybe. Please to share.

in fact, the more ’substantial’ the lady, the more the hero worship.

mass dirctly proportional to fandom?!?

Its really sad to see all the talent being wasted in movie.
Aashutoshi ji, aapse ye umeed nahi thi…

At Rs 10/- a ticket in the ladies’ section of Atindra, any fillum would be paisa vasool.

What I got was a lesson in gender psychology.

The ladies’ was overflowing with college girls. You could hear the collective orgasm as the morning sword calisthenics takes place. Or the boys in the general section wolf whistling at every sight of Mrs A. Bachchan.

Like my hon’ble fellow commentator, S. Pyne (Esq?), I wondered why the royals went to bed wearing lots of spiky jewellery? Medieval Mughal chastity blings?

If in an earlier thread, certain people had expressed a desire for SRK, they SHOULD see THIS movie. The young Mr. Roshan is turning up to be a good actor AND quite quite er, delectable!

But, Akbar WAS a podgy restless dyslexic boy with a decidedly central Asian cast of face.
Give me Hrithik Roshan any day.

http://www.BoycottJodhaaAkbar.org/press.htm

In hindsight, I feel that I should have skipped the movie anyway – for other reasons. I regret I wasted my money on pricey tickets at the multiplex.

I should have read your movie review first, Arnab da. That would saved me a load of money… I will remember that always.