New Delhi - A film based on a legendary romance between a Muslim Moghul emperor and a Hindu princess from Rajasthan was banned in India's central Madhya Pradesh state Friday after protests by the Rajput community. The state government suspended screening of the film Jodha Akbar after a Rajput organization staged protests outside theatres and threatened to burn them down if the film were screened, PTI news agency reported.
The countrywide release of the film on Friday was followed by protests in several towns by a section of the community who claim it distorts historical facts. They say it is an insult to portray Rajput princess Jodha as Akbar's wife when she was his daughter-in-law.
The film's director Ashutosh Gowarikar, who made the Oscar-nominated Lagaan, clarifies at the beginning of the Jodha Akbar that it is based on just one version of the fabled 16th century romance.
The film tells the story of how Akbar married Jodha in an effort to win the allegiance of the Rajput chieftains who held sway over the north-western Rajasthan region, in his effort to extend the Mughal empire to Afghanistan.
Gowarikar said in a recent interview that he chose to tell the story of how the proud Rajput princess refused to be a mere political pawn and how a marriage of convenience turned into true love. The film is also an exploration of a cross-cultural marriage, he said.
"What I found attractive in this story was how two cultures and religions - the Rajputs and the Mughals - came together 450 years ago. I thought it fascinating to explore how the two resolved cultural differences and shared a perfect arranged marriage," the director was quoted as saying by UNI news agency.
Dismissing the protests he said: "History gets rewritten every 50 years." The film was 30 per cent fact from history books and 70 per cent love and romance from his imagination, Gowarikar was quoted as saying by the Times of India newspaper.
The film features top Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan in the lead roles, and is estimated to have cost its producers UTV about 10 million dollars.
It is said to be one of Bollywood's biggest releases, opening at 1,500 screens in 26 countries, according to the producers. It has been dubbed in three Indian languages and subtitled in English, Dutch and Arabic.
The three-and-a-half hour film has received mixed reviews in India, with most critics calling it too lengthy, and one dubbing it "Jodha Akbore."
