Jodhaa Akbar more liked than Lagaan: Ashutosh

A week after his epic period film Jodhaa Akbar checked into the theatres, filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker spoke to Anuradha SenGupta on the making of the film, the controversies surrounding it and what is it like being Ashutosh Gowariker, the auteur.
Anuradha SenGupta: What is your take on the public reaction on Jodhaa Akbar so far? Are people saying better than Swades but not quite Lagaan?
Ashutosh Gowariker: No in fact they are liking it more than Lagaan and Swades. And I can see why because they are liking the romance and the love story aspect in the film. People are also liking the grandeur – the battle scenes, the elephant fight and the lavishness and scale of the film.
Anuradha SenGupta: We have been hearing about the protests against the film. Some people are saying that there are certain inaccuracies in the film and it revolves around the fact that Jodhaa is not Akbar's wife but his daughter-in-law according to their interpretation of history. You have been going blue in the face that the allegations are incorrect, the origins of the person are sketchy in any case and the dynasty, that she is shown to belong, has no problems with the attribution. Is there more to these protests than meets the eye?
Ashutosh Gowariker: I think the History books are probably leading to that confusion. The more the History books, the more different names that are being attributed to Raja Bharmal's daughter. There are several names. So when I started my research even I was quite taken aback that no historian meets eye to eye because each historian does his own interpretation and analysis and presents history.
So when you have six different names going for that princess, there are at least three who call her Jodhaa Bai. And on the other hand you have someone like Satish Chandra saab who has written Medieval India, which is the book that everyone in Rajasthan is referring to. He talks about the daughter of Udai Singh, also known as Mota Raja, who was given to Jehangir. Now he mentions that her name is Jagat Gosain. I also think that there is a difference between Jodh Bai and Jodhaa Bai. So the confusion is within the History books.
Anuradha SenGupta: So you are saying that you understand where these protests are coming from. You don't think that maybe somewhere hidden in these protests, like some people are saying, that there is an anti Hindu-Muslim love story sentiment. You don't think so?
Ashutosh Gowariker: No, I don't.
Anuradha SenGupta: You don't think these protests are motivated by that larger protest, which nobody is articulating.
Ashutosh Gowariker: No, I don't think so because nobody will be shy in articulating it. So here if we have a Rajput lobby that has reservations about the name, I empathise with them because I went through the same thing. At the start of the film I have given a disclaimer, which says that there are several names but I am using Jodhaa because it is the most popular name.
Anuradha SenGupta: You have explained your stand. But do you sense the protesters – the Rajput Karni Sena – are accepting your argument?