Film Industry: I have sleepless nights because of Jodha Akbar

I have sleepless nights because of Jodha Akbar - Ekta Kapoor

I have sleepless nights because of Jodha Akbar

Ekta Kapoor is just back from the US after doing a month-long course at Harvard, but she hasn’t had the time to rest. Jodha Akbar, her new show, is keeping her busy. She spoke to Bombay Times about why she decided to make a historical show this time around. Excerpts:
Are you still jet-lagged? I have sleepless nights because of Jodha Akbar and sleepless days because of the jet lag!
After family dramas and horror shows, why did you choose to make a historical? I had made a mythological show, where I wanted to create a human landscape, but you can’t treat demigods as humans. You can’t treat a mythological like a historical. I’ve been wanting to make a historical show and I am very excited about Jodha Akbar. It’s a beautiful show, speaks of love in the time of hate. It’s an interesting story that will be relatable to present times as well. In India, historicals are more incident-based. But we are looking at the human stories, characterisations that focus on inter-personal relationships, the politics, how they think, communicate, etc.
What about some protests in Jaipur, where the protesters say history is being distorted and that Jodha and Akbar were not married? I always believe it’s 80% history and 20% folklore. There are enough proofs that say it’s true, but then there are some people who say it’s not. Akbar had a certain graph and we know that. We cannot negate that there was a change of heart in him — from a power-hungry ruler to a non-biased one — because of a Rajput queen.
So, somewhere, is it also about creative licence? Yes. You know only broad incidents that happened in their lives. The basic map is there, the rest is interpretation.
It’s your birthday today. Any plans? I am going to Tirupati.
Jodha Akbar will air on Zee TV starting June 18, Monday to Friday at 8 pm.