Film Industry: The making of TV’s Jodha Akbar

The making of TV’s Jodha Akbar

Here is a sneak peek into the latest historical drama that starts on television tomorrow

    History has caught Ekta Kapoor’s fancy, finding enough favour with the producer to warrant a TV show of epic proportions. Her new show Jodha Akbar traces the journey of a young warrior on his way to becoming an emperor and how he falls in love with a Rajput princess. A lot of research has gone into the making of this historical.
    The unit travelled to Jaipur and Jodhpur, where they worked on different looks for each character. The lead actors apparently underwent special training in horse riding, sword fights and martial arts to prepare for the characters.
    We bring you the behind-thescenes activity...
My dress and jewellery weigh
10 kilos: Paridhi Sharma
    Says Paridhi Sharma, who plays Jodha, “I’m excited about playing a historical figure in a lavish period drama. I had to undergo many lessons in horse riding and sword fighting. And I take it as a challenge that at this stage of my career I will be compared with Aishwarya Rai’s portrayal in Jodhaa Akbar. My dress and jewellery weighs around 10 kilos and it is a task to carry it for 8-10 hours on the sets. Horse riding has been scary but I am determined to work hard.
It’s a big challenge for me: Rajat Tokas
    Rajat Tokas, who plays Akbar, says, “It is not just because I have done a similar show (Dharti Ka Veer Yodha Prithviraj Chauhan) that I was chosen for the show. Every actor today undergoes training and is well-versed with martial arts and fight sequences on a show. I think this show is different because it is portraying a young Akbar — not the character that Prithviraj Kapoor played in Mughal-E-Azam. I wanted to research on the young Akbar and not the super calm and collected character that Prithviraj Kapoor portrayed. My biggest challenge is playing a 22-year-old emperor who is a warrior. For me, every shot has been interesting till now because that will define my work and help me figure out how I have to work in the coming episodes.”
How Ekta found her Jodha Akbar
    Ekta Kapoor is said to have gone through almost 7,000 auditions in the nationwide hunt spanning eight months before she gave her final nod of approval to Paridhi Sharma to play Jodha in her historical magnum opus.
    For Jodha, Ekta reveals, “I wanted someone who possesses the radiance and dignity of a lovely Rajput princess. I’m told Jodha was someone whose eyes conveyed humility, simplicity, courage and conviction. Paridhi embodies everything I had in mind for Jodha. When Paridhi stood there in Jodha’s bridal finery and delivered some of her lines, I knew the role belonged to her!”
    Ekta was looking for a blend of boyish innocence and rugged manliness for Akbar. Says Ekta, “For Akbar, I wanted an actor who is a boy-man. Although Rajat has the innocence of a 19-year-old, he is seasoned in terms of maturity. Akbar was someone who became a soldier and a king at the age of 14 and by 17 he had already won a battle on his own. Rajat is an expert in martial arts and horse riding. While casting for an era about 500 odd years ago, you realise that every face has to be looked at carefully.”
People want to learn from
historical stories: Researcher
    Dr Bodhisattva, who has done the research for the show says, “Every one has been curious to know details about Emperor Akbar’s personal life. And the romance between Akbar and Jodha is also intriguing. People want to learn lessons from historical stories and shows, and connect them with real incidents in their own life. That is one of the important reasons why historical and mythological shows find a connect with the audiences.”
Jewellery for the characters Jewellery designer Ekta Gupta says, “For women, we designed hathphool, kamarbandh, baju bandh and payals. We conceptualised on the ‘sola shringar’ for Jodha’s family. For men, we have kalgis, kundals, haar and rings. The women in Jodha’s family were dressed in kundan jewellery, rubies and pearls while for Akbar’s family it was meenakari jewellery with pearls.” How the emperor got his look
    Costume designer Nidhi Yasha, says, “Mughals are dressed in emeralds, pearls and uncut stone jewellery. Costumes consisted of fabrics like velvet, brocade, silk and organza. We chose gold and kundan, enamel jewellery, thevas, hanslis and other authentic jewellery from Rajasthan. We used leheriyas, bandhej, gota patti, kinaris too. We made many trips to Jaipur and Jodhpur for Akbar’s chainmaille. Weaponry was done from Jodhpur. Jodha’s look is lightly jewelled in the beginning. She will look grand after her wedding to Akbar.”
DID YOU KNOW? The set of the TV show is the same that was used in the movie Jodhaa Akbar Jodha Akbar starts on June 18 and every Monday to Friday at 8 pm on Zee TV.