Jodha Akbar

Jodha Akbar is an Indian historical drama television series that aired from 18 June 2013 to 7 August 2015 on Zee TV, also digitally available on ZEE5. The show was produced by Ekta Kapoor under Balaji Telefilms. Starring Rajat Tokas and Paridhi Sharma, critics have praised the series for its acting performances, scope, soundtrack and production values. It replaced Rab Se Sohna Isshq and was replaced by Tashan-e-Ishq in its timeslot.

Plot
Jalaluddin Mohammad, a fearless warrior, son of Emperor Humayun and Hameeda Bano Begum, became the Emperor of the Mughal dynasty at a very young age. He is under the influence of his regent Bairam Khan, and his foster mother Maham Anga. Bairam Khan trains Jalal to be a ruthless ruler and control his kingdom through terror and fear. Jalal, following Bairam Khan's ideals becomes heartless and fearsome but a fair and religious ruler, whom the people dislike. He wants to conquer the entire Hindustaan and eyes the golden Rajputana. Whereas Jodha Bai, princess of Amer, daughter of Raja Bharmal and Rani Mainavati, is a kind and intelligent young girl, who believes in ruling people's hearts and that rule is spread by love and togetherness, not by force.

Once when Jodha was at a temple to offer prayers on her birthday, along with Moti Bai, her friend and aid, a band of mughal soldiers enter the temple to loot the jewellery adorned on the Goddess. When Moti Bai tries to stop them, they try to molest her. Angered at this, Jodha pledges to destroy Jalal and present his head before the Goddess. Later, Moti Bai, embarrassed by the turn of events, decides to commit suicide, but Jodha prevents her but the incident makes Jodha even more vengeful.

Meanwhile Jalal with the help of Sujamal, attacks Amer and wins the battle. He demands high monthly taxes from Amer by keeping Jodha's brothers as hostage. Later, when Sharifuddin keeps increasing his demands, King Bharmal's friend suggests him to meet Jalal for a negotiation. During the meeting, Bharmal's friend advices Jalal and Bharmal to get married Jodha to Jalal. When Jodha gets to know about her marriage with Jalal, she disagrees and tries to suicide by poison but after much persuasion agrees to it for Amer's safety. She put two conditions in front of him which allowed her to remain a Hindu after her marriage and carry the statue of Krishna with her to Agra. Jalal, amused by her conditions, agreed to it despite the protests of his courtiers and advisors, as he wanted to humiliate her in return of her insults. After Jodha and Jalal's marriage, Jodha maintains her distance harboring pure resentment and hatred for him. Later, Jalal's favorite wife and childhood friend, Rukaiya gets pregnant with Jalal's baby. The whole kingdom rejoices at the thought of an heir, but the happiness is short lived as Maham Anga laces poison in a drink which was given to Rukaiya leading to a miscarriage. Maham Anga frames Jodha and her family for the death of Rukaiya's unborn child, but Jodha is proved innocent. Jalal accepts his mistake and feels guilty for doubting Jodha. He gives Jodha freedom to divorce him and head back to Amer if she wishes. Jodha accepts this favour but her mother refuses to take her to Amer as a divorcee. Heartbroken, Jodha tries to commit suicide but Jalal saves her. The story takes a turn as Jalal develops sympathy towards Jodha. He realizes how lonely Jodha has become and feels sad for her. He starts spending more time with her and they both realise that he have a lot in common despite their different outlook on feelings. Jodha begins to see beneath Jalal's surface and realizes he actually means well for his people and kingdom. She understands that he has only been wrongly directed due to the people who influenced his life since he was a child which lead him to be a cold and heartless ruler. But she also saw that change was possible.

Through a series of ups and downs, Jalal and Jodha finally fall in love despite their differences. Jodha falls pregnant with twins, of which Rukaiya claimed one as she longed for a child but could not be pregnant anymore. While Jalal fiercely denied her claim, Jodha takes pity on her and promises her one of her twins. But unfortunately the twins were killed shortly after their birth. Their death plotted by enemies of Jalal, who was so blinded by his rage that he hunted them down to a painful death. Nonetheless, the death of the twins left the whole kingdom drowned in sorrow and Jalal, Jodha and Rukaiya are devastated. Jodha and Jalal once again grow distant while Jalal turns into his former cruel and heartless self in order to venge for his sons' lives. But despite everything he did he could not find any inner peace. So he stayed away from his court in pir baba Salim's sanctuary, along with Jodha for two years and served him with deep devotion. Jodha and Jalal break their walls while in the sanctuary and Jodha becomes pregnant again giving birth to another son whom Jalal named Salim in honour of the pir baba. Jalal and Jodha return to their court and upon seeing the child, Rukaiya tries to lay a claim on him but is met by Jalal's wrath. She then vows to manipulate and destroy Salim.

The story then a leap and Salim is few years older, kind and loved by everyone. He meets a girl Nadhira, who is the daughter of the woman who once saved Salim's life when he was a baby by informing Jodha of the attack planned on them. Nadhira and Salim instantly dislike each other. Moreover Salim has started being manipulated by Rukaiya through wine and drugs. She plants false scenarios in Salim's mind to make Salim hate his own parents and indulges him further into women and addictions. His behaviour becomes more rash and irrational which also leads to the banishment of Nadhira and her family from the grounds of Agra. All of this angers Jalal to the point that he sends Salim to live in war-field until he becomes an adult. Salim grows up to be indifferent and harbors hate for his own parents but has a soft spot for Rukaiya as she had manipulated him. Upon returning to Agra, Salim easily bonds with his brothers but never seeks for Jalal or Jodha. He falls in love with a girl, Anarkali, only to discover she was the same girl, Nadhira whom he despised as a child. She had changed her name to find work in Agra as she had originally been banished years ago. Salim hates her thinking he had been betrayed.

The story further revolves around Salim and Anarkali while they workout their relationship facing denials from everyone due to the difference in hierarchy. Rukaiya is finally unveiled her true intentions are revealed. Salim realises his mistakes from all those years ago and regrets not trusting his parents more. The story of how Jalal becomes "Akbar", he gains his famous "Navratna" and also the stories of Akbar-Birbal are shown in different phases of the drama.

Main

 * Rajat Tokas as Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar: 3rd Mughal Emperor; Humayun and Hamida Bano's son
 * Paridhi Sharma as Jodha Bai: with degree Mariam-uz-Zamani, Malika-e-Hind (queen of Hindustan); Jalal's favourite wife; Bharmal and Mainawati's daughter
 * Smiley Suri / Lavina Tandon as Ruqaiya Sultan Begum: Jalal's first wife and chief wife
 * Manisha Yadav as Salima Sultan Begum: wife of the late Bairam Khan; Jalal's senior consort
 * Chhaya Ali Khan as Hamida Bano Begum: with degree Mariam Makani; Jalal and Bakshi Bano's mother
 * Ashwini Kalsekar as Maham Anga: Jalal's foster mother; Adham Khan's biological mother
 * Ravi Bhatia as Salim: Jalal and Jodha's son; Anarkali's love interest
 * Ayaan Zubair Rahmani as child Salim
 * Heena Parmar as Anarkali: Rashid Khan and Zil Bahar's daughter; Salim's love interest
 * Saniya Touqeer as child Nadira/Anarkali

Recurring

 * Naved Aslam as Bairam Khan: Rahim's father
 * Chetan Hansraj as
 * Adham Khan: Maham Anga's son; Haider's father
 * Haider Khan: Adham Khan and Javeda's son
 * Prianca Shharma/Unknown as Javeda Begum: Adham Khan's wife; Haider Khan's mother
 * Parag Tyagi as Sharifuddin Hussain: Khwaja Moin's son; Mehtab's father
 * Sonakshi More as Bakshi Bano Begum: Mughal princess; half-sister of Jalal; Mehtab's mother
 * Lokendra Rajawat as Shamsuddin Atgah Khan
 * Amarpreet Rait as Jiji Anga: Atgah Khan's wife
 * Rajeev Saxena as Raja Bharmal
 * Natasha Sinha as Rani Mainawati
 * Kunal Bhatia / Unknown as Rajkumar Bhagwant Das: Maan Singh and Maan Bai's father
 * Nupur Saxena / Unknown as Rai Kanwar: Bhagwant's wife; Maan Singh and Maan Bai's mother
 * Ankit Raizada as Maan Singh
 * Jyotsna Chandola as Maan Bai
 * Ankita Dubey / Ankita Chaudhry as Moti Bai: Jodha's maid
 * Kaif Ali Khan / Ayush Anand as Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana: Bairam Khan's son with his previous wife
 * Veer Lodaya as child Rahim
 * Vicky Batra as Kunwar Sujamal
 * Gandharva Pardeshi as Rajkumar Jaganath
 * Dev Bishit as Rajkumar Khangar
 * Akhil Vaid as Rajkumar Raj Singh
 * Dharti Bhatt as Sukanya
 * Pragati Choursiya as Shivani
 * Farida Dadi as Bharmal's mother: Jodha's grandmother
 * Gagan Kang as Abul Maali
 * Pranav Misshra as Mirza Muhammad Hakim: Humayun and Maha Chuchak's son
 * Mita Vashisht as Maha Chuchak Begum
 * Shilpa Raizada as Nigaar: Humayun and Chaand's daughter
 * Unknown as Chaand Begum: Nigaar's mother
 * Nisha Pareek as Naazima Begum: she lives in the Harem (Palace of Queens)
 * Kiran Shergill as Ruksaar Begum: Daniyal Mirza's mother; she lives in the Harem (Palace of Queens)
 * Shraddha Singh as Gulbadan: who wrote a book on the history of King Humayun
 * Ashok Devaliya as Hoshiyar Khan: servant (Kasim) of Ruqaiya
 * Manoj Patel as Resham Khan: faithful servant (Kasim) of Maham Anga
 * Unknown as Naazneem Begum: including the wife of Jalal; she lives in the Harem (Palace of Queens)
 * Vaibhav Singh as Aziz Koka: Atgah Khan's son
 * Vijay Badlani as Ramtanu Pandey aka Tansen: a Rajput musician
 * Shaurya Singh / Lokesh Batta as Todarmal
 * Unknown as Urmila: Todarmal's wife
 * Gopal Singh as Mahesh Das aka Birbal
 * Sweety Walia as Mahesh Das's wife
 * Unknown as adult Mehtab: Sharifuddin and Bakshi Bano's daughter
 * Sumbul Touqeer as child Mehtab
 * Shoaib Khan as child Haider
 * Sheezan Khan as
 * Sultan Murad Mirza
 * Young Akbar
 * Ricky Patel as child Murad Mirza
 * Gaurav Sharma as Sultan Daniyal Mirza: Ruksaar's son
 * Unknown as child Daniyal Mirza
 * Kunal Khosla as Qutubuddin Koka
 * Unknown as child Qutub
 * Angel Fernandes as child Aaram Bano
 * Unknown as Shakrunnisa
 * Geet Sharma as Khanum
 * Anurag Sharma as Maharana Pratap
 * Ajay Paul Singh Andotra as Lakshman Das: Minister Amer
 * Bhakti Narula as Lilavati
 * Kalyani Trivedi / Zarina Roshan Khan as Shagunibai: clairvoyant
 * Javed Pathan as Sheikh Gadai
 * Harjeet Walia as Chugtai Khan: King Bharmal's best friend
 * Prince Singh as Suryabhan Singh
 * Aryan Maheshwari as one of the palace officials
 * Sanjeev Jaiswal as King Achal Singh
 * Zeba Hussain as Chanda: servant in the Kingdom of Amer
 * Riney Aryaa as Saira
 * Manju Raizada as royal healer
 * Meghna Naidu as Benazir
 * Juhi Aslam as Zakira
 * Unknown as Tejwant: an ordinary craftsman; Shivani's husband
 * Bobby Kumar as Atemat: a dancer (Kasim). He appeared in the episode of Sujamal's case about sending a letter to Jodha and he also witnessed with his own eyes that Atgah Khan was killed by Adham Khan. (2013)
 * Ketan Karande as Khaibar Zaara
 * Gaurrav Walia as Amaanullah Khan
 * Surbhi Singh as Sakeena/Atifa
 * Manish Bishla as Mirza Kasim
 * Chetna Kaintura as Zeenat
 * Raanveer Chahal as Rashid Khan: Nadira/Anarkali's father
 * Unknown as Zil Bahar: Nadira/Anarkali's mother
 * Unknown as adult Sakina: Nadira's childhood friend
 * Unknown as child Sakina
 * Unknown as adult Qadir
 * Mohammed Saud Mansuri as child Qadir (2014)
 * Unknown as Fatima: an old woman who was Qadir's grandmother
 * Amit Sehgal as Abu Fazal
 * Shiv Mishra as priest at the temple while Jodha was praying for Qadir's recovery
 * Rohit Joshi as Farhan: Salim's friend
 * Unknown as Jagat Gossai: daughter of king Uday Singh; princess of Jodhpur; Maan Bai's friend
 * Munendra Singh Kushwah as Raja Khambar Singh: the king of an inland tribe
 * Unknown as Bela: King Khambar's daughter
 * Babita Anant as Kaushalya: villagers
 * Vishnu Bholwani as Jagdev
 * Abhilash Chaudhary as Raja Drumak
 * Melanie Pais as Laboni
 * Kamalika Guha Thakurta as Laboni's Mother
 * Kishan Bhan as Taantrik

Historical accuracy
Certain Rajput groups claimed Jodhaa was married to Akbar's son, Jahangir, not Akbar, whereas certain reports state that Jodha and Akbar were not married, although the primary history proves that Akbar and the princess of Amber were married on which the show is made as a complete show can't be false. They also protested against the show along with Bharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana Pratap, another historical series that aired on Sony TV.

The title of the series was criticised by members of the Kshatriya community as misleading, politically motivated historical revisionism that minimised Rajput history. The community protested against the series in Rajasthan, and alleged that if the name was not changed, they would not let any Balaji Telefilms films to be released in the state. Ekta Kapoor stated, "I always believe it's 80% history and 20% folklore. There are enough proofs that say it's true, but then some people say it's not. Akbar had a certain graph and we know that. We cannot negate that he changed his heart from a power-hungry ruler to a non-biased one because of his Rajput queen." The story is loosely true but has a wholesome addition of drama.

Production
The producer of the show, Ekta Kapoor was influenced by the 2008 big screen movie, Jodhaa Akbar, directed by Bollywood's Ashutosh Gowariker.

Rajat Tokas who had earlier worked with Ekta Kapoor in the soap opera, Tere Liye was selected to play the role of the protagonist Akbar.

Ekta Kapoor stated she conducted 7000 auditions for the female protagonist Jodha across the nation before selecting Paridhi Sharma.

Ashwini Kalsekar was selected to play the role of Maham Anga, Akbar's primary caretaker and protector.

Adaptations
This series is dubbed in Tamil as same name on Zee Tamil, in Telugu language as same name on Zee Telugu, in Bengali Language as same name on Zee Bangla, in Malayalam language as same name on Zee Keralam, and in English language as same name on Zee World Africa