Interview of Haider Ali: The master-mind behind Jodhaa Akbar
Haidar Ali is the one who passed the bug to Ashutosh Gowariker. He first told Ashutosh the story of Jodhaa Bai and Akbar in 2001 and the rest is known to you all by now. Haider Ali is the co-screen writer and story writer of Jodhaa Akbar.In an interview with Mumbai Mirror correspondent, Ashwini Gangal, the actor and screen-writer shares his experience of working in Jodhaa Akbar.
For the movie, Haidar Ali did extensive research on his own. He and his daughter went to the libraries and bookshops and collected materials on the Rajpoots and the Mughals. Here is an excerpt of the interview from Mumbai Mirror:
What is your contribution to the film Jodhaa Akbar?
I did the research and wrote the story. I also worked on the screenplay along with Ashutosh Gowariker. After I did my research, Ashutosh verified it and did his own research by meeting with scholars, historians; he looked up forts, palaces, locations, etc.
How long did it take to script the film?
In a nutshell, story plus screenplay plus plot plus theme equals a script. For this film, research and scripting started in December 2001 and ended in January 2005. From 2005-2006 Ashutosh and I worked together on the screenplay. Shooting began in November 2006 and was completed in October 2007.
What difficulties did you encounter while researching for the film?
It was very difficult to find relevant information on Jodhaa as there were too many different views on her story. So I had a tough time deciding which track to follow and which to ignore. I didn't want any controversy, thus the development of Jodhaa's track was difficult. Akbar's track was easier because there were many small incidents that led to the big historical ones. For Jodhaa, on the other hand, there were many isolated, large events with no small events leading to those large events. Also, the chronology was more random for Jodhaa and bridging these gaps was the tough part.
All the characters are historical. Nothing is a figment of my imagination. The events, right from Akbar's birth to Jehangir's birth, are all factual. We played around with the smaller events that led to the main historical, factual events.
How was the experience of working with Ashutosh Gowariker?
It was very comfortable, as we have a good working relationship. I know him since the 1980s. We even acted in a film together - Saeed Mirza's Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro. We are good friends so it was great working with him.Professionally, this is the first time I have worked with him as a writer.
Are you trying to spread a social message on Hindu-Muslim unity and religious tolerance, through this film?
The social message about Hindu-Muslim unity is inherent in the film. The name Jodhaa Akbar itself suggests Hindu-Muslim unity so just in the title our goal is achieved. But we didn't need to hammer it into audience's heads..."come and watch this film on Hindu-Muslim unity"… just by looking at the title they know what they are in for. The intension and theme of the film is very clear from the title.
Haidar Ali is very optimistic about the movie. He liked the promotion of Jodhaa Akbar. He thinks that a promotion should be different from the movie in the sense that it should attract audience's attention. The Jodhaa Akbar promo churns out the major sub-themes of the movie and presents it in a very attractive manner and attracts a wide range of audience.
Indian movies now creating their own dream world:
Even ten-twelve years ago Hindi movie producers and directors did not bother much about their sets. The props, extras, dancers did not have much variation. Time has changed a lot since then. Now, Hindi movies are spending large amount of money in building spectacular sets and colorful fashionable costumes. Increasing demand of the viewers and release in competitive overseas market have forced the directors and producers to bring in change in the settings and backgrounds of their movies. Take Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya for example, an entire town was created in the movie set.
It may not exactly have set the box-office afire, but there's one thing even the critics have unanimously acknowledged: Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya is a visual delight — in no small measure due to the opulent, blue-green 'peacock' sets. "Since the story was short (based on Dostoevsky's White Nights, it stretches over just four nights), the sets had to speak a lot by being larger than life," says the film's art director Omung Kumar.
From an English castle, Gothic church, historical forts to Seventies retro, Bollywood creates it all on home turf. That's because a demanding audience and more overseas releases have forced the film industry to reinvent itself and focus on the 'look' of the film. Be it unusual stories, costumes, props or film sets, all are thrown together to give visual splendour.(Times of India)
Shooting outdoors creates lots of problems. The filmmaker has to acquire permission to shoot first. If he wants to bring in additional materials such as, animals or any other machine, it requires further permissions. This takes up more money and more time. Once the location becomes popular more and more movie makers go their and the Hindi serials over expose these locations.
The answer to all these problems is indoor shooting where the filmmaker has complete control over everything. As a result, demands of art directors specializing in set designing have gone up. The art directors get one simple instruction- money is no problem, give me the best. Every body knows the perfectionist attitude of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. While he hired Omung Kapoor to design the sets of Saawariya, he told him, “Give me a world where no one has ever lived before, a painting which no one has ever painted.”
Hindi movie goers will get another taste of visual splendour in Jodhaa Akbar; the upcoming movie of Ashutosh Gowariker. The movie was shot in the N.D. Studio in Karjat. N.D. Studio is the brainchild of Nitin Chandrakant Desai. One of the most prominent art directors of Bollywood, Nitin has more than twent years of work experience. He won numerous awards for his works. In 2004, he founded N.D. Studio.
Nitin Desai, who's known to set benchmarks in an industry which earlier mocked authenticity and research when it came to set design, started work on Jodhaa Akbar eight months ahead of the actual shooting. "I took lakhs of photographs in
Nitin also created an inch-by-inch replica of the Agra Fort, along with Deewan-i-aam, Deewan-i-khas, Jodha Mahal and fully landscaped Mughal gardens. Constructed at Desai's Karjat studio, the set measures 1,600ft x 600ft x 68ft. "It's as huge as the seven floors of a high-rise," says Desai, who used concrete, fibre, asbestos sheets, scaffolding and pipes to create the structure. "It's like creating a real city, where you can come and visit."
However, the major achievement of Nitin was the creation of Sheesh-Mahal. Sheesh-Mahal means, The palace of mirrors. To create the palace, Desai used used 2,212,221 glasses and mirrors.
Now, all the things said and done, the only thing left is to see Jodhaa Akbar. All the movie goers especially, the fans of Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya are eagerly waiting for Jodhaa Akbar. Let’s hope and pray that the movie gets released on time.
Useful links:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India_Buzz/Bollywoods_luke_looks/articleshow/2621540.cms
Aishwariya and Hrithik are the main attraction of this movie. Actually historical movie never get good support and hit in India. However, Jodha Akber is supposed to be a hit historical movie this year. I am big fan of Hindi movie. I am eagerly waiting for this movie. Can you inform me when it will be launch in big screen.
Posted by: kamrul hasan | December 30, 2007 4:27 AM | Permalink to Comment