Let's talk about Jodha Akbar show (positives, negatives and comparisons to history)

Well, since of recent I was binging Jodha Akbar, I really felt the need of posting my opinions here. It was 2013-14 times and watching it still gives me the same excitement and nostalgia. Even though we stopped after the intro of grown up Salim, I recently watched the Salim-Anarkali track as well. Here are some positives and negatives that I felt :

THE GOOD :

1) The casting was perfect - Rajat really embodied Akbar, his diction was awesome, body language and all were so apt. Paridhi Sharma as the fiery Jodha was really marvellous. Apart from them I really liked the supporting casts who played Rukaiya, Saleema (her character was one of the best in the show), little Rahim, and Maham Anga (Ashwini Kalsekar was so intimidating in this role that I couldn't recognize that she played Vasuli Bhai's love interest Chintu in Golmaal 3 ). The actor who played Maan Singh was so cute, sometimes I even felt that he should've been given the role of Salim instead (but he slayed as Maan Singh too). Each and every character made sense and fit their part.

2) The ost - Man I was so young, still I used to get that romantic vibe after hearing "In Aankhon me tum". One of the beautiful osts ever made for ITV.

3) Set design - Ngl, set design really could take us to the 1500s, it was so cool. And the costumes were so apt, they really did some good research on dresses from the Mughal era I guess.

4) Acting and storyline - Each and every character were written convincingly and had a depth, the story had thrill elements as well which were well executed, less to no plot holes or loose ends in the initial phases. I used to wonder how this show still holds its ground even among the newer shows, but looking at likes of historical fictions being churned out in ITV these days, this show is gold.

THE BAD :

1) Laboni/Supernatural track : I mean what in the show was that, it was such a crap move by the makers. I just watched it yesterday and I honestly regret watching that part. I really didn't have any need to watch it (*screaming silently*). It really degraded the show quality really bad. And what was with Akbar performing those ward off rituals *sigh*. That could be stated as the worst degradation ever happened in an otherwise awesome show. At that point historical fiction changed to just fiction, creative liberty to liberty with no apparent need or reason

2) Dumbing down and villainizing : Jodha was shown as a fiery, holding her ground, not scared to confront type of character who would've never taken any sort of shit. They later had to dumb her down by the end, showing her making useless decisions, forgiving bad people easily (like it looked really so out of character and out of place). Akbar, too was somewhat dumbed down at some points, Hamida Banu's (Akbar's mom) being so hostile to Jodha for not converting was really so unnecessary and an unwanted part, coz as per her character she would've always supported Jodha no matter what (they had to pull a last minute saas-bahu drama, right??). She even went against Akbar when he doubted Jodha during that Sujamal track and was the first one to support her in that initial conversion track.

3) Strained Salim - Jodha relationship : Salim and Akbar had their share of conflicts but as per history he was highly respectful towards his mother and father, he loved his mother a lot and was influenced by her as well. Here they showed Salim warming up to his parents only by the end. Actually they could've shown more like Salim's love for his mother, how he was positively influenced by Jodha and Salima, more of his camaraderie with his bros, etc.

COMPARISON WITH HISTORY : This show came at that time when I was learning Mughal history in school so some of the historical events shown there did make sense.

1) Maham Anga - Jodha conflict : As per Akbar's historians, Jodha bai (they haven't used her real name and called her by an honorary title) had such a well set character that even Maham Anga was fond of her, and all the ladies of harem respected her a lot. So that whole Maham hating Jodha part could've been reduced or shown her as supporting Jodha later.

2) Death of the twins : It really did happen coz Akbar's firstborn twins died soon. After that he had taken Jodha with him on his campaign.

3) Salim considering Rukaiyya as mother : This actually didn't happen as per records, Salim was mostly raised by Jodha/ Harka bai, he loved her a lot, visited temples with her, valued her opinions and has mentioned her with a lot of respect in his autobiography as well. Moreover, as per history, even during his conflict with Akbar, he still continued to respect his mother in the same way and it didn't actually affect their relationship. Rukaiyya was not involved in raising him.

4) Jodha's position as a powerful empress : Mariam-uz-Zamani was a powerful empress and had a lot to do in Mughal empire. She had her trade ventures as well. They could've explored more of this in the show, it would've made for a good premise. But by this time in the show they almost dumbed down all the major characters *sigh*

5) Akbar and Jodha's love : This was accurate in the show coz she was his favourite wife as well as his advisor and comfort in his older days. He regarded her highly, respected her and involved her in major matters concerning the empire.

6) Jodha bai's real name : There are discrepancies in her real name as well, in history, nowhere is she mentioned by her real birth name, only as Raja Bharmal's daughter, Mariam-uz-Zamani and such honorary titles. So we may probably not know what was her real name.

7) Conversion arc : Though it was a powerful arc in the show where Akbar supported Jodha a lot, there are no records of anything like that in history.

So these were my opinions. But this show until 450 eps is the standard of ITV, literally gold. I still love to watch it. Comment your opinions on the parts you liked and disliked in the show.

P.S : I had this doubt, who was Arambano's (Akbar's daughter) mother ?? She was shown to be raised by and close to Jodha but was she introduced as her daughter ?? Pls clear this doubt