Plot

A sixteenth century love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodha.

Jodhaa Akbar is a sixteenth century love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal Emperor, Akbar and a Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Politically, success knew no bounds for Emperor Akbar, After having secured the Hindu Kush, he furthered his realm by conquest until his empire extended from Afghanistan to the Bay of Bengal, and from the Himalayas to the Godhavari River. Through a shrewd blend of tolerance, generosity and force, Akbar won the allegiance of the Rajputs, the most belligerent Hindus. But little did Akbar know that when he married Jodhaa, a fiery Rajput princess, in order to further strengthen his relations with the Rajputs, he would in turn be embarking upon a new journey - the journey of true love. The daughter of King Bharmal of Amer, Jodhaa resented being reduced to a mere political pawn in this marriage of alliance, and Akbar's biggest challenge now did not merely lie in winning battles, but in winning the love of Jodhaa - a love hidden deep below resentment and extreme prejudice. Jodhaa Akbar is their untold love story.—hEmRaJ (gavin_coolhgr@hotmail.com)

Jodha daughter of Raja Bharmal from Amer is to be married to Raja Ratan Singh who will heritage the crown of her father after their marriage. her cousin Sujamal is upset over losing the throne and joins their rebels.When Mogul Emperor is about to attack Amer Raja Bharmal in order to make peace puts a proposal of Jodha to marry Akbar to which he agreed as it would bring strong alliance between Mughals and Rajput. In order to avoid marriage, Jodha proposes to Akbar that she won't change her religion and wants temple to be built for her.Akbar has no hesitation in this. After their marriage, Akbar's nanny conspires against Jodha when Sujamal comes to meet her in private. Jodha leaves his kingdom after Akbar doubts her character after the truth is out Akbar goes to take Jodha who tells him that first, he should have a change of relation in his kingdom.—alex.mjacko@gmail.com

Jodhaa Akbar is the story of the greatest Mughal emperor that ruled Hindustan (now India), Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, and the fiery young Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Set in the sixteenth century, this epic romance begins as a marriage of alliance between two cultures and religions, for political gain, with the Hindu King Bharmal of Amer giving his daughter's hand to a Muslim Emperor, Akbar. When Akbar accepts the marriage proposal, little does he know that in his efforts to strengthen his relations with the Rajputs, he would in turn be embarking on a new journey - the journey of true love. From the battlefield where the young Jalaluddin was crowned, through the conquests that won him the title of Akbar the Great ('Akbar' in Arabic means great), to winning the love of the beautiful Jodhaa, Jodhaa Akbar traces the impressive graph of the mighty emperor and his romance with the defiant princess.—AGPPL

Afer the Raja of Amer passes away, his brother, Veer Bharmal, crowns himself king, and looks after his nephew, Sujamal. After he and his wife, Padmavati, give birth to a girl, Jodhaa, they arrange her marriage with Ajabgarh's Rajkumar Rattan Singh. Years later, Veer decides to hand over Amer's reigns to Bhagwandas, instead of Sujamal, resulting in the later approaching Shahenshah Jalaluddin's brother-in-law, Sharifuddin Hussain for assistance. Fearing an attack on his kingdom, Veer approaches the Shahenshah himself, pledges alliance to him, and even offers his daughter's hand in marriage. Jalaluddin, whose life was always controlled by others, decides to marry a rather reluctant Jodhaa, who agrees to marry him on two conditions: that she will retain her Hindu Dharam, and will worship Bhagwan Shri Kishan in the Mughal palace, which he accepts. The marriage takes place, and Jodhaa places yet another condition on him: that she will only get intimate with him after she is ready, which he also accepts. Then Jalaluddin's faith in Jodhaa is shattered when he learns that she has been meeting secretly with a male unknown to him; while Sujamal gets ready to attack Amer; disgruntled and oppressed Hindus, who are forced to pay a toll to their Mughal rulers for their Tirath Yatra, lose hope and faith; while his very own brother-in-law prepares to assassinate him and become the next Shahenshah of Hindustan.—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Mughals made India their home. Started by Babur, to Humanyun, to Akbar. Akbar was the first Mughal emperor to be born in India. Yr is 1555. Due to the sudden death of Humayun, Hemu (Shehzor Ali) captures the throne of Delhi. Bairam Khan (Yuri Suri) is a loyal general to the Mughals and serves the boy Emperor Akbar. Hemu has a force twice the size of the Mughal army. Bairam Khan plans to kill Hemu in battle, which will scatter his forces. The plan works and the Mughals win the battle of Panipat. Bairam Khan beheads Hemu after Akbar refuses to do so. After this victory Bairam Khan sets out to consolidate the Mughal empire, by sending emissaries to all Kings of Hindustan. They are instructed to hand over their treasury to Mughals & pay taxes, or face the wrath of the Mughal army. Some accept, but many reject the royal proclamations. Mughal Emperor Akbar (Hrithik Roshan) is now a young man and leads his armies into battle. Again, Akbar refuses to behead defeated Kings and this time stops Bairam Khan as well. Akbar says he wants to rule Hindustan, but with humanity and passion. When Kings see this, they are favorable to run their lands under the Mughal rule. Akbar retires Bairam Khan and orders him to leave for Mecca.

Jodhaa (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), the daughter of Raja Bharmal (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) of Amer, is betrothed to Rajkumar Ratan Singh (Aman Dhaliwal) of Ajabgarh. Raja Bharmal announces that his son Bhagwant Das (Digvijay Purohit) would be his heir and Sujamal (Sonu Sood), Jodhaa's cousin, whom she wants to be the king's heir instead of Bhagwant Das, will have to work under him. Sujamal, who is deprived of his rightful throne (His father was the king of Amer. But his death passed the throne to Bharmal. The throne should have rightfully reverted to Sujamal since he was elder to Bhagwant), angrily leaves the kingdom to join rebels led by Sharifuddin Hussain (Nikitin Dheer). In exchange for Amer, Sharifuddin wants Sujamal to help him attack Delhi, even though Sharifuddin is Akbar's brother-in-law. He is the Governor of 3 provinces, but wants the whole Kingdom of Hindustan.

When Sharifuddin plans to attack Amer, Raja Bharmal reluctantly makes a peace offering, proposing to strengthen relations by his daughter's marriage to the emperor himself to avoid war. Akbar agrees to the marriage, as it would bring forward a true strong alliance and long lasting peace between the Mughals and Rajputs (and would help him realize his dream of a unified Hindustan under Mughal rule). But, this breaks the alliance of Raja Bharmal with the other kings of Rajputana, including Rana Uday Singh (Surendra Pal). Jodhaa completely resents being reduced to a mere political pawn as she wants to marry Ratan Singh, a local Rajput prince. She writes a letter to Sujamal, her brother, entreating him to come rescue her from the marriage, but she doesn't send it, though. Jodhaa shares all her misery with her mother Rani Padmavati (Suhasini Mulay), who tells her to send a servant girl in her place.

Jodhaa replies that it would deceive Akbar and would be death to their kingdom if he finds out. Her mother gives her a vial of poison and tells her to use it if a need arises. Jodhaa demands a meeting with Akbar and demands to keep her Hindu religion after marriage, and that a temple be built for her to continue her faith, with the intention of having the emperor call off the wedding. To her surprise, Akbar agrees to all her demands. After their marriage, Jodhaa acts reluctant with Akbar and they do not consummate their marriage. He assures Jodhaa that they will let things fall into place. Jodhaa moves to the Agra fort where she is welcomed by Akbar's mother Malika Hamida Banu Begum (Poonam Sinha).

Akbar's nurse and nanny, Maham Anga (Ila Arun) (and a minister in the Mughal court), whom he loves like his own mother, despises Jodhaa and conspires to humiliate her in front of Akbar. Todar Mal (Pramod Moutho) is the finance minister. Saadir Adaasi (Vishwa Mohan Badola) is the religious head of Islam and is pissed that Akbar allowed Jodhaa to establish a temple within the fort. he wants Akbar to banish Jodhaa from all common areas of the fort. Adham Khan (Shaji Chaudhary) is Akbar's foster brother and is angry that he was not made prime minister of the Kingdom. But Akbar is firm and says Adham is not fit to rule since he plundered people and sexually assaulted women. Meanwhile when Sharifuddin is unable to help Sujamal, he allies with Ratan Singh and Uday Singh.

Over time, both Jodhaa and Akbar learn from and gain admiration for each other. Akbar hosts a Rajputana feast in Jodhaa's honor, and she insists on cooking that day. Anga is displeased and tells Jodhaa that her marriage to Akbar is nothing more than a deal. Anga demeans Jodhaa by making her taste her own food before serving to the emperor, but Akbar saves the day by insisting that he will eat from the same plate as Jodhaa. Adham also aligns with Sharifuddin. Adham has been stealing taxes from his provinces. When the current PM Shamsuddin Ataga Khan (Raza Murad) finds out, Adham kills him and attacks Akbar. Akbar beats Adham in hand to hand combat and has him killed for his crimes. Anga is pissed, as Adham was her son.

Anga finds the letter Jodhaa had written (and the poison vial) and has it sent, and when Sujamal comes to meet Jodhaa in private, Anga insinuates to Akbar that Jodhaa went to meet her lover (And that Jodhaa is an assassin sent by the Rajputs with a vial of poison to kill Akbar. She also says that Jodhaa hasn't allowed Akbar to touch her since she still loves Ratan Singh). Akbar sends his men to arrest Sujamal, who thinks Jodhaa has framed him, and immediately flees. Akbar is enraged (He thinks it was Ratan Singh who met Jodhaa and not Sujamal) and banishes Jodhaa. Jodhaa doesn't give an explanation, indignant at her character being questioned. Later Akbar finds out the truth (Hamida tells Akbar that it was Sujamal, her brother, and not Ratan Singh. Akbar refuses to see Anga going forward as punishment) and goes to her maternal home, apologizes to her, and asks her to come back, but she refuses. He also finds out that she is skilled in fencing, and engages in a playful duel with Jodhaa, who tells him to investigate the working of his relations and empire. Akbar returns and travels through the common folk in disguise to understand the problems of his people better.

Later, Akbar controls the dissents among the Hindus and Muslims by announcing that every religion has its rights in his empire. He abolishes the pilgrim tax on Hindus. This impresses Jodhaa, who comes back to him. Sharifuddin (who is working with Saadir Adaasi, who is pissed at the abolition of pilgrim tax) orders an assassination of Akbar. Akbar is injured, but survives. Rana Singh and Ratan Singh don't want the ire of the Mughal army (of being suspected of Akbar's assassination) and abandon Sujamal.

Sujamal, Sharifuddin Hussain (Nikitin Dheer), and his allies attack Amer. Akbar takes his army and stops Sharifuddin at Mewat and asks for negotiations. After Sujamal overhears Sharifuddin plotting a silent attack on the emperor through one of his spies (he also learns that Bharmal has agreed to give a share of Amer to Sujamal, but Sharifuddin does not want this news to reach Sujamal), he quickly leaves to warn Akbar of this conspiracy (He does not want to render Jodhaa a widow). Sharifuddin's army chases Sujamal and kills him. He manages to warn the emperor of the attack, however, who then realizes what the past misunderstanding was concerning the letter. Then he dies just after apologizing to Jodhaa. Akbar defeats Sharifuddin in hand-to-hand combat, and then spares his life for the sake of his half-sister Bakshi Banu Begum (Abir Abrar), but not before stripping him of his title of Viceroy of Ajmer and Nagaur. Eventually, Akbar proclaims that Hindustan will be a peaceful and prosperous land if people respect and honor each other's religions. The film ends as the narrator recounts that Jodhaa and Akbar made history through their unconditional and eternal love for each other, but is forgotten.