Balaji Telefilms’ Jodha Akbar on Zee TV has gained phenomenal popularity in no time, and is growing in numbers with every passing week. Palak Kapoor, Creative Head on the show, attributes the super success of her show to the combined effort put in by the entire team.
Says Palak, “The personal inputs of Ekta Kapoor (Producer) always play a very important role. We also have a very talented director Santram Verma (won an award recently for Jodha Akbar too) who makes things easy. Last but not the least, my creative team works very hard to give viewers a visual treat.”
Ask her on what makes the show tick and she quickly states, “The unknown romance between Jalal and Jodha is the USP of our story. Plus we also provide a lot of information about that phase of time. For example, the manner in which Jalal became Akbar, the political interactions between the Mughals and the Rajputs, the tale related to the Navratnas (Todarmal, Birbal, Tansen etc) entering the court, the rich culture, monuments, language and costumes of the Mughal era also attract the audience. For the first time, Balaji Telefilms has given romance such a huge canvas and it is being lapped up by viewers as the rising TRP graph shows.”
She also does not pay much attention to the opposition coming from certain groups. “We hardly bother as these things happen when you get successful. A similar issue had arisen with Ashutosh Gowariker’s film Jodha Akbar as well. We are very clear that we are not hurting the sentiments of any particular community. But people do need to realize that creative artists like us need a certain amount of cinematic liberty to tell the tale effectively. ”
“We have also shown that as history says, Jalal was born when his mother was sheltered in a Rajput family; hence he has full respect for them. He allows Jodha to follow her religion and also light a diya. We ultimately want to show that love between two individuals can transcend all boundaries. ”
In closing, she refuses to spell out how the story will pan out in the coming episodes. “Yes, over time the love between Jodha and Akbar will reach zenith amidst the political and personal rivalries that abound the court of one of the greatest emperors of India.”
Great going, Palak…