Aishwarya Rai

The music of Ashutosh Gowariker’s historical love story was released by an erstwhile royal who is a direct descendent of queen Jodhabai, and the director says people have liked the modern adaptation of 16th century sounds.

“The response to the first two songs has been surprisingly positive. People were expecting archaic songs, but they liked the modern adaptation of 16th century sounds,” Gowariker told IANS in an interview.

Troubled and tired of all the controversies surrounding the leading actors, Gowariker says: “Aishwarya (Rai) and Hrithik (Roshan) get along really well.

Even at the wrap up party they were fine with each other. I just want to say both Hrithik and Aishwarya were extremely dedicated, professional and sensible.”

The leading lady’s husband Abhishek Bachchan never interrupted the shooting, says Gowariker who is recovering from a back problem.

“Abhishek came only when he was shooting in Karjat next door for that song in Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Aag’. Even then he’d drop in before the shooting started, have tea and leave.”

Excerpts:

Q: Is it true that a company dumped the music of “Jodhaa-Akbar”?

A: It’s true that we were looking at an association with Big Music. But we didn’t agree on certain rights issues for the music, so we parted. UTV Music, a label that Ronnie Screwvala wanted to start later during the year, was launched in a hurry to release the “Jodhaa-Akbar” music. We had the music release function Jan 9. The (erstwhile) Maharani of Jaipur, Rani Padmini, who’s a direct descendent of Jodhabai, and her husband flew down to release the music.