Enchanting Tales of Jodha-Akbar
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REVIEW The Enchantress of Florence: A Novel. Rushdie, Salman. 2008. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 978 0224 06163 6 Jodhaa Akbar. Ashutosh Gowarikar Productions. 2008. Mumbai: India. UTV Motion Pictures. Enchanting tales of Jodha-Akbar Rituparna Roy and seductresses of all kinds, but the relation to Akbar, in the same way as he most interesting of them all is the imagi- thinks of his in relation to God. And in a Jodhaa Akbar is a lavish period drama on nary Jodha – a being created by Akbar’s way, they echo each other’s thoughts: celluloid; The Enchantress of Florence is an all-powerful fancy, khayal. Making her “The question of her independent existence, ‘East meets West’ novel, highlighting not character imaginary serves two purposes of whether she had one, insisted on being so much a clash of civilisations as their in the novel. In The Enchantress of Florence, asked, over and over, whether she willed it commonality. At the heart of both is Jalal Rushdie celebrates, among other things, a or not. If God turned his face away from his ud-din Muhammad Akbar (1542-1605), the time when “the real and the unreal were creation, Man, would Man simply cease to greatest Mughal Emperor of India, who, [not] segregated forever and doomed to be? That was the large-scale version of the though illiterate, was gifted with a unique live apart under different monarchs and question, but it was the selfish, small-scale syncretic vision which he tried concretis- separate legal systems” – and the best versions that bothered her. Was her will free ing in his own lifetime, by creating a new attestation of that fact in the novel is the of the man who had willed her into being? religion of man (Din-i-Ilahi or the ‘Divine character of Jodha Bai, Akbar’s fantasy Did she exist only because of his suspension Faith’) that sought to bring people of all come alive. The other purpose she serves of disbelief in the possibility of her existence? faiths under the same roof. is technical. There has always been a lot If he died, could she go on living?” of controversy surrounding the historical It is this leader who thought much ahead character of Jodha Bai – who she actually She is confident of her beauty and power of his times who dominates both the novel was and whether she existed at all. By mak- over the king, but knows instinctively and the film – though they depict him at ing her imaginary, in one brilliant stroke, that her time has come when Kara Qoz, different stages of his life. Rushdie’s Akbar Rushdie solves the problem of the contro- the enchantress reclaimed from the past muses at length on the questions of God versy over her identity. by Vespucci’s tale, casts a spell over the and Man. He is a tortured, faltering, falli- whole of Sikri. She loses out to the Mughal ble man – past his prime, beset with anxi- Akbar has numerous wives and mistress- princess - but even the enchanted Emperor eties, and disillusioned at the failure of his es, but none can satisfy him. So he creates admits that the hidden Mughal princess’ dreams. Gowarikar’s Jalal ud-din, on the his fantasy woman and gives her a name. power over him was at best regressive, as other hand, is a young man of great beauty He dreams her up, we are told, “in the way it drew him “backwards in every way, in his and vigour, at the peak of his powers, dis- that lonely children dream up imaginary ideas, his beliefs, his hopes.” covering himself and his ideals through friends”, to the obvious chagrin of his his love, and with a life full of possibilities after changing several hands, becomes wonder about the “disturbing possibilities other consorts. They are full of malice and Jodha, on the other hand, for as long as and greatness ahead of him. In both, his the famed enchantress of Florence. She is of the first person singular.” envy as they can never hope to compete she remains Akbar’s favourite queen, does Rajput wife, Jodha Bai, plays an important the one who connects Mughal India and with Jodha: “No real woman was ever like prove to be an ideal partner. It is she he role – though she plays it very differently. Renaissance Italy; and through her, East When Mogor dell’Amore visits the Mughal that, so perfectly attentive, so undemand- returns to after the wars; she who informs meets West. court, we see Akbar, for all his greatness ing, so endlessly available. She was an him about the condition of his subjects; Secular credentials and glory, as a dissatisfied soul, question- impossibility, a fantasy of perfection. They she who satisfies him physically; and she The questions of Muslim identity and The Enchantress of Florence is a sprawling ing all the givens of his life. He is drawn feared her, knowing that, being impossi- again, with whom he has mental commun- culture have always been important to novel in three parts: to the charming Florentine raconteur and ble, she was irresistible, and that was why ion - who is a part of his most profound Rushdie – especially, vis-à-vis the secu- The first part of the novel is taken up with his tales, but his mind is always heavy the king loved her best.” thoughts, and with whom he can share his lar credentials of the Indian polity. In his the adventures of an enigmatic Florentine with philosophical thoughts. Though they impossibly beautiful visions: “Imagine, novels on the subcontinent (especially rogue of many names (Mogor dell’Amore, weigh him down, they prove fascinating for Most of the women in this novel – wheth- Jodha…. if we could awake in other men’s Midnight’s Children [1981] and The Moor’s Argalia, Niccolò Vespucci) as he makes the reader. In fact, no adventure or excite- er they be queens, whores or wives – are dreams and change them, and if we had Last Sigh [1995]), he has explored the fate his way to the court of Akbar the Great ment in the tale(s) we are told, can match females perceived solely in relation to the the courage to invite them into ours. What of secularism in India - what came of it in to reveal a secret and claim kinship with the mind of Akbar. It is one of the many male. Jodha is no different. But even within if the whole world became a single waking the years and decades after Independence the Emperor. The remainder of the novel ironies of the novel. Another is Jodha. this parameter, she is unique – for, while dream?” - and recorded his bitter disappointment at dramatises the story that Akbar is told by the other women in the novel are full of the souring of that great Indian dream. In this Italian - about the adventures of the Enchantresses and envy and intrigue, preoccupied with how In short, she is his succour – that is the role The Enchantress of Florence, he traces that enchantress of the title - Akbar’s great seductresses best to get on in life using their sexual she plays in his desolate, middle-aged life. secular ideal (cherished by the founding aunt, Qara Köz, “Lady Black Eyes”, eventu- This novel is a hymn to the erotic power powers, Jodha is given existential anxie- In Ashutosh Gowariker’s film, Jodha plays fathers of the Indian nation and enshrined ally re-named Angelica, as she journeyed of women. It abounds in enchantresses ties. She thinks of her identity and self in an even more crucial role in the young in its constitution) back to its source – in from the Middle East to Florence, conquer- Akbar’s life – she shows him the way. the musings of the 16th century philoso- ing the heart of one bloody conqueror after pher-king. another. Jodhaa-Akbar Jodhaa-Akbar is Gowariker’s fifth film, but Interestingly, though this novel is his Despite her title role, however, it is Akbar most know it as his third, as his first two tenth, the genesis of its idea preceded who is the moral centre of the book, and films (Pehla Nasha, Baazi), sank into obliv- many others. As a student at Cambridge who provides its strongest link to the ion without a trace. The turning point in in the 1960’s, Rushdie was greatly drawn issues that have concerned Rushdie in his directing career (before which he spent to the history of Mughal India and Renais- his works and his life. He is a marvellous almost a decade as a film and television sance Italy – two uniquely great moments spokesman for his author, of which the actor) came with Lagaan (2001) - the first in both India and Europe, representing the reader is left in no doubt when told that Indian classic of the 21st century, which pinnacle of both cultures. The fascination Akbar’s chief objection to God was that received an Oscar nomination in the ‘Best with these two periods stayed with him, “his existence deprived human beings Foreign Film Category’. and decades later, it resurfaced as an idea of the right to form ethical structures by for a novel. Even as he was finishing work themselves. If there had never been a God, In Hindi film parlance, he is considered on The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999), he it might have been easier to work out what ‘hatke’ - different - for the unusual themes started toying with the idea of “finding a goodness was.” that he has chosen time and again, while fictional device that would… bring together working in an industry that still prima- the Florence of the Medicis and the India The Emperor is not only uncomfortable rily provides popcorn entertainment.