Is Jodhaa-Akbar the most difficult film you’ve made so far?

It is. But the process has been so enjoyable and I didn’t mind the toil. My crew made the process of creation very interesting. Just working hard isn’t a virtue. Otherwise I should not make a film. And I   definitely shouldn’t make a historical.

Aishwarya Rai  and Hrithik Roshan have very contemporary personalities?

That won’t be a problem. The audience will come in and forget everything about Hrithik and Aishwarya. I’ve no fear of that. The two are  brilliant.

Ultimately, the audience will be watching not the stars but the two characters that they play.

Perhaps audiences would want to see Abhishek playing ‘Akbar’?

Hrithik-Aishwarya’s pairing is incredible. They’re extremely charismatic and good-looking.  They were a huge success in the contemporary Dhoom 2. That can only help my film, not harm it. What  audiences will see in my film are ‘Jodha’ and ‘Akbar’.

At least that’s what I’ve tried to ensure through their looks, body language and behaviour. I wanted to make my historical as believable as I’d like to see it being.  

You’ve paid  extreme attention to period details.

Every element big or small, from  the texture of the clothes to the sets, décor, dialogues and the protocol, even the incidental sounds of birds and animals, they all had to be just right for me. I’m tired of  filmmakers wondering where those good old days have gone. I wanted to reclaim those days. It took me two years of  pre-production before I got into my first shot.

Are you happy with the end-product?

Oh, it has been tremendously enriching. So far, the Mughal  period was part of textbooks. I always wondered about the battles and the durbar intrigue.

The mughal period was known for its lavishness, so much so that studio bosses in Hollywood from the golden period were not called ‘movie czars’ or ‘movie nawabs’. They were called ‘movie moghuls’!