Mumbai: Ashutosh Gowariker's magnum opus Jodhaa Akbar has been courting many controversies over its factual accuracy. According to the rajput community, the film contradicts history — that Jodhaa bai was married to Akbar's son Jehangir and not Akbar himself.

The film's release invited protests in Rajasthan, Patna, Ahmedabad and Gurgaon as well. But the film's director, Ashutosh Gowariker stands by history and insists that he has done his homework.

He says "All the characters that are there in the film did exist in the past, even the roles of supporting characters in the film existed in the past. I've taken the help from Akbar Nama, Abul Fazal's Ain-e-Akbari, I've also consulted a lot of historians."

"Only after reading a whole lot of history I realised that each historian has his own interpretation which has to be respected, and I analysed based on that. Ultimately for me making the film was very important, and the only scenes that I've imagined in the film are the scenes between Jodhaa and Akbar in the privacy of their chamber, of which there is no historical account," he adds.

As for the protesting groups, Gowariker has a solution to their problem.

"I think it's very important that every Rajput watches Jodhaa Akbar, so I appeal to them to go and see the film," says Gowariker.