Set in the 16th century, the film shows the fictional[3] life and love between the Muslim Emperor Akbar of the Mughal Empire and a Hindu Princess Jodhaa Bai of Amber, and their political marriage.

[9] Jalaluddin, the underage emperor of the Mughal Empire is taught by Bairam Khan to rule mercilessly, killing defeated opponents after a battle.

Years later, after another battle, an adult Jalaluddin defies Bairam Khan for the first time, deciding that mercy, respect, and diplomacy will be his way forward.

Sujamal, who is deprived of his rightful throne, angrily leaves the kingdom to join Sharifuddin Hussain, Jalaluddin's brother-in-law, who has his own ambition of becoming emperor.

Jodhaa requests a meeting with Jalaluddin and demands that she be allowed to practice her religion even after her wedding, and that a Hindu temple be built for her at the Agra fort.

Akbar defeats Sharifuddin in hand-to-hand combat, and then spares his life for the sake of his half-sister Bakshi Banu Begum, but not before stripping him of his title of Viceroy of Ajmer and Nagaur.

Following the success of Lagaan (2001), its director Ashutosh Gowariker was approached by actor and screenwriter Haidar Ali with the idea of making a film along the lines of K. Asif's historical epic, Mughal-e-Azam (1960).

[12][13] In an interview with Syed Firdaus Ashraf of Rediff.com, Ali said on his decision to work with Gowariker:Ashutosh is the only director who could do justice to a film of such a level.

In Lagaan, he touched on the issue of casteism, the oppressed class, Hindu-Muslim unity, communal harmony, team spirit, management and nationalism.

In December 2001, Ali began research on the marriage of princess Jodhabai, daughter of the Rajput ruler of Amer, Bharmal with the Mughal emperor Akbar, and prepared a basic story on the couple.

[15] In March 2005, Gowariker started work on the screenplay with Ali while denying speculations that Firoz A. Nadiadwala and Subhash Ghai were producing the film.

[16][17] It was confirmed later in August 2006 that Gowariker would co-produce the film himself under his banner AGPPL productions with Ronnie Screwvala of UTV Motion Pictures, in addition to the latter distributing it.

[18] Ali and Gowariker completed the script in November 2005 and sought the help of Bhawani Singh, the Maharaja of Jaipur and his spouse, Maharani Padmini Devi to provide them with "creative inputs to make Jodhaa Akbar as realistic as possible.

[34] A. R. Rahman, Javed Akhtar, Nitin Chandrakant Desai and Ballu Saluja were signed up as the music composer, lyricist for the songs, art director and editor respectively, thereby collaborating with Gowariker for the third time after Lagaan and Swades.

[38] Gowariker chose Ravi Dewan to be the stunt co-ordinator for Jodhaa Akbar based on the latter's experience in handling historical films, such as 1942: A Love Story (1994).

[40] Neeta Lulla, who had earlier worked with Rai in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas (2002), was chosen to handle the film's costume designing.

[42] Keeping in mind the grandeur of the Mughal Empire during Akbar's time, Lulla used the Zardozi and Kundan types of embroidery for Roshan's and Rai's dresses.

Rai later mentioned in subsequent interviews that the toughest part of playing her character was to wear the jewellery as she found them quite heavy to bedeck.

[45][46] The jewels were designed using miniature paintings from Mughal literature and Akbar's autobiography by Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, the Akbarnama as influences.

[51] To prepare for their fight sequences, Roshan and Rai learnt sword-fighting and horse-riding a month before filming began at Mehboob Studio and Mahalaxmi Racecourse respectively.

[53] Ashutosh wanted the climax to be perfect because of which the extras, who were people from nearby villages and were used for Akbar's and Hussain's armies, would often get tired standing in the same position for an entire day.

The scene where Akbar prays to the Islamic scholar Moinuddin Chishti for a successful conquest of India was filmed at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah.

[70] The battle scene featuring Roshan and Ulhas Barve, who plays the King of Mankeshwar, Chittorgarh district, was filmed in June 2007 at Jaipur.

According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 1,100,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's fourteenth highest-selling.

[82] According to historian Imtiaz Ahmad, the director of the Khuda Baksh Oriental Public Library in Patna, the name "Jodhaa" was used for Akbar's wife for the first time by Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod, in his book Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan.

The court scrapped the Uttar Pradesh government ban as well as similar orders by authorities in Dehradun, Uttarakhand and Ambala, Sonepat and Rewari, Haryana.

"[93] Tajpal Rathore of the BBC gave the film four out of five stars, noting that, "although the 16th-century love story upon which it's based might be long forgotten, this endearing treatment sears into the memory through sheer size and scale alone [...] Don't let the running time put you off watching this unashamedly epic tale.

"[94] Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India gave the film three stars, stating that, "Jodhaa Akbar works only because its heart is in the right place.

The film talks about a love that transcends all barriers – gender, religion, culture – and dreams of an India where secularism and tolerance are the twin towers that should never ever crumble.

"[95] While suggesting that the film is "too long" and that it is "not a history lesson," Rachel Saltz of The New York Times also notes, "in choosing to tell the tale of this emperor and a Muslim-Hindu love story, Mr. Gowariker makes a clear point.