Lesser known facts about TV's Jodha Akbar

Rajat Tokas and Paridhi Sharma are the darlings of the small screen and their hit TV show together, Jodha Akbar, has become a favourite. Not only have Paridhi and Rajat become household names, but they have catapulted to success almost overnight. The show has been mired in controversies, from Paridhi accusing the director of harassment, to her not being on talking terms with Rajat Tokas. Further, it was reported in the media that there was a mass walk out of 90 crew members due to wage issues. Then Ekta Kapoor withdrew her support as producer. While fans are cued in to all the facts about the show, we bring to you lesser known aspects about the two main leads.

Rajat Tokas- The Akbar of Television, Rajat has been a popular name with shows like Sai Baba and Dharti Ka Veer Yodha Prithviraj Chauhan to his credit. Few know that the actor set out to be a director rather than an actor but fate would have it otherwise. Like every actor in Television, Rajat too had the Bollywood dream in his eyes but allegedly did not get roles. His favourite actors in B-town include Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Rani Mukherjee and Kajol. Rajat is apparently very shy, especially when it comes to talking to girls. The actor recently got engaged to his girlfriend of one year, Shrishti Nayyar, a theatre actress. Not only that, he is also said to be a loner. The actor has allegedly refused to act in a saas bahu saga. Is originally from Delhi where he was born and brought up. Loves to eat Chinese food.

The actor has been broiled in controversies especially for not being on good terms with his co actor, Jodha aka Paridhi Sharma. But the daring Akbar of the small screen who portrays the brave and courageous Mughal king in this show, was in for a surprise. Due to his bossiness and rude behaviour, the actor was apparently hit by spot boys on the sets of the show. It was reported in The Times of India that Rajat got involved in a fracas with the spot boys on the sets of Jodha Akbar. When Rajat once again behaved rudely, they decided to take matters in their own hands and beat up the actor. However, the Rajat is said to have denied the incident. Interestingly, Rajat was not the first choice to play this historical character. It was Avinesh Rekhi of Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon fame who was first considered for this role.

During the shooting, Rajat hurt his foot as to fit into the character of Akbar, the actor was constantly required to wear jootis that were made of leather. This hurt the actor's foot badly for which he had to be treated. In an interview to The Times of India, he was quoted saying, "I got an injury on my foot. I got it treated, but I was still facing a lot of problems. I couldn't wear my jooti because it was made of leather and it hurt me. I had to go to Delhi to get it treated properly. It's not healed properly, and that's why I chose to wear cushioned sandals." But his hard work and dedication in shows has paid off as the actor has been the recipient of a number of awards. He won Best Child Actor award at Star Parivar Awards in 2007 along with the Best Actor (Popular) award at Indian Television Academy Awards in the same year.

The pretty Jodha bai of TV was born in Madhya Pradesh and has an MBA degree to her credit. But Paridhi did not begin her career with Jodha Akbar. She was seen in Tere Mere Sapne and Ruk Jaana Nahin but it was her portrayal of the Rajput queen in the show that got her the name and made her a star overnight. Talking about the same, the actress said in an interview to The Times of India, "This is my second show as I have done Ruk Jaana Nahi on Star Plus but my character didn't became famous may be because the show came on 6:30 PM slot." Interestingly, 7000 auditions took place all over India to find the perfect Jodha before Paridhi was finalised. The actress further stated in her interview to TOI, "Yes! Thankfully I think my lesser famous character in Ruk Jaana Nahi bagged me Jodha Akbar."

The actress is said to be a pure vegetarian and does not believe in dieting. Paridhi also hates momos. She's an avid dancer and loves to paint too. Paridhi's favourite colour is pink. In reality, the actress does not get along with her co star Rajat Tokas. The two are apparently not on talking terms and post pack up, don't really interact. What fans also don't know perhaps is that Paridhi is a married woman. We hate to break a million hearts but the Aishwarya Rai of the small screen (she's often been compared to her), is married to Tanmay Saxena, a senior manager with M&M Ltd based at Mumbai. In reality, the actress is very simple and hates wearing all the heavy jewellery that she has to don for the show.