The first song in the film is the semi classical Man Mohana. A short version of the song is used at a crucial part. The longer version is played later when Akbar (Hrithik Roshan) holds court that includes Muslim theologians, who are not happy with his marriage to a Rajput princess (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) who is allowed to have a temple in the palace.
"It's a lovely song," Rahman says. "But if you listen to it several times, you will also notice it is quite a complex composition. The song was created keeping Aishwarya in mind. Ashutosh believed that she could sing the song because he heard her sing part of it. But then she had scheduling problems, and the track was recorded in Bela Shende's voice. He liked it; it had a sense of purity. So he left it that way."
Bela, whose voice was heard in the Shah Rukh Khan film, Paheli, worked with Rahman for the first time in Jodhaa Akbar.
Rahman also remembered how he wanted Abhishek Bachchan to sing the song, Ek Lo Ek Muft, in Guru. It was finally sung by Bappi Lahiri because Abhishek was busy shooting for a film in London.
Also read: Jodhaa Akbar is okay, but overlong