After a series of films that under-performed either critically or commercially, Rai garnered both critical and box-office success with Ashutosh Gowariker's period romance "Jodhaa Akbar" (2008). The film narrates a partly fictionalised account of a marriage of convenience between the Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar (played by Hrithik Roshan) and the Rajput princess Jodha Bai (played by Rai). Rajeev Masand noted, "Aishwarya Rai is wonderfully restrained and uses her eyes expertly to communicate so much, making this one of her finest outings on screen". The film had gross earnings of and fetched Rai a Best Actress nomination at the Filmfare Awards ceremony. She then co-starred with her husband, Abhishek Bachchan, and her father-in-law, Amitabh Bachchan, in Ram Gopal Verma's political drama "Sarkar Raj", a sequel to the 2005 box-office hit "Sarkar". Rai was cast as Anita Rajan, the CEO of an international power firm who proposes to set up a plant in rural Maharashtra. The film was a critical and commercial success, with praise directed to the performances of the three leads.