Jodha Akbar Review
Jodha Akbar directed by Oscar nominated film (Lagaan) director Ashutosh Gowarikar is a historical love story featuring superstar Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Akbar and Jodha. The movie has been in the making for the last 2 and a half years. The first release date was October 12th 2007, but soon postponed to January 25th 2008. Ashutosh suffered from a back problem and again the movie was postponed to a day after Valentines day, February 15th. The movie was also surrounded by a lot of controversy which helped build up the curiosity level. Jodha Akbar is Hrithik Roshan's first release after Dhoom 2 (2006) and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's first release post her marriage to Abhishek Bachchan.
Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama has just published the first detailed review of the movie and rates it 4 stars on 5.
Jodha Akbar Review
Let's get one thing straight: You haven't watched anything so opulent, so magnificent like this in a long, long time on the Hindi screen. It's not just body beautiful, but there's soul as well.
It requires courage, prowess, patience, aptitude, knowledge, passion and of course, loads of currency to attempt a movie like Jodhaa Akbar. But more than anything else, it requires your firm belief in the subject, the belief to attempt a historical when historicals are considered an absolute no-no in the industry, the belief to spend almost Rs 40 crore in a film that could go either ways.
Only when you're convinced yourself can you convince millions of moviegoers. And convinced you are after watching Jodhaa Akbar, a film of epic proportions.
Now let's clear a few misconceptions pertaining to the film…
It's blasphemous to compare Mughal-E-Azam and Jodhaa Akbar. While Mughal-E-Azam was primarily about the legendary romance between Salim and Anarkali, a subject that has been attempted quite a few times on the Hindi screen before, Jodhaa Akbar is about the relationship that the young Akbar shared with Jodhaa.
A lot has been said and written about its length [3.20 hours]. Does the viewer of today have the patience to watch a really lengthy film in today's times? But once into Jodhaa Akbar, the sequence of events, the drama, the romance, the war… every aspect keeps you mesmerized. Oh yes, the length does pinch you at one crucial point [second hour, which is relatively shorter], when a song breaks out. Otherwise, the 3 + hours are very well spent.
When you watch historicals like Mughal-E-Azam and Razia Sultan, the usage of chaste Urdu is difficult to comprehend at times. Not here! The language is simplified - Akbar speaks in Urdu, Jodhaa in Hindi - and it's easy to decipher.
As a cinematic experience, it would be wrong to compare Jodhaa Akbar to any of Ashutosh Gowariker's previous endeavors. Why, it would be erroneous to compare the film with any film ever made before in this genre. This one stands out and stands out the tallest.
To sum up, Jodhaa Akbar leaves you spellbound, enthralled, entranced and awestruck. Ashutosh Gowariker makes the legendary characters come alive on screen.
Set in the sixteenth century, Jodhaa Akbar is a love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Little did Akbar [Hrithik Roshan] know that when he married Jodhaa [Aishwarya Rai Bachchan], he would be embarking upon a new journey — the journey of true love.
The daughter of King Bharmal of Amer [Kulbhushan Kharbanda], Jodhaa resented being reduced to a mere political pawn in this marriage of alliance, and Akbar's biggest challenge now did not merely lie in winning battles, but in winning the love of this defiant princess.
One of the prime reasons why Jodhaa Akbar works is because the present-day viewer is unaware of the romance between Akbar and Jodhaa. Sure, we all know of Akbar as a great emperor, but the love story makes for a refreshing subject. And the execution of a number of sequences makes Jodhaa Akbar extremely special.
Some instances:
- The war sequence at the very outset. You realise the scale and magnitude of the film at the very beginning.
- Hrithik taming an out-of-control elephant. It's hair-raising.
- The two pre-conditions set by Jodhaa, before her marriage to Akbar. Very interesting.
- The confrontation between Ila Arun and Ash at the kitchen, when Ash decides to make the meal herself.
- The immediate sequence, when Ash is asked to taste the food herself by Ila before she's about to serve the food to the Emperor and his associates. Once done, Hrithik demanding that he be served the meal from the same platter that Jodhaa had used.
- The intermission point, which sows the seeds of a misunderstanding between Hrithik and Ash.
- Post-interval, Hrithik returning to Amer to get Ash back to Agra and the welcome ceremony by his mother-in-law [Suhasini Mulay].
- The sword fight the very next morning, between Hrithik and Ash.
- The Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshah track, when the entire kingdom hails Hrithik.
- The fight in the climax [reminds you of the fight between Brad Pitt and Eric Bana in Troy].
Amazing moments indeed…
Ashutosh Gowariker knows that historicals have to be simplified while narrating on celluloid so that the moviegoer is able to grasp and comprehend the plotline and the sequence of events. Thankfully, Jodhaa Akbar is not in the least difficult to decipher. Gowariker's handling of the subject deserves the highest praise, for it's not everyday that you come across a film like Jodhaa Akbar.
A.R. Rahman's music is not the type that you take to instantly, but yes, it gels beautifully with the mood of the film. Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshah and Jashn-e-Bahara are the best tracks in terms of tune. In terms of choreography, Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshah is awe-inspiring, while the execution of Khwaja Mere Khwaja is outstanding. Rahman's background score is simply extra-ordinary.
There's no room for dullness in Haider Ali and Gowariker's screenplay. The writing is tight, the drama keeps you hooked and the romantic track is wonderful. The film also talks of secularism, an issue so vital in today's times. K.P. Saxena's dialogues are amazing. At places, soaked in acid. The writer comes up with several gems, yet again. Kiran Deohans' cinematography matches international standards. The movement of camera at various places, especially in the battlefield, is breath-taking. Also, the D.O.P. captures the grandeur to the fullest. The production design [Nitin Chandrakant Desai] is, again, awesome. Recreating the bygone era requires not just money, but also the vision and Desai proves his supremacy yet again.
Be it the war sequences or the sword fights or general action, Ravi Dewan's contribution to the film is incredible. Especially noteworthy is the fight between Hrithik and Nikitin Dheer in the climax. It's simply outstanding! Editing [Ballu Saluja] is perfect, although the romantic song between Hrithik and Ash can be shortened in the second hour. The costumes [Neeta Lulla] as also the jewelry also deserve special mention.
Jodhaa Akbar also works because of the right casting. It's difficult to imagine anyone else in the role of Emperor Akbar. Hrithik seems born to play this role and he enacts it with such precision, such flourish, such confidence that it leaves you asking for more. A mind-boggling performance without doubt!
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is superb. Oh yes, she looks ethereal — a compliment she has heard a trillion times before. What's new in that? But watch her emote in this film. You realise the amazing talent that has hitherto not been tapped by any movie maker. A flawless performance indeed!
Jodhaa Akbar has a host of characters, but the ones whom you carry home, besides Hrithik and Ash, are Sonu Sood [excellent], Nikitin Dheer [fantastic], Ila Arun [electrifying; her finest work so far], Punam S. Sinha [graceful], Kulbhushan Kharbanda [perfect], Raza Murad [effective] and Rajesh Vivek [good]. Amitabh Bachchan's rich barritone voice adds lustre to the magnum opus.
On the whole, Jodhaa Akbar is, without a shred of doubt, a brilliant film in all respects. This historical has all it takes to prove the first blockbuster of 2008. Very strongly recommended!
4 stars on 5
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If Jodha-Akbar is made just for entertainment value, it’s ok. But I don’t think it’s made for entertainment value. Asuthosh wanted to show his directorial capability and tried to convince the audience about the love story between Jodha and Akbar? But educated audience must know the history and must be laughing the way Akbar’s kingdom is shown in the movie against the romantic background?
ReplyDeleteMany times, the role of Jodha was forcibly inserted to justify the title ‘Jodha Akbar. One such occasion I would like to site when Akbar got wounded with an arrow. Jodha would be taking care of him. What about his other wives and Baandies (concubines)?
The focus of the movie evolves more around Jodha-Akbar to justify the title of the movie with very little is shown about his mother, midwife, and other counselors.
One thing I have observed is that nothing is shown about Akabr’s Muslim wives? No interaction of Jodha with Akbar’s wives? The reason for not showing Akbar’s previous wives can be well understood and it rather shows the dexterity of script writer and director. Well done Asutosh for presenting the historic facts in a bad light! You wanted business, and you would succeed too as the collection at box office is whopping week by week.
Film impacts our lives and gives a message. What kind of message we’ll give to our posterity with this distorted factual periodic movie? Should not our generation visualize Akbar as Hirtik and Jodha as Aishwarya in same as we visualize Akab as Prithivi Raj Kapoor and Salim as Dilip Kumar? Would not the generation ahead to us believe what they see in the movie than believing on real history of Akbar in Mughal period?
I don’t object on any good historic films. Richard Attenborough has also made a film on Gandhi; this was convincing and has won various awards too. It was purely a historic movie and I really appreciate this movie. But when it comes to Indian directors in making such a movie, most of them have failed so far. Almost all of them do think from commercial perspective whether a film they make will do business or not. If not, then who will produce if next time he dares making sumac a movie?
In gist, if a periodic film is made with distorted facts to do business, time is not far away when our posterity would believe such a film as real and would discard what’s written in the history book. Future really looks bloom, alas!
Hrithik looks so HOT. I only wish there were more intimate scenes between ash and hrithik. Imagine them kissing - open mouth and tongues... ohmygawd!
ReplyDeleteI was waiting to see this movie since long time when it was annonced in late 2007, and dealyed and postponed.
ReplyDeleteFinally when I saw this movie I was very disappointed because it was more worse than I was expecting.
Fisrt of all Hrithik Roshan was a wrong choice for the role of Akbar (Hrithik is a very cute and handsome person I agree, he looks very beutiful in roles of College students or a normal hindi fim hero, but not as Akbar).
If you are making a movie on history it sholud be historical, but the problem with our film makers is that the first thing for them is that "will this fim do business or not??" they think commercially and do not care for the actual history. As we know Akbar was great mughal emperor and warrior, but Hrithik was not fit as warrior by any means, Akbar was king he never behaves as Akbar of this movie was behaving , the scenes of war were very weak, the delivery of dialoges was very poor as most of the actors are not Urdu speaking peoples.
The truth is director's and producer's focus was on the box office only and not on the history or correct events. If Jodha was a princess and wife of Akbar she never go to kitchen to prepare meal for a big party.
If you compare Akbar of Mughl e Aazam (Mr. Prithvi Raj Kapoor) with Akbar of Jodha Akbar you can feel the difference. In Mugl e Aazam Mr. Prithvi Raj Kapoor was looks, behaves, and delivered dialogues in perfect way as real Akbar supposed to be.
As a whole to see this movie is waste of time and money.
Sharjeel Khan
Dubai
Jodhaa Akbar is, no doubt a great movie. Of course, if everyone has 4 hours to watch it!
ReplyDeleteThe grandeur of the movie is stunning. The costumes, settings, locations both indoor and outdoor, and music are all spectacular. The use of color to accentuate the mood and feeling – red for rajputs and green for mughals, and music enhances the entertainment value of the movie. Each of the songs is unique – from sufi-spiritual Khwaja mere khwaja, classical Mann mohana…, ghazal like Kahne ko jashne, upbeat Azeem-o-shan shehanshah, to the sensuous In lamhon me daman mein – and form the 5 jems of Jodhaa Akbar.
Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai were amazing in their performances. Ashutosh Gowariker’s direction is excellent, especially in his use of eyes as a means of communication between Jodhaa and Akbar consistently in the movie. His efforts to re-enact the traditions and culture of the 16th century and yet make them relevant today are commendable.
In an interview, director Ashutosh Gowariker said he considered Jodhaa Akbar mainly as a romance, not a war or historical movie. Yes, the romance between Jodhaa and Akbar was a big part of the movie. It’s always nice to watch a love story in an arranged marriage! The marriage alliance between the moghul emperor and rajput princess starts of as a bitter pill for Jodhaa and a successful strategy for Akbar’s expansion of the mughal empire.
But Gowariker did not devote much film or time to show their love blossom. There are 3 long war scenes and other scenes where kings plot and conspire, and not enough showing the transformation of Jodhaa and Akbar. Akbar finds Jodhaa’s strong-will and outspokenness attractive; and Jodhaa quickly finds out how genuinely nice Akbar is. Akbar’s character is well-developed: he’s a brave warrior, a wise ruler, and a nice man who can win people’s hearts and minds. But Jodhaa’s character isn’t so developed. The 2 songs – Mann mohana… and Kahne ko jashne... could have been in full instead of playing bits and pieces. There could have been more scenes between them.
Ultimately this movie is more than the romance in the life of India’s greatest mughal. Gowariker underscores India’s heritage of cultural and religious syntheses without speeches or lectures.