Jodhaa Akbar

A lot has been said and heard about Jodhaa Akbar before its release. Historicals don't work at box office. Making a historical is not everyone's cup of tea. But master director Ashutosh Gowariker shows that if one is having conviction, vision and guts to make a particular film then it can be made. Jodhaa Akbar is such one film and one can see efforts put in by entire cast & crew. Finally, Jodhaa Akbar emerges as a brilliant, amazing film in true sense. When watching Jodhaa Akbar, don't look out for facts and history. Just enjoy this beautifully crafted fairy tale because we haven't experienced something so magnificent, opulent and splendid in terms of technique as well as content on Indian screen before. Jodhaa Akbar is essentially a love story of a prince and the princess on the lines of stories we read in magazines like Chandamama, Amar Chitr Katha. However, the story of Jodhaa Akbar relies on 2 characters from history and the rest is fiction. There is a scene in Jodhaa Akbar when a group of Sufi singers lost in thoughts and in trance twirl their bodies in front of royal audience and emperor Akbar himself mesmerized joins the group in the midst. The audience will get same kind of experience when watching this magnum opus/epic romance. You will not help but get transported to that royal era. Distinction marks to complete cast and crew and of course the captain of the ship Ashutosh Gowariker. They have absolutely succeded in creating that ambience, era and setting. The work by each and very department is top notch. Without a shred of doubt it is at par with any hollywood or international film. May it be costume designing by Neeta Lulla, production design by Nitin Chandrakant Desai or photography by Kiran Deohans. War sequences are good. Especially the long shots are good however, when it comes to close-ups war sequences give you a deja vu feeling of watching battle sequences from Ramayan or Mahabharat. Dialogues by K. P. Saxena are apt. Unnecessarily dialogues are not in pure Urdu and hindi dialogues serve the purpose well. The blend of hindi and urdu is perfect but at some instances the dialogues lack the punch. E.g. the line by Akbar in a last scene. "Hum ab ye chahenge ki Mallika-e-Hindustan hamare kareeb aayein" We don't expect this kind of line in Akbar's darbar. Gowariker's intention of making dialogues simple and not using Urdu in every place is noble but for that purpose you can not have simple period-cum-contemporary hindi. More thought should have been given on dialogues front. However, on a whole not at a single point of time technique overpowers the content and thats where the brilliance of a director can be seen. Now, lets come down to performances. I am not a great fan of Aishwarya Rai but after watching Jodhaa Akbar, I must admit that she hasn't looked so gorgeous before and she shows that she can act too. Aishwarya Rai brings Jodha's character alive on the screen. Hritik Roshan is The Akbar. For me discussion ends here. Hritik Roshan gets under the skin of character and delivers a bravura performance. His performance is so convincing that it seems like Hritik was born to play Akbar. He shows the complex shades of character with panache. Just watch Hritik's expression when he tells Jodhaa that he is illiterate. All supporting cast is fantastic. Special mention has to be made of Nikiten Dheer (Sharifuddin Hussain). He is just amazing. Music (Original Dramatic Score) by A. R. Rahman is top notch though songs fell short of expectation. All the songs come as a hindrance in a narrative. They don't take story forward. Second half is bit long and more editing was required for sure. Rather overall length of the film could have been around 2 Hrs 45 minutes. However, on a whole Jodhaa Akbar is an amazing film and thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable. Again, I will like to mention that Jodhaa Akbar is a prime example where director hasn't gone overboard when it comes to technique (production design, camera work, costumes etc. ). There is a perfect balance of content and technique. This shows the brilliance of Ashutosh Gowariker and his understanding of cinema as a medium of story telling. After Lagaan, Swades and now Jodhaa Akbar, Mr. Gowariker you have raised the bar once again. Now, We are expecting something more great in your next film. Raise a toast and take a bow Mr. Ashutosh Gowariker.