Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Sonu Sood
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Music: A.R. Rahman
Whew! Hrithik's drop dead handsome looks havent sunk in as yet.. so i'll attempt to do justice to the other aspects of the movie too. Far from looking like a fat Turk with an ugly wart on his nose, Hrithik absolutely manages to mesmerise with his green (i think) eyes, bringing out all his emotions - fascination, joy, anger, power, elation, i could go on and on. Ok, now, a little about the movie and back to discussing Hrithik. A movie with an Ashutosh Gowariker trade-mark, not only the length, but the eye for detail, and the streak of patriotism, which he manages to squeeze in even in an epic love story like this. Love story, he should have left it at that, instead of adding a typical climax, with the hero finishing off the bad guy, maybe saving about an hour and a half of history and politics, making it look more like a weekly TV- serial. . That, and the speed of the narrative apart, the movie is a visual treat, with the cinematography, the massive armies clashing, the majestic emperor in all his glory, the delicate, but bold Rajput princess, not to mention the entire royal ambience.
The main storyline is about Akbar, the Mughal emperor, and his wife Jodhaa, who embark on a marriage of alliance between the Rajput kingdom of Amer, and Akbar's. The defiant and self-respecting princess refuses to be a pawn in the political drama, but she has no choice, and accepts what comes to her, as a Hindu bride would do; for she refuses to walk out of the relationship, even when Akbar tells her she is free to do so, saying that the bond of a husband and wife is that of seven lives. And so, an epic romance begins to blossom, culminating finally into true love, which overcomes all obstacles and crosses all hurdles. Their intimate moments are depicted with so much tenderness, which, maybe few other directors can bring out. Intertwined are family and court politics, which blend into the story, but without which, the movie would have run with more subtlety. The plot is downright loose, considering that the length had been reduced by more than half of the original, and so the movie finally ends up looking like a jigsaw puzzle fitted with the wrong pieces. Hrithik and Aish give you the sole reason to sit through the entire length.
From the way he walks, to the way he throws his chin up as the almighty ruler of Hindustan, and then switches to looking like an innocent school boy in love, Hrithik steals the show. The delightful surprise in his eyes, when he learns that his wife has cooked his meal, the elation when she comes back to him, telling him that he has won her heart, and the pure happiness, when his name is the first thing she learns to write in Urdu, the power in his voice, the authority, and his anger upon learning that the princess has set conditions for him, the Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah, are nothing short of wonderful. I knew Hrithik was a good actor, but now, i look at him with renewed respect. Aishwarya too, complementing him beautifully, as Jodhaa, looking splendid, deserves a mention. The rich design and costumes, which show all the hard work of the designers, also lend a hand in carrying off the show. And of course, the maestro, Rahman, living upto high expectations, with each song picturised perfectly, that the overall effect is simply superb.
There's one thing I'd really like to ask Gowariker. Why Jodhaa and Akbar? The actor doesn't look a tad like the Akbar in our textbooks (I don't really know about Jodhaa). Neither was the emperor so flexible, nor did he treat his wife as the Empress of India, nor did he respect her wishes of not changing her religion. Why? To mentally prepare the viewer of the magnanimity of the personas he portrays? When he is very much capable of portraying an emperor and his empress, pretty well, why manipulate history and evoke contoversies?
Apart from the gruelling three-hour-twenty-minute length, and a few unnecessary digressions to the plot, Jodhaa Akbar would have been a cinematic masterpiece, had Gowariker given it a proper plot, with a little more attention. Definitely worth watching. For Hrithik.
Rating: ****
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Music: A.R. Rahman
Whew! Hrithik's drop dead handsome looks havent sunk in as yet.. so i'll attempt to do justice to the other aspects of the movie too. Far from looking like a fat Turk with an ugly wart on his nose, Hrithik absolutely manages to mesmerise with his green (i think) eyes, bringing out all his emotions - fascination, joy, anger, power, elation, i could go on and on. Ok, now, a little about the movie and back to discussing Hrithik. A movie with an Ashutosh Gowariker trade-mark, not only the length, but the eye for detail, and the streak of patriotism, which he manages to squeeze in even in an epic love story like this. Love story, he should have left it at that, instead of adding a typical climax, with the hero finishing off the bad guy, maybe saving about an hour and a half of history and politics, making it look more like a weekly TV- serial. . That, and the speed of the narrative apart, the movie is a visual treat, with the cinematography, the massive armies clashing, the majestic emperor in all his glory, the delicate, but bold Rajput princess, not to mention the entire royal ambience.
The main storyline is about Akbar, the Mughal emperor, and his wife Jodhaa, who embark on a marriage of alliance between the Rajput kingdom of Amer, and Akbar's. The defiant and self-respecting princess refuses to be a pawn in the political drama, but she has no choice, and accepts what comes to her, as a Hindu bride would do; for she refuses to walk out of the relationship, even when Akbar tells her she is free to do so, saying that the bond of a husband and wife is that of seven lives. And so, an epic romance begins to blossom, culminating finally into true love, which overcomes all obstacles and crosses all hurdles. Their intimate moments are depicted with so much tenderness, which, maybe few other directors can bring out. Intertwined are family and court politics, which blend into the story, but without which, the movie would have run with more subtlety. The plot is downright loose, considering that the length had been reduced by more than half of the original, and so the movie finally ends up looking like a jigsaw puzzle fitted with the wrong pieces. Hrithik and Aish give you the sole reason to sit through the entire length.
From the way he walks, to the way he throws his chin up as the almighty ruler of Hindustan, and then switches to looking like an innocent school boy in love, Hrithik steals the show. The delightful surprise in his eyes, when he learns that his wife has cooked his meal, the elation when she comes back to him, telling him that he has won her heart, and the pure happiness, when his name is the first thing she learns to write in Urdu, the power in his voice, the authority, and his anger upon learning that the princess has set conditions for him, the Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah, are nothing short of wonderful. I knew Hrithik was a good actor, but now, i look at him with renewed respect. Aishwarya too, complementing him beautifully, as Jodhaa, looking splendid, deserves a mention. The rich design and costumes, which show all the hard work of the designers, also lend a hand in carrying off the show. And of course, the maestro, Rahman, living upto high expectations, with each song picturised perfectly, that the overall effect is simply superb.
There's one thing I'd really like to ask Gowariker. Why Jodhaa and Akbar? The actor doesn't look a tad like the Akbar in our textbooks (I don't really know about Jodhaa). Neither was the emperor so flexible, nor did he treat his wife as the Empress of India, nor did he respect her wishes of not changing her religion. Why? To mentally prepare the viewer of the magnanimity of the personas he portrays? When he is very much capable of portraying an emperor and his empress, pretty well, why manipulate history and evoke contoversies?
Apart from the gruelling three-hour-twenty-minute length, and a few unnecessary digressions to the plot, Jodhaa Akbar would have been a cinematic masterpiece, had Gowariker given it a proper plot, with a little more attention. Definitely worth watching. For Hrithik.
Rating: ****
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