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Jodhaa Akbar: A royal love story |
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| Behindwoods
Movie Review Board |
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Cast:
Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Sonu Sood, Kulbhushan
Kharbanda
Direction: Ashutosh Gowarikar
Music: A R Rahman
Production: UTV Motion Pictures |
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A
love story, sweet and romantic. An interpretation of the rich
history of a great Mughal emperor. A visual treat. Choose
any one of these or all three, for Jodhaa Akbar is all in one:
this is carefully crafted, meticulously executed high-class
cinema. Ashuthosh Gowariker has proved his mastery over his
craft beyond doubt. Handling the nitty-gritty details of history
can be a bit irksome, and there are quite a few creative liberties
taken in Jodhaa Akbar - not everything is straight out of the
textbook. (This is told to us right at the start with an unconventional
disclaimer). But then, that is the only way to keep a movie
from turning into a documentary. |
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Jodhaa Akbar begins at a period when Humayun has just
passed away and a 13-year-old Mohammad Jalaluddin
is forced to ascend the throne and recapture Delhi
from a barbaric looking king. Amitabh Bacchan’s
baritone voice takes us through the early years of
the young king till he emerges a man, with a dream
of unifying all of India under the Delhi sultanate.
He sets forth trying to realize the dream that generations
before him have nursed. And learns that just battalions
cannot win over the people of a country and that’s
when one of the Rajput kings, driven to desperation
by dynastic politics, offers his daughter’s
hand to Jalaluddin in return for protection and amnesty.
That’s where the beautiful and very different
love story begins. Beautiful, because it is not love
that begins in courtship and goes through romance,
it is born instead out of compulsion and blooms out
of companionship, respect and mutual admiration. In
short, it is an arranged relationship turning romantic;
the way wine matures in barrels over years.
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Jodhaa
Akbar shows how even an emperor is still a humble
learner when it comes to love, how he evolves as a
man after discovering love, how he begins to despise
battle, embrace peace and become a better king. All
this is captured amidst the grand and sometimes opulent
settings of Mughal India, the splendor of court life,
the high life of the royalty, the thrill of battle
and the complex alliances and conspiracies that run
rife in the politics of the empire. The first hour
is all about setting the pace and building the characters.
If you feel like yawning in the first hour or so,
don’t feel disheartened: things pick up and
never slow down from then on. That is around the time
when Jodhaa and Jalaluddin start discovering their
admiration for each other. From then on, right till
the end the script moves at a brisk pace, not giving
any room for boredom.
Moving on to the other aspects: the set design has
to be definitely admired for successfully transporting
us back to the 16th century. You don’t have
to be a historian or have a thorough knowledge of
different styles of architecture to appreciate it,
it looks good and you are certain to admire it.
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The
settings of the Rajput palaces in Rajasthan look better and
more colorful than the palatial rooms of the Mughals. Costumes
are another high point of the film: Jalaluddin looks resplendent
and majestic, and a lot of attention to detail has been showered
on every character appearing in the film, all of whom look
genuinely period. The cinematographer too has done a fine
job, especially in the opening battle sequence, the scale
of which really sets the tone for the film. Rahman’s
score is another highlight of this movie. You don’t
really notice the songs; you feel them as they waft in and
out of the movie with ease, Jashn-e-bahaara stands out while
Shaan-O-Shahenshah thunders with its drumbeats as Akbar’s
reign grows in power and popularity. |
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Certain
scenes in the movie will remain with you long after
you leave the theatre. The battle scenes, the climatic
one-on-one fight, both the sword fights involving Aishwarya
(she must have worked really hard at them), the ‘elephant
taming’ scene and some sweet moments of veiled,
subtle romance between the lead pair, whose chemistry
is really excellent. Also memorable is the scene where
Aishwarya herself cooks for the king. The point where
Jalaluddin is adorned with the title Akbar (The Great)
is a key moment.
Moving on to the cast- Hrithik has lived the role, he
looks majestic and is always in command, except when
in front of Aishwarya who has given one of her best
performances (right up there with Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
and Guru), not to mention how good she looks. All other
members of the cast add to the impact, with Sonu Sood
and Ila Arun in particular doing well. |
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On the flip side (not really negatives), the first hour as
mentioned earlier might put you off, there are certain scenes,
right at the beginning and at the fag end that remind one
of Troy (the Brad Pitt, Eric Bana starrer). If you are a stickler
for historical accuracy, then you might find the movie a bit
trying. Also, don’t expect an Akbar Nama or anything
of that sort. You won’t find any of Akbar’s famous
contemporaries like Birbal or Tansen in this movie, it is
set in a slightly earlier period of his life; Todarmal is
the only familiar name in the list of characters. You might
need some patience to hear a thoroughly detailed narrative
that lasts three and a half hours; people with edgy feet might
get restless.
Where Jodhaa Akbar scores is that it remains true to its theme.
It is a love story first and the life of an emperor next.
The soul of the movie lies in the relationship, and Ashuthosh
Gowariker had dealt with it superbly. It’s the kind
of movie whose fate is a bit difficult to predict, but whatever
the result, Ashuthosh Gowariker deserves a great round of
applause for his guts and vision, which only a handful of
directors in India possess. A sequel showing the rest of Akbar’s
reign might not be a bad idea.
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Verdict: A visual feast, an intoxicating
love story
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