Movie Review: Jodhaa Akbar

Film Critic/Reviewed by: Goher Iqbal Punn (Bollywood & Indian TV Analyst)

Director: Ashutosh Gowarikar
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Sonu Sood, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Suhasini Mulay, Raza Murad and Punam Sinha
Banner: UTV Motion Pictures
Producers: Ashutosh Gowarikar and Ronnie Screwvala
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Label/Audio on: UTV Music

The wait is now over! Yes, it is because the magnum opus of Ashutosh Gowarikar is ready to serve you. The much-awaited ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ has hit the theaters in the country and across the world. It’s not a movie that carries just beautiful body minus soul rather it is the flick, which has both – beautiful body and soul along. Ashutosh’s dream project is really lavish in every sense of the word. He has done absolutely well to entice the viewers.

Gowarikar’s venture truly depicts his solid knowledge, the skill to make the historical aptly and above all his patience that is required to attempt a historical film on the canvas of big screen. Since this ilk of period movie requires a whopping amount, ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ costs the production house Rs. 40 crores. Over the last few years, it has brought into the knowledge that the historicals go flat at the box office. But in this case of Ashutosh’s ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, it did not happen and the audiences went out to watch this offering in the cinemas. Ashutosh’s courage deserves huge applauds.

The film is being compared to ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ whereas ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ does not match with it. Because ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ is about the relationship between Akbar and Jodha whilst ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ talks about the love between Salim and Anarkali. Gowarikar has done one thing really superb i.e. he has not used the pure Urdu language in this film (as you must have witnessed in many a yesteryears Hindi movies of this kind) rather in the movie, Akbar speaks Urdu and Jodha Hindi. The length of the film (3 + hours) does not disturb the cinegoer at all because more the sequences unzip, the more the audience gets involved in the movie. The story and the grip of the filmmaker on his work get the viewer glued to his seat till the final reel. This is called the brilliance of the director. Gowarikar has been luminous if one puts an eye on all of his previous works. But with his latest outing, he appears tall. When the film ends, the viewer carries the movie home with him.

Set in the sixteenth century, the film talks about the love story of Jodhaa (Aishwariya Rai Bachchan) and Akbar (Hrithik Roshan). The Mughal emperor Akbar does not know that when he gets married to the Rajput princess Jodha, he will be falling in true love with her.

Today’s audiences merely know about the emperors and their lives. So this genre of movie can surely open up the facts, they would love to be with.

Some sequences raise the viewers’ spirits:
· The war scene.
· The conditions Aishwariya sets before the marriage.
· The scene when Ash serves the food to Hrithik and Illa Arun asks her to taste it by herself.
· The misunderstanding develops between Hrithik and Aishwariya.
· And the fight with swords between Hrithik and Ash.

Ashutosh has displayed his histrionics and prowess fully to churn out a historical in Jodha Akbar. He has made it in such a simplified manner that an average viewer can understand each and every sequence on the screen. He knows that how to tell the story on the celluloid. Music maestro A R Rahman has scored the composition for this film. The music does not come to your ears instantly rather it creates a space with you once you start listening repeatedly. Nonetheless, ‘Kehne Ko Jashne Baharan Hai’ is the pick of the lot. A mellifluously spongy song, it deserves repeated hearings. Overall, Rahman’s composition is great. K.P Saxena’s dialogues are well penned. The cinematography is the work of art. The camera work has been done brilliantly. It really deserves huge hands. Hats off to Kiran Deohans. Ravi Dewan is great with his work of action. Ballu Saluja is outstanding with editing. The coveted fashion designer Neeta Lulla has dolled up the outfits so beautifully.

Coming to the cast, the super star Hrithik Roshan has enacted the role of the emperor so intelligently. Without any doubt, he is an actor of class. The world’s gorgeous woman looks superb in her role of Jodhaa. The brilliance, she possesses, shows to the fullest on the screen. The rest of the cast is great to watch too. Illa Arun, Sonu Sood, Nikitin Dheer, Punam S. Sinha, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Raza Murad – all have justified their jobs.