Movie Review Jodhaa Akbar: Jodhaa Akbar has class but….

Many happy returns of the year(not just a day) for Ashtuosh Gowariker for directing Jodhaa Akbar very well. The movie did take a long time in its making but the outcome is worth it. However, quite expectedly, you cannot anticipate the masses to really love the movie. The first half of the movie is rather long(the movie itself is 3 and a half hours in length) and there are some scenes in the first half which seem to be long-drawn. They could well have been trimmed.

Technicalities: Full marks to Ashutosh and his team including script writers K.P. Saxena and Haider Ali who have worked hard and meticulously to come up with the mood and the feel of the Moghul era at the screenplay level itself. Music by A.R.Rahman, including the background score is relevant and does not overwhelm the movie. The artwork by Nitin Desai is first-rate. But the main hero of the film is Ashutosh Gowariker who has shot some scenes with brilliance. The song picturizations including the title track “Jalaluddin Akbar” is done adeptly and so is the trance-like choreography of Khwaja Mere Khwaja.

Scenes: Watch Jodhaa Akbar for the mesmerizing chemistry between Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya. Here are some of the best scenes of Jodhaa Akbar:

• Hrithik’s combat with an enraged elephant. This one is easily the best scene of the movie
• The sword fight between Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan reminds you of Dhoom 2 basket ball effect, but this one is certainly more gripping and more passionate.
  
• A bare-chested Hrithik Roshan flexes his muscles, with the camera lusting after his muscular back. You can feel the subtle sexual undercurrent in Aishwarya’s eyes in this eye-candy of a scene.
• Hrithik is superlative when he tells Aishwarya Rai(Jodhaa) that he is illiterate.
• The love-making scene between between Jodhaa and Akbar is aesthetically shot
• The scene where Jodhaa is made to eat the food first in the durbar before she could serve Akbar as was her wish.
• The intense sword fight between Hrithik Roshan and Niketan Dheer(who plays Sharifuddin)
• The thumping hit track Azeem-o-shehshan akbar is pleasing to the eyes and the ears.

What works for Jodhaa Akbar: As was perceived, Ashutosh Gowariker has sought to bring out a rounded personality of Akbar rather than restrict him to just a romantic character. You can see the brutality in his eyes when he throws a traitor to his doom for plotting against him. Akbar is also seen wearing the guise of a common man to find out if his subjects are happy with the governance of the state. Thanks to the presence of Jodhaa in his life, Akbar becomes tolerant and sensitive to Hindus. Now we know that the reason for Akbar’s secularism had roots in love.

Performances: Hrithik Roshan plays Akbar to perfection. He is one actor besides Aamir Khan who likes to go to the nitty-gritty of the character he plays. Hrithik’s diction is apt, his gait is royal and his candor is majestic. Expect a lot of people to turn into Hrithik Roshan fans with this movie. Aishwarya too suits the role of Jodhaa to the hilt. She looks beautiful as a doll. Pure and ethereal! She has done a neat job too. Newcomer Niketan Dheer(Pankaj Dheer’s son) looks promising, Ila Arun is intense but Sonu Sood somehow does not strike an emotional chord his character was supposed to portray.

Just one line: The movie has class but lacks mass appeal.

Rating:***(very good)

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