Jodhaa Akbar
- Ashutosh strikes gold
IndiaGlitz [Friday, February
15, 2008]
After
several reshuffling of dates and over 2 years in the making , UTV and
Ashutosh Gowarikar bring to you Jodhaa-Akbar a complete epic in itself.
Any comparisons with Mughal-E-Azam or Ashutosh’s previous piece of work
should be strictly avoided.
Besides a good star cast and soulful music, Jodhaa-Akbar has much more to
offer. Set
in the sixteenth century, JODHAA AKBAR is a love story about a marriage
of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal
emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Little did Akbar
[Hrithik Roshan] know that when he married Jodhaa [Aishwarya Rai
Bachchan], he would be embarking upon a new journey -- the journey of
true love.
The daughter of King Bharmal of Amer
[Kulbhushan Kharbanda], Jodhaa resented being reduced to a mere
political pawn in this marriage of alliance, and Akbar's biggest
challenge now did not merely lie in winning battles, but in winning the
love of this defiant princess.
Firstly Jodhaa –Akbarisn’t too complex a film to understand, the script and
screenplay issimple and above all the language is simple with a mix of Hindi
andUrdu.
The characters in the film are so real and leave a
heavy impact on you. Only a visionary such as Ashutosh Gowarikar can
dare to do such a film. When Ashutosh kept justifying the shuffling of
the release date, one thought it was all humbug. But on viewing the
film, you are more than convinced that a film of such magnitude indeed
requires a lot of courage and patience to firstly shoot it and then
edit and compile the various scenes.
It is so obvious on screen the amount of effort put
in and the care taken to craft a film such as this. Just observe the
casting of the film, besides the prime faces we know of, Ashu brings to
you such tremendous talent that fits the bill even with their slightest
of roles in the film. For example, take a look at the Villain in the
film-Niketan Dheer, he is much taller and built than Hrithik which
makes it so believable in the fight sequences that Hrithik is bound to
fall when he collides against him. Also take a look at the various
kings, the common men depicted in the film, the warriors etc. It’s just
apt.
On the performance graph, no one could have possibly
played Akbar with such elegance as Hrithik. Hrithik is simply fabulous.
It’s not just his body and looks that impress but it is the way Hrithik
carries himself throughout the film. He impresses in almost every
sequence. Watch out for Hrithik’s duel with the elephant, his sword
fight with Aishwariya , his dialogue delivery and expressiveness when
he is betrayed by his step-brother. Also the climax fight sequence has
some great dialogue delivery from Hrithik.
Aishwariya
stands perfect as Jodhaa. Many would state that after Hum Dil Chuke
Sanam , Ash is simply at her best in Jodhaa-Akbar. The sequence where
she sets her demands before Akbar are impressive. She emotes well in
sequences where she is humiliated by Akbar’s step mother played by Ila
Arun. She also does well in bringing out that romance and is smooth
with the sword sequences.
Sonu Sood is yet another character to watch out foras he portrays Sujamal,
Jodhaa’s step-brother with ease. He impresseswith both his dialogue delivery
and sword handling. Poonam Sinhareturns with a terrific guest appearance. Ila
Arun freaks you out andwatch out for her dialogue delivery with Ash as she
expresses howpossessive she is of her son Akbar. Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Raza
Murad and Rajesh Vivek are all so apt and add to this epic.
Defintely the credit for this magnum opus goes toAshutosh whose dares to dream
big. But, without a skillfull team oftechnicians this would still be just a
dream. Firstly, A.R.Rehman’smusic is simply soulful and the right mix for a
film such as this. Thesongs just grow on you and the background score is simply
terrific. Onleaving the theatre you are sure to hum either the ‘Jashne Bahar’
or‘Azeem-o-Shaan Shehanshah’ track. The choregraphy and picturisation
of‘Azeem-o-Shaan Shehanshah’ is splendid.The song that was shot in 12days is
rich in colour , choreography, camera movments- you name it, it carries all.
It’s been a while since the Indian Audiences have ever seen something like this.
Kiiran Deohans brings in topnotch cinematography.
You are simply floored by the way the camera tracks out from low below
the horse’s legs and various other sequences show you simply how
brilliant the D.O.P is. Take a look at even simple sequences where
Ash’s brings in a curtain to separate Hrithik from her and the
conversation between the two is shot with great style.
Haider Ali teams up with Ashu to bring a screenplaythat is highly researched,
interesting and very impressive. The lengthof the film is indeed 3hrs 20 mins
but , Haider and Ashu can’t be fullyblamed for it.Haider does a cameo in the
film , he is seen in the‘Khwaja Mere Khwaja’ track. K.P.Saxena’s dialogues are
terrific. Theyare simple and carry the aura that an epic such as this requires.
Take alook at the dialogue when Akbar takes on Jodhaa in a swordfight
.Thecostumes by Neeta Lulla are so rich , apt and terrific. The costumesjust
make the characters stand out.
To sum it up Ashutosh has taken great care and pain
in bringing us an epic. Even the animals in the film have been dealt
with great care and surprisingly you don’t have a single scene where
horses are made to fall , elephants rolling etc unlike those done in
epics before. Ashu simply proves that he is a master of crowd sequences
right from Lagaan to Jodhaa-Akbar, just take a look at the number of
people that fill the screen.
The only drawback of the film is it’s heavy length
which can’t really be dealt with as Ashu attempts to compress years of
history and bring it to the masses in just 3hrs 20 Mins. Kudos Ashu!
