There are quite a few reasons to watch Jodha Akbar. Its Hrithik Roshan first release since 2006 and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's first since Guru. The two share screen space for the second time after the blockbuster Dhoom 2. The promos of the movie were visually stunning and a lot of effort seemed to have gone into the making. The movie is directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, director of movies like Lagaan and Swades.
Expectations are obviously high, does it live up? Set in the sixteenth century, Jodhaa Akbar is a love story about amarriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a greatMughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Little did Akbar(Hrithik Roshan) know that when he married Jodhaa (Aishwarya RaiBachchan), he would be embarking upon a new journey - the journey oftrue love. Akbar's greatest challenge was not merely winning battles,but in winning the love of Jodhaa - a love hidden deep below resentmentand extreme prejudice. Jodhaa Akbar is their untold love story. Ashutosh Gowarikar sure is a man of genius in art. The efforts thatseem to have gone into the making of this love story is seen obvious onthe big screen and is simply incredible. Hats off to Ashutosh for his courage in making an epic in an age ofmodern thoughts and beliefs were classics are undesired. Also, hispatience in editing and compiling such a movie is matchless. Not justthis, but he has also managed to rope in the right talents that takesthe movie to an altogether different level. Although it's an epic, this movie isn't a tough one to cope with. Theusage of both Urdu and Hindi, the respective language of the Mughalsand the Rajputs, is in its simplest version to the understanding of themass audience. The movie is so engrossing that the runtime of the movie doesn't comeas a big draw back. Yes, the initials reels do tend to drag a bit, but20 minutes into the movie and you're completely involved. At theinterval point, you get really involved and the movie just gets betterin the second half. Jodhaa Akbar isn't a one man show. Without an expert team oftechnicians, it's just impossible to execute a movie of this magnitude.Screenplay by Ashutosh and Haider Ali could have been more consistent,but overall powerful. K.P. Saxena's dialogues are astounding. RaviDewan's action direction is a big plus to the movie. Watch out for theaction scenes involving Hrithik, its brilliant. Kiran Deohan'scinematography is just mind blowing and accurate. Nitin ChandrakantDesai deserves nothing less than the best art designer award for he hasbrought to life the bygone with beauty and deftness. A clear vision!Ballu Saluja's editing though could have been better. Costumes by NeetaLulla are splendid. Composed by music maestro A.R.Rahman, Jodhaa Akbar's music is magical,and bracing. The tracks are rustic, earthy and definitely pulsating.'Jashn-e-bahara' is the best among all the tracks and I bet you can'tstop humming even after the movie has long ended. The choreography andthe cinematography of 'Azeem-o-shan Shehanshah' are stunning. AlsoRehman's background scores is exceptional. Coming to the performances, you fall short of words to describe aperformance as great as this. Hrithik Roshan lives the role of Akbar,his expressions, dialogue delivery, body language and screen presenceis fantastic. Yet another award-worthy performance, which deservesnothing less than the Oscar! Aishwarya Rai Bachchan too is fantastic, emotes well and performs thesword fighting scenes extremely well. Sonu Sood is excellent. The restof the cast is good. Overall, Jodhaa Akbar is a great movie with brilliant direction, solidperformances and it's visually spectacular. Don't miss it, Jodhaa Akbaris a classic. http://www.nowrunning.com/film/review1.asp?movieNo=3698&r=1501
