Gowariker’s
churned out a historical one yet again, but unfortunately it’s so
awfully long that, by the time you exit the theaters, you’re yawning,
wondering to yourself how the editing (or the lack of it) ruined the
film so bad I’m tempted to title it Jodhaa Ak-bore. Because parts of
the ‘epic’ just drag, it’s like a heavyweight flick heaving itself
lazily to the final reels as if it were a burden.
Like Lagaan, the movie begins with Amitabh Bachchan narratinghistory. But
that’s where the similarity ends. Jodhaa Akbar takes aneternity to develop too
many characters, and while there isn’t a singlescene in the movie that is
irrelevant, many of them could be simplytrashed. The plot is simple, and
historians might argue on this, but ittraces Akbar’s (a confident Hrithik) path
from childhood to youth, tomarrying - and falling in love with - the bold and
rebellious Jodhaa (astrikingly pretty Ash). Sprinkled in are the battles.
Yes, it’s technically brilliant, save for the unforgivablysubstandard war
scenes. The warriors - and the animals - are often soclumsy on the battlefield
that it’s sometimes painful to watch themfight. Outside of that, Gowariker is
flawless - as is thecinematography by Kiran Deohans, Neeta Lulla’s scrumptious
costumes andNitin Desai’s breathtaking sets. In those aspects, the flick
isspectacular and might just make people say ‘good’ when opinions areneeded.
The much-talked about khwaaja song is so brilliantlypicturised, and it ends
with Hrithik defying the norm, being hypnotizedin awe and love for the saint,
as he joins the devout disciples intheir celebration, almost under a spell. A
scene loaded with passionatefaith that leaves the audience moved.
The performances are a strict okay,except for the leads. Hrithik, for once, is
amazingly expressive.Warmth, romance, fury, frustration, fear, sympathy,
helplessness,vengeance - you name it, and the bloke’s managed it all
effortlessly,silencing many a critic. Helping him out is his captivating
screenpresence - there’s a scene where he tames a rogue elephant, and whilethat
scene might be rubbished on paper, the director-actor duo do sowell to make it
convincing that you almost nod your head inappreciation. Ash is no less
expressive - in fact, she has very littledialogue yet a lot of meat in her role
- but I must admit, her abilityto emote is far, far superior than her
sword-wielding skills. Still,she fits the part of the defiant Rajput princess.
The support cast is unfortunately weak. Kulbhushan Kharbanda’s Raja
Bharmal is almost always helpless, very unlike a king if I may, and
Nikitin Dheer’s Shareefuddin is so absurdly over expressive that, at
times, you hope Akbar slaughters him and gets over with it. Sonu Sood’s
Sujamal is expected to make the audience notice him, and he manages it
more out of sympathy than conviction. The female support cast do a lot
better, Ila Arun deserves a mention but it’s Punam Sinha’s Hamida Banu
who plays the mother’s role to the T. Credit to Gowariker for getting
that bit of the cast together, and extra-credit for handling the
subplots of religion so subtly, so simply, and so sweetly that you
agree unconditionally.
All in all, it’s worth a watch if you don’t mind the 200-minute
length, but you might catch sunrise if you go for the night show. And
feel free to excuse yourself in the middle to grab a snack or two, as
you won’t miss too much with the extra scenes. As the credits rolled at
the end, I was left in a mild shock seeing Ballu Saluja’s name for the
editing. Where was the editing anyway? This crazily stretched film
shattered my expectations, and for me, Jodhaa Akbar is history.
In more ways than one.
*****
mutiny.in
