This one thrills neither historians nor connoisseurs
Recreating history:
Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Raiin Jodhaa Akbar.
Jodhaa Akbar (Hindi)
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Sonu Sood, Poonam Sinha
No man is a chessboard. In each one of us, greys abound. Unless of course, one
is watching Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar.Here Akbar, arguably the great
Mughal emperor, is a paragon ofperfection. He does not lose a battle and towers
above the rest withhis moral stature. Sorry, Akbar needs no brownie points from
posterity.Gowariker is a poor student of history. The film is so
glaringlydeficient in the most obvious of things that you wonder if the
directorwas trying to mock at history. Or is it a deliberate subversion of
thetruth?
Agreed, there has been a debate, largely avoidable though, whetherJodhaa was
Akbar’s wife or daughter-in-law. A common cinemagoer canleave it to historians
to thrash it out, but where Gowariker failsmiserably – his third film in a
little over six years, after Lagaan and Swades– is in attention to elementary
details. Relating the untapped romanceof the Mughal Emperor and his Rajput
wife, the film lacks integrity.
Gowariker takes too many liberties with history in the name of
artistic licence. His devout souls at the dargah are all carefully
clean-shaven, like those ads for men’s lotions. This in an age and at a
place where a beard was the preferred way. And his emperor even does a
little jig at the end of a song. Then walks the garden path with the
ladylove in another sequence. All this is a throwback to more ordinary
romances of commoners. Akbar is not spared any dignity.
So many negatives. Yes, but like life, here too there is a little
silver lining. Hrithik Roshan may not fit the stereotypes of Akbar, but
he is fine in action. He is a decent actor who manages to look good
simply because his counterpart Aishwarya Rai refuses to do even the
bare minimum. She is vapid all through, making Hrithik look almost
outstanding in comparison. Unfortunately, Gowariker does not invest his
hero with too much detail. He comes across as a man who could do no
wrong. And we never get to see the human side of the redoubtable man.
And Deen-e-Ilahi is non-existent here.
Watch Jodhaa Akbar as a masala entertainer, andyou may not be too disappointed
despite its poor editing, inordinatelength. The big canvas will appeal to some,
the cinematography toothers as would the song “Jashn-e-bahara hai”.
Looking for a masterpiece of history with the past throbbing with
life? You might have to wait till eternity. This one thrills neither
the historians nor connoisseurs.
ZIYA US SALAM
http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/17/stories/2008021750840200.htm
