Jodhaa Akbar Review - An Epic Bore
16 Feb, 2008 General, Bollywood
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Jodhaa Akbaris an epic bore athough it’s touted as an epic
love story of MughalEmperor Akbar and Rajput princess Jodhaa, daughter of Raja
Barmal, aminor king from a small state called Amer.
Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker (of Lagaan fame), Jodhaa Akbarnever once scales
lofty heights but struggles in the quicksand of itsmediocre story, pedestrian
acting, insipid action scenes and awfulmusic.
Simply put, Jodhaa Akbar is not a work of a powerful imagination.
Jodhaa Akbar is also unnecessarily long, solong that Regal Cinemas in
Burlington, New Jersey provided an interval(a rarity in the U.S.). The movie is
three hours and 24-minutes long!
The movie is like one of those trashy Mills & Boonnovels - Boy meets girl.
Sparks fly. Boy and girl have disagreementand part. Boy and girl pine for each
other. Boy and girl unite.
Add some amateurish war scenes with some elephants, camels and horses to this
Mills & Boon kichdi and you have the essence of Jodhaa Akbar.
Neither Hrithik Roshan nor Aishwarya Rai -who play Mughal EmperorAkbar and
Jodhaa respectively - distinguish themselves by their actingin Jodhaa Akbar.
In Jodhaa Akbar, Hrithik Roshan displays none of those magisterial traits one
would associate with the Great Mughal Emperor Akbar.
Most of the time Hrithik Roshan seemed like he was performing the role of
Birbal (Akbar’s court jester).
In several crucial scenes, Hrithik Roshan lets the audience down witha wooden
performance. When Jodhaa imposes two conditions for themarriage, Hrithik Roshan
disappoints and when he learns of his old Badi Ammi Maham Anga’s perfidious
action, he disappoints again.
What a pity that the passion Hrithik Roshan brought to some of his earlier
movies like Koi Mil Gaya or Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai is completely missing in Jodhaa
Akbar.
As for Aishwarya Rai, the less said of this ethereal beauty’s non-acting,
whether in Jodaa Akbar or any other movie, the better.
In great love stories on the screen like Casablanca,the love of the principal
characters for each other hits you with agale-force that leaves an indelible
impression on the mind.
But that never happens in Jodhaa Akbar. It’s a love story alright. But not an
epic love story.
The action scenes in Jodhaa Akbar also left us disappointed.
We found Hrithik’s fight scene with the elephant less-than-terrifying and
less-than-spectacular.
And as for the war scenes in Jodhaa Akbar, they arehopelessly amateurish by
Hollywood standards. (even amidst all thisoutsourcing mania in the U.S., it’s
safe to say Steven Spielberg orGeorge Lucas won’t be outsourcing special
effects to India any timesoon).
Comedy comes in the form of Aishwarya Rai’s sword fights. Come on,
this gal can’t even act. Where is the question of her performing sword
fights with elan?
If you don’t think Aishwarya Rai’s sword fighting is funny, there is
her ludicrous presence on the battle field as Akbar prepares to fight
his scheming brother-in-law.
Looking for nice music in Jodhaa Akbar? Forget it. Music director A.R.Rahman
must have dozed through the whole exercise.
By the way, the picturization for the Azeem O Shaan Shahenshah song was an
elaborate affair and quite nice too.
The only other silver lining in Jodhaa Akbar was in the fine costume design by
Neeta Lulla.
Jodhaa Akbar is just not the kind of Bollywood movie you would want to waste
money or time on this long President’s Day weekend in the U.S.
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