Jodhaa Akbar

Jodhaa Akbar is a sixteenth century love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodhaa.

Political success knew no bounds for Emperor Akbar (Hrithik Roshan). After having secured the Hindu Kush, he furthered his realm by conquest until his empire extended from Afghanistan to the Bay of Bengal, and from the Himalayas to the Godavari River. Through a shrewd blend of diplomacy, intimidation and brute force , Akbar won the allegiance of the Rajputs. But little did Akbar know that when he married Jodhaa (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), a fiery Rajput princess, in order to further strengthen his relations with the Rajputs, he would in turn be embarking upon a new journey – the journey of true love.

The daughter of King Bharmal of Amer, 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 Jodhaa – a love hidden deep below resentment and extreme prejudice. Jodhaa-Akbar is their untold love story.

Before going for the movie, I was told by a friend that the fight sequences are ripped from from the movie Troy but there were hardly any fight sequences in the movie. Actually only 2.

Many people were concerned about the longer duration of the movie but once the movie starts, you will never ever realize that it was 3 and half hour long. The scenes were handled so well that you won’t get bored for a single moment. (Must applaud director Ashutosh Gowarikar for that)

I really loved few scenes in the movie… specially the scene where Akbar is trying to control an elephant, the scene where Jodhaa cooks the food for Akbar and she is asked to taste it before giving it to Akbar.. I really loved the way Jodhaa handled that scene.. even Akbar’s reply was fantastic.. also the sword fight between Jodhaa and Akbar was very good.. actually the list doesn’t end here .

Apart from great direction, the music plays a very important role in the movie, be it the background music or the songs.. music was just fantastic..I must salute A.R.Rahman for that. He is a genius, if you listen to the music carefully, you will find so many instruments involved in a single song.. take example of the song, Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah, just listen to it carefully, so many instruments.. I really loved all the songs but Khwaja Mere Khwaja takes the top place. Even Jashn-E-Bahaara and In Lamhon Ke Daaman Mein were very good. Also the background score was very interesting.. from folk songs to various instruments, it had everything.

The choreography was just too good. Khwaja Mere Khwaja, a sufi number was handled superbly. It was more like a spiritual song with very few dance moves but handled very well. But the treat was Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah. More than 300 dancers? Just imagine how difficult it would have been. It was a royal treat watching that song. I really loved the way it was shot, loved those aerial views.

Cinematography by Kiran Deohans was worth praising. I loved the views of Akbar’s palace, so beautiful.

On the acting front, the chemistry between Hrithik and Aishwarya were fantastic.They both make a perfect couple. Hrithik was very good as mugal emperor, a strong character who knows his job well and does not care what other people think about it. One cannot think better Akbar than Hrithik. Aishwarya was impressive too, a beautiful princess who is strong and brave from inside. Apart from the lead characters, Sonu Sood was pretty good as Rajkumar Sujamal, I also liked the character of Maham Anga played by Ila Arun, a very strong character with lots of gray shades.

So to sum it up, Jodhaa Akbar is a very good movie with great direction by Ashutosh Gowarikar. It is definitely a must watch.