Just saw
Jodha-Akbar and here’s a word of caution. The director has taken a few
creative liberties with the story and that usually disappoints purists
like me. I raged when I saw Troy; when I saw The Bourne Ultimatum; when
they cut a crucial part of Alexander in our cinemas. And I cried when Santosh Sivan botched up Asoka!
So am I disappointed with Jodha-Akbar? Not in the least bit! Firstly
because, the movie gives a disclaimer before the move begins. Secondly,
because tampering is miniscule, largely done only to flesh
out the romance angle in the movie. Thirdly, because the soul of the
story and the historical bits about what made Akbar great have been
left intact. And finally, because I am a fan of the director Ashutosh
Gowarikar has become.
The film is very well made. Excellent production values, thanks to
UTV. The canvas is huge and the production values measure up to those
of films like Troy. Although they’re not as lengthy(and thus that
detailed), this is pretty evident in the battle scenes.
The lead pair are very well matched. Two megastars of mainstream
Hindi cinema in probably their biggest roles to date, looking good and
essaying their roles very very competently. Aishwarya isn’t really
known for her acting, but she pulls off a role that could easily have
gone very wrong if it hadn’t been played with restraint. To this fan,
is is difficult to imagine any other current actress in the role.
Hrithik on the other hand makes it look effortless. He is wonderful
as the young Mughal Emperor! This is one actor who has an extremely
malleable face. A face that can look as easily retarded as it can look regal!
In his relatively short career, Hrithik has already essayed a wide
variety of roles, not all of them easy, and most of them very well.
This is one guy who has the potential to dwarf every other megastar
that Bollywood has seen! This writer personally believes that if he did
indeed say that he will one day overtake Shahrukh Khan, he is setting
his sights too low!
The lyrics disappoint. In trying to
chase authenticity Javed Akthar comes up with lyrics that don’t roll
off the tongue very easily. Probably the nicest song in the movie is
the bhajan that Krishna devotee Jodha sings.
The narrative lags at times, but that is because of the nature of
the subject and the director’s desire to do full justice to it. The
costumes one assumes are well researched and therefore fairly
authentic, but it is the exquisite jewellery that really stands out!
The action is excellent, but I must point out that some sequences
have been lifted straight out of Troy, specially from the
Achilles-Hector battle!
Gowarikar repeats Bollywood’s gilded baritone… Mr. Bachchan does yet another turn as narrator.
The movie has a message for modern India. It shows how Akbar’s rule
of tolerance and peaceful co-existence set him apart from other
so-called “foreign” rulers in the past, and how he managed to
unite India into a massive empire under him, while other more partisan
rulers failed at the same task.
Gowarikar is not your run of the mill director. He has made an Oscar
nominee in the past; a Swades which I thought was a very good film; and
he refuses to make crass commercial films that “may work with our masses“.
He is a responsible film-maker, a patriot to boot, who understands that
he has the additional responsibility of educating the viewer and
influencing his taste. It is pitiable that there are unnecessary
controversies in Rajasthan about the movie. Instead of trying to negate
undeniable facts, the Rajputs should feel proud of the part their
princess played in India’s history.
To me this movie is a victory of committed film-folk like Ashutosh
Gowarikar, Ronnie Screwala and Hrithik Roshan over the unabashedly
commercial, Bollywood pimp-brigade of Yashraj, Karan Johar and Shahrukh
Khan. If you ask me where I would put my ticket money, it would(again and again) be on the former!