* Warning - may contain spoilers!
The deep voice of Amithabh Bachchan resonates through the
surround speakers of the cinema hall as you settle comfortably in your seat to
watch Jodha Akbar - a movie that has raised some eyebrows off late. The movie
is about the passion and power of a Mughal Emperor - Jalaaluddin, a.k.a. Akbar.
The movie starts off quite well, with a battle scene and a young prince in a
moral dilemma - to kill or let others kill. It suddenly reminds you of dreaded
history lessons you took in school and brings back faded memories of the
infamous history classes.
Hrithik Roshan steals the show with good acting and
emotionally charged dialogues. However, he fails to deliver the’impact’ one
expects from someone like mighty’Akbar’. Aishwarya Rai’s performance is
lackadaisical at best, and she fails to hold the audience’s image of a Rajput
princess. The scene with the sword fight is somewhat hilarious, with AR looking
like she is avoiding a cockroach with the sword, rather than display power and
finesse. Her performance has been greatly overshadowed by the opulent jewellery
showcased by Tanishq. Other supporting actors deliver as expected and keep the
movie going. The movie really tests your listening capabilities as well, with a generous usage of classical Urdu(may be Arabic too, not sure). Songs are decent, with a favourite Jashn-e-Bahaara to a very
comical picturization of’Khwaja’. This one is based on a Turkish custom(refer to Whirling Dervishes - The Sema on Google), where people with white robes are spinning on their toes; but the choreographer
has made a mockery of the original theme. I was not surprised to see the entire
audience giggling and having a good time while watching this song.
The movie struggles to move forward as the director seems to
be confused, whether to follow the love story or the war sequence. The sets are
elaborate and look very fake - specially the enclosure where Hrithik fights a
wild bull elephant. The walls look like they have been rented out of some
’pandal-shop’. The initial war scenes(specially the infantry lineup and the
canon ball fight) have been digitally mastered and look very fake. Very weak –
technically.
At 3 hours and 20 minutes the movie really tests your
patience, but as the story progresses, it gathers some momentum. The movie
lacks grip and one wouldn’t mind missing two or three scenes(to take a short
power-nap), specially because nothing much in the story changes over the
entire length of the film - The final half hour is worth watching. All said,
the movie leaves you with a feeling that is best described as’empty’. This may
probably be because one expects much more from a AGPPL film, something that
leaves us feeling full - something like Lagaan, or even Swades for that matter.
But sadly, the movie ends with a familiar ".and they lived happily ever
after." narrative from the Big B which makes you say "tell me
something new". Watchable once - on a DVD - when it is released .