Jodhaa Akbar movie rating and review

Jodhaa Akbar (2008) movie rating and review:

Rating :

Acting – 8/10
Direction – 6/10
Screenplay – 4/10
Music – 8/10
Technique – 7/10

Review :

Hrithik, Ash and Rahman make the movie a must-watch

Long but lovely

Somewhere under the ear-splitting choruses of zindabads and marhabas, Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar is a beautiful (though never-ending) love story of two very beautiful people. But it is his attempt to explain the historical significance of the alliance-turned-amour that almost undoes the good work.

Just like in Lagaan, the core of Gowariker’s period piece is a two-line concept. If his Oscar-nominated film was a fictional account of how a great freedom battle was won in an obscure Gujarati village in the 1890s, Jodhaa Akbar is a factual documentation of how a great love story got burned in the bloody pages of history.

That’s perfectly fine, only that Gowariker takes three-and-a-half hours (yes, that’s 210 minutes of your life!) and episode after episode of palace intrigue and fratricidal feuds before the Bachchan baritone can announce – just like in Lagaan – why the Jodhaa Akbar dastaan is worth recounting.

Another problem with the film, besides being way too long and very episodic in nature, is the lack of personalization. Gowariker doesn’t allow you to get inside the minds of either Akbar or Jodhaa. All you left with is a much-bejewelled all-glam version of a slice of history.

Yes, there are tiny patches which give glimpses of personal spaces of title characters. Like in the Khwaja mere khwaja song when Akbar leaves his throne and indulges in a trance-like jig with the maulas. Or when he leaves his court midway, lured by and lost in the words of bhajan. We just get a teaser of how his ambivalence towards religious faith defined Akbar’s judicious decision-making. But there is not even a hint why in his later years he would oppose the alliance of Salim and Anarkali.

Above everything, what works for the film and what makes Jodhaa Akbar a must watch is the Hrithik-Ash romance. Chemistry? They say it best when they say nothing at all. Mashallah!

Every scene featuring the two, especially the songs Jashn-e-bahaara and In lamhon ke daaman mein will go down in bollywood history as some most of the most poignant moments on Indian celluloid. The two don’t kiss a la D:2 but there’s enough for the Prateeksha party to blacklist the most beautiful man-woman pairing in Bollywood.

Individually too, Hrithik and Aishwarya come up with standout performances. It’s not whether Hrithik has been able to walk and talk like Akbar; if Akbar has been documented, would he have been like Hrithik? To quote Gowariker, Hrithik was indeed “born to play Akbar”. Right from using his physicality to the maximum to getting the royal flamboyance just right for his age, Hrithik again shows why he is the best star actor in the country (and that’s counting Mr. Aamir Khan).

Aishwarya looks ethereal and in the little scope that the script offers she is able to physically transform from the restless Rajput princess to the poised Mallika-e-Hindustan. If she is found wanting in a couple of dramatic scenes, Ash more than makes up in the swordfight sequences. The last legion nightmare did come to some use after all.

The other real hero of Jodhaa Akbar is A.R. Rahman. While his five songs are gems, and to Gowariker’s credit have been choreographed and shot masterfully, it is the background music that holds the film together. The way Rahman blends his score and songs lifts some very pedestrian patches.

Technically, Jodhaa Akbar is right up there. The two war sequences at the start of the film are spellbinding. Yes, Zhang Yimou shoots them better but with a fraction of his budget Gowariker does a great job.

And then again that’s the sad part about the Jodhaa Akbar experience. You go home, remembering some scenes and not the film as a whole. And that might not be enough for what could be the last film featuring one of the greatest screen jodis of Indian cinema.

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