Hail the power of media. Such a huge hype was created prior to release. Ashutosh Gowariker's film, Hrithik-Aish together again after Dhoom-2, historical epic blah blah blah... I don’t how this happened, but the praise showered on this movie by critics is almost unanimous...
First things first...
Indian courts have ruled that film is NOT historically accurate. They have directed Ashutosh Gowariker to mention that it is a work of fiction in a disclaimer, that historical accuracy is not the primary aim of this movie. Jodhaa is not even mentioned in writing until 1800s. Two prominent works of Mughal writing give it a complete skip; Akbarnama (a biography of Akbar commissioned by Akbar himself) and Tuzk-e-Jahangiri (the autobiography of Jahangir). Maybe the name of Akbar's wife was kept out of the Mughal records deliberately because the Islamic clergy and the Mughal populace could not come to terms with the future Mughal emperor being the son of a Hindu woman, but no concrete evidence is available.
Anyways, to hell with history, the whole plot was solid movie material. And the final product leaves much to be desired. Gowariker has no excuse... He had the budget, the best of stars, and AR Rahman. The movie bluntly reminded me of the "Law-of-diminishing-returns"; in a production system with fixed and variable inputs, beyond some point, each additional unit of variable input yields less and less additional output. So, analogy says every extra minute beyond say 2 hr yields lesser enjoyment than the previous one.
Jodhaa Akbar displays parallel themes - the political saga and the romance between the royal couple. It is also obvious that the romance is the prime focus of the narrative. Lots and Lots of undue screen presence has been given to Hrithik-Aishwarya, to develop the chemistry between them, to show how Jodhaa's initial hatred turns to curiosity, and finally to respect and love.
First things first...
Indian courts have ruled that film is NOT historically accurate. They have directed Ashutosh Gowariker to mention that it is a work of fiction in a disclaimer, that historical accuracy is not the primary aim of this movie. Jodhaa is not even mentioned in writing until 1800s. Two prominent works of Mughal writing give it a complete skip; Akbarnama (a biography of Akbar commissioned by Akbar himself) and Tuzk-e-Jahangiri (the autobiography of Jahangir). Maybe the name of Akbar's wife was kept out of the Mughal records deliberately because the Islamic clergy and the Mughal populace could not come to terms with the future Mughal emperor being the son of a Hindu woman, but no concrete evidence is available.
Anyways, to hell with history, the whole plot was solid movie material. And the final product leaves much to be desired. Gowariker has no excuse... He had the budget, the best of stars, and AR Rahman. The movie bluntly reminded me of the "Law-of-diminishing-returns"; in a production system with fixed and variable inputs, beyond some point, each additional unit of variable input yields less and less additional output. So, analogy says every extra minute beyond say 2 hr yields lesser enjoyment than the previous one.
Jodhaa Akbar displays parallel themes - the political saga and the romance between the royal couple. It is also obvious that the romance is the prime focus of the narrative. Lots and Lots of undue screen presence has been given to Hrithik-Aishwarya, to develop the chemistry between them, to show how Jodhaa's initial hatred turns to curiosity, and finally to respect and love.
This is where Ashutosh Gowariker primarily went wrong. By treating the complex political scenarios as a sub-plot, he weakened the script. How could he forget that it was a romance catapulted by politics? Better scenes in the movie are political, well scripted, well shot and well acted by good character artists. An imaginative intertwining of this political romance would have only strengthened the movie.
Sadly, the political plots are an undercurrent, and do little to assist the romantic wave. It all ends up being mostly a mundane romance and a dissatisfying display of politics, detached from each other.
The war scenes
Now this is a bit unfair to the director, but I can't help it. I have seen wars in Hollywood epics like Lord of the Ring, Troy, 300 and Gladiator. By those standards, the scenes fall woefully short of expectations. They are predictable and repetitive. Definitely colossal improvisation over any Bollywood stuffhitherto, but lagging far behind Hollywood. I wish more of the Rs 40 crore spent was diverted from the songs to better shooting of the war scenes. I don't understand, if Gowariker used wide lens cameras to amplify the look of his sets, why not try and do the same in war shots, at least the army size should look intimidating.
The one-on-one fights were far better executed, looked classy and well supported by the background score. The climax fight reminds of the fight between Brad Pitt - Eric Bana in Troy. The scene where Hrithik controls a wild elephant is also well shot.
The music is good, but hardly up to AR Rahman standard... We’ve had much better from both AR Rehman’s musical sensibilities and Javed Akhtar’s pen and imagination. Just compare the music of Lagaan and Swadesh with Jodhaa Akbar, and it'll become clear. Songs like "Man mohana" and "Khwaja mere Khwaja" were so damn boring... Gowariker should have taken a leaf out of "Life in a Metro", where the songs came in small parts, all at an apt time in the story. They supported the script. Here, it was nothing short of torture. I feel only Jashn-e-Baharaa stands out, both melody wise as well as picturization. Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah sounds good, and does justice to the persona of Jalaaluddin Mohammed Akbar. But it should have been used solely as a background score, rather than a full fledged song for better effect.
The script has its own glitches as well. Akbar becoming a people's king with just one act of kindness is unconvincing. Character of Maham Anga and Soojamal need more screen space. The assassination attempt an Akbar is so unimaginative. The silly made-up custom of having to recognize your wife from scores of women... shit man, what utter rubbish... what a waste of time.
So, what is good about this movie? Well, we haven't watched anything so opulent, so magnificent in a long, long time on the Hindi screen. Bhansali's Saawariya was grotesque, and the film that comes closest to match the look of Jodhaa Akbar is Devdas. It cannot be compared to MUGHAL-E-AZAM. Unlike previous period films, Urdu and Hindi have been well used, especially in the political sequences. Amitabh Bachhan does a fine job as the narrator.
The one-on-one fights were far better executed, looked classy and well supported by the background score. The climax fight reminds of the fight between Brad Pitt - Eric Bana in Troy. The scene where Hrithik controls a wild elephant is also well shot.
The music is good, but hardly up to AR Rahman standard... We’ve had much better from both AR Rehman’s musical sensibilities and Javed Akhtar’s pen and imagination. Just compare the music of Lagaan and Swadesh with Jodhaa Akbar, and it'll become clear. Songs like "Man mohana" and "Khwaja mere Khwaja" were so damn boring... Gowariker should have taken a leaf out of "Life in a Metro", where the songs came in small parts, all at an apt time in the story. They supported the script. Here, it was nothing short of torture. I feel only Jashn-e-Baharaa stands out, both melody wise as well as picturization. Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah sounds good, and does justice to the persona of Jalaaluddin Mohammed Akbar. But it should have been used solely as a background score, rather than a full fledged song for better effect.
The script has its own glitches as well. Akbar becoming a people's king with just one act of kindness is unconvincing. Character of Maham Anga and Soojamal need more screen space. The assassination attempt an Akbar is so unimaginative. The silly made-up custom of having to recognize your wife from scores of women... shit man, what utter rubbish... what a waste of time.
So, what is good about this movie? Well, we haven't watched anything so opulent, so magnificent in a long, long time on the Hindi screen. Bhansali's Saawariya was grotesque, and the film that comes closest to match the look of Jodhaa Akbar is Devdas. It cannot be compared to MUGHAL-E-AZAM. Unlike previous period films, Urdu and Hindi have been well used, especially in the political sequences. Amitabh Bachhan does a fine job as the narrator.
But the film is carried literally by the leading couple, Hrithik and Aish, who sizzle and dazzle on the screen, basking under the magnificent sets. The strength of the movie lies in the unconventional nature of the romance, where the princess is reduced to being a political pawn. The undercurrent of religious tussle betweenJodhaa and Akbar is well scripted. The film talks about Secularism and good governance. Hrithik fits the role of an Emperor like nobody else could have. He looks imposing, Royal and Kingly. Same goes for Ash. She looks ethereal, classy and gracious.
The sad aspect is that Ashutosh Gowariker gave up his individuality. The movie reminds us of others; the sets of Bhansali, The melodrama of Johar-Yashraj banner. Ashutosh Gowariker's strength is his narration of a story, which suffered at the expense of the show of grandeur.
It requires courage and foresight, with patience to attempt a movie like JODHAAA AKBAR; the belief to attempt a historical when historicals are considered an absolute no-no in the industry. Hats off to the director for that. But he fell in love with his own creation – the movie could easily have been made 40 – 45 minutes shorter. It would also make better business sense as well, directly translating to more shows per day.
I wish we could have a fast forward option in an INOX or a PVR, because that is what this film demands. It’s difficult to sit for 3:20 hrs to watch this film, where at least 4 – 5 times you feel like “why is this scene here”. I read in an article that this movie should be titled “Jodhaa AkBORE”. But again, you’ll miss the look of the film on a small screen at home.
The movie will become a hit... Star power of the leading pair will ensure it. Also, for the folks unaware of western movies, the war scenes would look awesome.
I’m really hope that this movie will spark some interest among us about our own history, about the dynasties which unified us into one nation, from the Mauryas , Guptas to Mughals. The success of Jodha Akbar will pave way for further period films, as Krrish will do for superhero movies. It’ll at least spare us from the likes of Welcome and Saawariya to some extent in future.
PS:
I bet a well made Spoof of this movie would be a better watch than the original.
