Personal Reviews of Jodhaa Akbar - Here- - Page 2

Originally posted by: TallyHo

Watch out for the scene where they finally confess their love for each other...awesome !

oh ashu!! i loved that scene too!! man kya style tha!😳 haha...aaj ke zamane mein kaun aisa karega!😆 hrithik aish sizzled in this scene..!😳

A few things you need to know before I launch into this review:

I went to watch this movie to make fun of Hrithik's moochii. Yes, I *am* crazy. I do not like Hrithik Roshan. He irritates me in most movies, but yes, I admit, he has what it takes to be a good actor. I do not like Aishwarya Rai either. The only movie I can tolerate her in is Guru.
• The last movie that starred this couple made me wish I had contributed those 2 hours to something worthy… Like scrubbing my bath-tub. With a toothbrush. Or counting how many hairs I had on my head. Dhoom 2 made me wish Aishwarya was "like" just "like"…. made "like" incapable of "like" starring in "like" another movie…. "Like"….

And, I read that the movie lasted roughly 3.5 hours…. So it's safe to say I had resigned myself to a lot of face vibrating + pleading looks from Hrithik, a lot of irritation caused by Aishwarya and god knows what else. I had armed myself with copious amounts of food to keep me entertained. But I'll admit, I was in for a pleasant surprise.

The movie doesn't have much of a "STORY" as such. It's fairly predictable, and reading the previews let you know everything you need to know. Besides, if you've been paying attention in History, you know that Akbar lived to a ripe old age of…. Er… Ok, I don't know how much he lived up to, but he certainly didn't die at the age Hrithik was portraying in the movie. Neither did Jodha die young. So you know that there aren't going to be any sudden tragic deaths of the lead characters that leave you shocked and gasping.

What's worth watching in this movie is the execution. The last movie I went to see with such opulent grandeur (hint: I don't "likes" mentioning the name.) fell flat on its face and put me off movies for a long long time. Not to mention wondering how a town with 98 prostitutes and like, 2 men managed to function. But I digress. The splendor - This movie makes it work. Everything is such a visual treat! The sets, the costumes, the jewelry worn by all characters…. Everything is so goddamn beautiful. Words cannot do it justice. You have to see it to believe it.

What horrified me? The battle scenes/any scene where someone is kicking the snot out of anyone else. Ok, call me extremely sensitive, but really, was there ANY NEED to show us people getting stomped in the damn faces by elephants, and their heads exploding? NO. But thanks to Gowarikar and Co., I now have that disgusting image branded into my memory.🤢 And not to mention, all the other scenes with people kicking other's asses looked AND SOUNDED realllllly painful. Those really sickening thuds and squelches of blood and stuff really were disgusting.🤢 I spent about half the movie saying "ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch." The guy next to me must have thought I was crazy.

Now, what worked? Everything else. All characters were well etched out, fleshed out really well. The movie didn't over focus on the historical parts or the romance. It had the perfect balance of both.

Some noteworthy scenes. You'll notice that mine are different from the other's stated previously:

Grown up Akbar's first battle, where he spares the life of the King who lost and his soliloquy to Bairam Khan about wanting to do things his way now. Jodha setting the conditions to the marriage. Akbar looks incredulous at first, perhaps because no woman has ever been so forward before, but agreeing and commending her straightforward method. Jodha's father's reaction was really funny as well, his "oh sweet lord, she's going to be beheaded for this!" look- priceless. 😆 The weddings. Both so very beautiful. + the wedding night scene, where Jodha admits her heart hasn't agreed to this marriage yet. Jodha's welcome by her mother in law. THE BEST SCENE - The muslim ministers stating how the Hindu princess is going to be the downfall of the empire and demanding Jodha be kept away from the fort, and at that precise moment Jodha's clear voice ringing across with a soulful bhajan…. . Everyone, including Akbar looks gob smacked and at a loss of words there...Hilarious 😆😆
The following scene where Akbar follows her voice to her chamber mesmerized, and the gesturing between them, as Jodha instructs him to put sindoor for her - adorable. Jodha watching Akbar secretly, as he practices with his sword (without his shirt). The purpose of this scene probably was to showcase Hrithik's fine body (kinda smack-in-the-face-obvious, thanks to how the camera focusses on the sweat trickling down his spine and his bulging biceps)… But that sly smile Akbar flashes her at the end of the whole thing, showing he knew she was watching and that he put on a bit of a show for her benefit - cute. Scene during Jash - e - Bahaara during the words "Hum jo agar hai ghamgeen, who bhi udhar khush toh nahi"… Akbar being a lil troubled, and Jodha sleeping restlessly. Akbar walking through Jodha's chambers after she's left, and the look on his face when he sees her beloved temple, devoid of idol and all. Akbar realizing that he misunderstood Jodha. Akbar's welcome to Jodha's palace, and his correctly finding her from a group of similarly clad women + Jodha's refusal to return with him. The sword fight with the condition that if Akbar wins, Jodha returns with him to Agra.
• Jodha showing Akbar her calligraphy and Akbar saying "It's beautiful… Errrr….Whatever it is.." (LMAO 🤣🤣🤣), later admitting that his training on the battlefield never left time for him to learn how to read/write.

Some "Uhh… WTF WAS THAT?" scenes:

Akbar and the elephant. Like really, wtf? I've hated that scene right from when I saw it in the promos. Yo Hrithik - different movie! You aint Krrish in this one. Stop driving the elephant insane with your jerky movements and indecipherable yelling, fool. 🤢 The whirling by Hrithik in Khwaja Mere Khwaja. I do realise he had some kind of divine insight at that time, but it looked just…. bizarre. The others were doing it beautifully, though.
• The double killing of Maham Anga's son. Like really, couldn't they have left him for dead in the first drop? Jodha's "WTF???????" face when Akbar goes "Is he dead? No? Bring him up here and drop him again and kill him…" mirrored mine. The sickening thud, TWICE, did not help things. 🤢 Like honestly yo.

The performances:

Hrithik: I didn't have great expectations. Hrithik has always been this actor to me who had potential, but always seemed to do crappy movies. Like SRK. Not to mention, he's a mess in emotional scenes, with the quivering and those huge ugly veins in his neck and forehead throbbing crazily. And that oh so pleaaading look. Gawd, drives me crazy. But he was good in this movie. Heck, I'll admit it - really good. No face vibrating - except in ONE scene. He looks quite handsome in the movie - EXCEPT FOR THAT DAMN MUSTACHE. FOR GODSSAKE, I GET HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE AKBAR, NOT HRITHIK ROSHAN, BUT THAT DAMN THING SPOILED THE ENTIRE MOVIE FOR ME. HE'D LOOK SOOOOO MUCH CUTER WITHOUT IT. DAMN YOU, YOU STUPID STRIP OF COSMETIC HAIR. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH. 😡

Ummm… Yea, I'm ok now. I just hate it when even partly good looking guys are uglified. Moving on…

He carried himself well, and was quite convincing about the royal part. Normally no matter what movie I watch, he's Hrithik Roshan. He always brings his innate Hrithikness - the smirk, the jerky dancing, the pleading looks, et all into all his characters. But with this one, he managed to make me forget he was Hrithik and convince me that he was Akbar. And Urdu really becomes him! I really thought (judging by the only dialogue promo I'd seen - the swordfight - and the really lame way he goes "Mallika e Hindustan! Yeh mat bhooliye ki hum aapke suhaag hai!!!!!!!") that he'd drive me crazy with the weird voice. Nope, made it work good, alright. Sounds goood and manly. Regal even. Aishwarya: A wonderfully understated performance. Why do people insist on making this woman annoying in movies? She has what it takes to be a good actress - but noooooooooooooo, people have to give her roles like Sunheri the Super "like" Annoying "like" Weirdo and ghosts that only SRK can see.
She provided a perfect foil to Hrithik, but I'll have to say that he was the real star of the movie… But one thing that left me spell bound was all her scenes with a sword. She looks so at ease with it! The ease and confidence with which she wields the sword, in both fights - against her brother Sujamal and Akbar, were breathtaking.
Waiting for Sarkar 2 now and hoping she does well in that one. Sonu Sood: Yo, this guy was good. Why is he wasting his life doing cheap bullshit like Aashiq banaya aapne? Ila Arun: Scary. Nuff said.
• Nikitin Dheer (Sharafuddin Hussain): Looks so damn familiar! Where the hell have I seen him before???? He looks a bit like some TV actor… Or was he on TV???? Someone help me! This is driving me INSANE!
  

Cinematography: STUNNING. Really beautiful camera work. It really brought out the beauty of every single scene, the rich colours adding to it all.

I've always been a fan of Ashutosh Gowarikar, Swades being one of my favourite movies. He seems to know how to extract good performances from actors who normally crap around, not fulfilling their potential (eg Hrithik, SRK). Didn't disappoint me this time either.

Overall - a good watch, but not one of those movies that has repeat watch value. For one - it's nearly 4 hours long. Kinda exhausting. And two - the novelty of the movie is the visual grandness of it all, something which we have never witnessed on such a scale before. I don't think a second watch would thrill you as much as the first one. But definitely a must watch, as just the sheer visual splendor of it all makes it worth it.

Rating: 4/5

Originally posted by: darkness_123

Some "Uhh… WTF WAS THAT?" scenes:

• Akbar and the elephant. Like really, wtf? I've hated that scene right from when I saw it in the promos. Yo Hrithik - different movie! You aint Krrish in this one. Stop driving the elephant insane with your jerky movements and indecipherable yelling, fool. 🤢
• The whirling by Hrithik in Khwaja Mere Khwaja. I do realise he had some kind of divine insight at that time, but it looked just…. bizarre. The others were doing it beautifully, though.
• The double killing of Maham Anga's son. Like really, couldn't they have left him for dead in the first drop? Jodha's "WTF???????" face when Akbar goes "Is he dead? No? Bring him up here and drop him again and kill him…" mirrored mine. The sickening thud, TWICE, did not help things. 🤢 Like honestly yo.

Originally posted by: darkness_123

Some "Uhh… WTF WAS THAT?" scenes:

• Akbar and the elephant. Like really, wtf? I've hated that scene right from when I saw it in the promos. Yo Hrithik - different movie! You aint Krrish in this one. Stop driving the elephant insane with your jerky movements and indecipherable yelling, fool. 🤢[/quote]

It is loosely adapted from an episode in the Akbarnama where Akbar tames the wild elephant Hawai.



That scene is 99% historically accurate. The only different, as far as I remember from my history lessons, is that the first time there was no command to drop him head first. It was the second time that Akbar specifically commanded that Adham be dropped head first to ensure he died.


****SPOILERS BELOW*****




I believe that scene was inserted to contrast with the scene at the end of the movie where Akbar forgives his brother-in-law. The movie tried to show that Jodha had a great influence on the Emperor and was the inspiration behind his growth from Jalaluddin Mohammed to Akbar (Great). Whereas he reacted cruelly in Adham's case, he was merciful towards Shamsuddin despite the fact that they were both guilty of the same crime (treason/rebellion). Note that Jalal takes Jodha's advice and attempts to get to know his subjects better and succeeds in winning their hearts. Only then do they give him the title 'Akbar'. Jalal showed no mercy to Adham but Akbar forgave Shamsuddin. Note how Jodha reacts in each scene. That was the point of the scene I believe.

Yes I remember the scene at the beginning with Jalal allowing the Rajput King to live. That was a different case (Mughal-Rajput battle as opposed to Akbar being betrayed by his own family) meant to highlight that the potential was there in him to grow and that is exactly what happens as the movie goes on. Adham and Shamsuddin were guilty of treason for which the death has usually been death no matter which empire/kingdom you talk about.


The elephant scene, I think, is also contrasted quite nicely with the climactic fight. Earlier we see him tame a wild opponent who was many times stronger and larger than him. And at the end, he tames Shamsuddin - again a wild opponent who was stronger and larger than him - into loyalty.

I think that's what Gowariker was going for anyway. 😊

Edited by Kal El - 17 years ago