ASH-Hrithik Image-Ashutosh...

By Subhash K Jha

Shooting for Jodha-Akbar is expected to be over in March 2007. "We're releasing the film on October 12," informs Ashutosh. "That's the Eid week. And we're looking at a cross-culture of audiences to come for the film."

This is Ashutosh's most expensive film. "Our budget is 37 crores. But my co-producer Ronnie Screwvala and I aren't looking at the budget as a responsibility. Between us we've worked out the financial details, including what is required in production and marketing."

At the moment Aishwarya and Hrithik are undergoing the most grueling and rugged outdoor experience of their life. But the horse riding and sword-fencing were not entirely a culture shock for them.

"We had several sessions in Mumbai…lots of riding and sword-fighting lessons just so that they'd be attuned to their Mughal characters and know the right way of riding a horse or holding a sword.

You know sword-fencing is a very western concept, whereas the way the talwaar was used in the Mughal times was very different. I had got Hrithik and Ash accustomed to the body language and attitude of those times from beforehand.

Now all they're doing is executing a vision they're already aware of," says Ashutosh from his location in Rajasthan.

Now that the Hrithik-Ash pair in Dhoom 2 is considered a 'stare'-way to paradise, the one man who must have watched the pair most intently is Ashutosh Gowariker who's currently recreating a significant chunk of Mughal history with the stare-pair.

Is he worried by the utterly contemporary image of his lead pair in Dhoom 2? "Not at all! In Dhoom 2, they are Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai. In my film they are Akbar and Jodha. Their personas in Dhoom 2 are closer to what they really are. Not that I've changed their physicality. But audiences will see only the characters."

Ashutosh thinks Ash and Hrithik aren't only immensely good looking but also hugely talented. "I've seen every single film of theirs from Kaho….Na Pyar Hai and Kyun….Ho Gaya Na to Dhoom 2.

They always show an easy adaptability to the requirements of every director. Be it Chokher Bali or Raincoat for Aishwarya or Mission Kashmir and Fiza for Hrithik, they've transformed in front of the camera. They're both intensely dedicated."

The diligent filmmaker is all praise for the pairing. "Hrithik and Ash look really good together in my film. But the full impact will be disernible only when the film releases. The give-and-take between the two as they get into character is amazing."

The film also stars Sonu Sood, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Suhasini Mulay, Raza Murad.

The director of epic films like Lagaan and Swades is confident the audience will see exactly the vision in his mind.

"I'm working towards it. So far so good. You know, Akbar once decided to not hunt a cheetah because he fell in love with it. Instead he got it to be trained and put next to him in the deewan-e-khaas. But because of the animals-rights rule I can't have this shown on screen.

That's the kind of bearable compromise I'll have to make. But I'm sticking to the authentic vision as much as possible. But I want the Golden Period of the Mughal empire to look as glamorous as possible."

Ashutosh's last film Swades wasn't a huge success. "But ultimately it reached out to the right people. …You know, we're going through a 're-mix phase' in music and cinema. We need to get over that. It will soon go away and a new order will emerge. Let me reiterate, Jodha-Akbar isn't a 'remix version' of Mughal-e-Azam."

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