Jodha-Akbar: Akbar's early life...

Hi all,

Having heard soooooooooooooooooooooooo much about JA, me and my friend Kanika caught the last show of the film last night ( Sunday was busy, phew) and what a visual treat😳 ( movie does suffer content-wise but we;ll come to that later)...Ashutosh deserves a round of applause for thinking this big and bringing the whole Mughal era alive...👏...it takes a lot of effort...effort as in real effort to build such a huge film block-by-block...frame-by-frame. You can't deny the flaws but the effort is much greater than that....

Jodha-Akbar is not about Akbar the warrior or Akbar the emperor , it's more about Akbar - the human-being. The film tells the tale of Akbar in his formative years.. when he started to grow out of Bairam Khan and Maham Anga's looming shadow and took reins of the Indian empire in his own hands.Basically, when Akbar was beginning to walk on his own... still a long way to go before he became what he is today.... the greatest and the coolest Mughal emperor ever. That's how we all know Akbar, right?

Hrithik Roshan is perfect casting for Jalal (Akbar's pet name was so cute...history honours students in my college referred to him by that name)😆....He has the height and build of Afghan/Pathan/Turkish blood... his features - fair skin, light eyes, cheek-bones, sharp nose and chin fit perfectly into that race.Above all, he slipped into the personailty of fearless , warm-hearted supercool Akbar with perfect ease. Backed by a lifetime-role and good homework, he brings Akbar alive... be it as a brave warrior, a concerned king, a boy evolving into a man or a respectful love-struck husband.....it's perfect. He variates in various moods beautifully... not even onc letting go of Akbar's regal awe-inspiring aura.....👏....And then, comes Aishwarya Rai...perhaps the most beautiful woman I have seen in my lifetime...but after a long-long time ( after HDDCS and Devdas), her beauty speaks and emotes without speaking much....the camera has captured her natural essence magnificently....minimal make-up and all the Rajputana arrogance, attitude , valour and grandeur...WOW! Jodha must have been really cool......It is a wellknown fact that even thiugh Akbar had three chief queens- Ruqqaya Sultan Begum, Sakinah Banu Begum and Jodhabai( Mariam-uz-zamaani as she was known in the palace), Jodha was his favourite queen and the mother of his heir Jehangir.... No wonder Ashutosh saved the cash of casting the other two....which is actually wrong though. He should have shown something of the other two queens.😆......Aishwarya brings out the attitude and courage of a Rajput princess every well...it's encoded in the DNA of rajputs actually.... what attitude!😆.....and thsi is how we get a sizzling powermatic chemistry between a dominant ruler and a fiery princess....I can still se people mooning over that chemsitry.....

Cinematography of the film is outstanding.... check out the shots, man! VaVaVroom!The war sequences....beauty of Jodha and Akbar....all the frames... the cinematographer has all the makings of being a fab artist! Screenplay and script suffers though.....but it's not Ashu's mistake really... so much happened in Akbar's life that it's tough to choose what to show and what to leave out....screenplay is actually half-baked.....but whatever was shown was shown superbly.Music...ummm... I think I'll stick to Khwaja ( a spiritual experience really) and Jashn-e-bahaara..I somehow other songs lack the depth and soul of that era....

JA is not a masterpiece, but it is a COMMENDABLE effort and a film Ashu should be bloody proud of!👏... you need guts and a little eccentricity to come up with something like this... ask K Asif ( maker of Mughal-e-azam), he knows the best answer to this.

The film has it's outstanding scenes and moments. My fave are:

1. When Akbar tells a shocked Bairam Khan that he should stop being a cool dude and go to Mecca to say hello to God.

2. Jodha's conditions to Akbar ( there's a problem here though, historically, even though Jodha stayed a Hindu Rajput by karma, she was converted to Islam whil being wedded to Akbar).. and Akbar's million dollar expressions.😉

3. The wedding night of Akbar-Jodha... both were very honest. Jodha's honesty is actually what won Akbar's heart.😳... and ya, her simplicity too....

4. All the chemical moments..😆😆😆.. now, should I start counting? Akbar and Jodha checking out each-other, the glances, the touch and run thing, blah blah blah..and som more sweet blah.

5. Akbar's scenes with Maham Angaa... emotionally power-packed!👏

6. Jodha's bonding with her rakhi-brother... tragically beautiful.

We'll never know how Jodha-Akbar were in real-life but yeah... must have been fantabulous... that's why they are as cool in 2008 as they were in 1560s!

Everyone is raving about it and my plans to watch it flopped😭. Now I have to wait for next week to catch it.

Some are talking about Hrithik's eyes making love😆. Nupur, Where are you?

Did you feel the same?

Originally posted by: Maya_M

Everyone is raving about it and my plans to watch it flopped😭. Now I have to wait for next week to catch it.

Some are talking about Hrithik's eyes making love😆. Nupur, Where are you?

Did you feel the same?

awwww Hrithik's eyes were making love to Aish 😳 😛 😆

its Awesum Film Yarrr HRIthik n ASh at dere vey BESt

Excellent review, Nitica 👏 👏 👏

I totally agree! JA was not exactly a masterpiece, but a wonderful attempt nevertheless! Even though the half-baked screenplay pinched me in certain places, I loved the movie overall. There were some moments in there that I found just so subtly magical, yet powerful at the same time! 😍 Ashutosh surely does deserve kudos for attempting and largely succeeding in showcasing a new kind of magnum opus! 👏 👏

Not yet seen it ...thnks for sahring

Originally posted by: nureat01

Excellent review, Nitica 👏 👏 👏

I totally agree! JA was not exactly a masterpiece, but a wonderful attempt nevertheless! Even though the half-baked screenplay pinched me in certain places, I loved the movie overall. There were some moments in there that I found just so subtly magical, yet powerful at the same time! 😍 Ashutosh surely does deserve kudos for attempting and largely succeeding in showcasing a new kind of magnum opus! 👏 👏

I agree too! The film has it's magical moments... the film actually transports you to an another era altogether.And that's simply wow!

Originally posted by: Maya_M

Everyone is raving about it and my plans to watch it flopped😭. Now I have to wait for next week to catch it.

Some are talking about Hrithik's eyes making love😆. Nupur, Where are you?

Did you feel the same?

the movie and romance works beautifully because of this .....he touches her very little till almost the very end(and then of course it is bliss and heavenly love on screen....the best yet on hindi screen).....

but throughout the film...the way Hrithik caresses Ash's face just with his eyes.....it is so romantic and sensuous....and one gets transported into Jodhaa and AKbar's world of love and romance...

Wonderfully written review Niti asusual! 👏
JA was a simple magical love story..Hrithik and Ash did a superb job of playing such character with conviction! Kudos to them and to Ashu for directing such a brilliant film! 😃

wonderful review Nitica...u echoed my views 👏 👏

Hrithik and Ash proved that onscreen chemistry can be portrayed just by expressions and eye contact. These days, people mistake obscenity and vulgarity to romance and chemitry. Hats off to Ashu for giving us one of the most passionate romances of recent times 👏 👏