Review of JODHA AKBAR

Release Date : 15th Feb 2008 * Review written on : 16th Feb 2008

There are basically two ways in which u can watch this movie. 1) Go on commenting each and every character or scene 2) Just get engrossed in that forgotten ERA and start getting the EPIC feel.
I did the second one.

JODHAA AKBAR

Period Films were a STRAIGHT ‘NO’ ‘NO’ for Bollywood until Lagaan was released .Then came a series of films including Saheed Bhagat Singh, Mangal Pandey,Umrao Jaan. Some of them did fairly well, some failed miserably. But this hasn’t stopped Ashutosh to stop dreaming about period films.

JODHAA AKBAR is Ashutosh’s answer to that world which believes MAINSTREAM CINEMA can’t go hand in hand with Period Movies. But this time he tells his story even with a new Dimension called HISTORY .He has yet again proved and outscored his class of movie making thru JA.

At a time, when people consider laughing at our own culture as ‘Cool’, he dares to present it even with more depth and vigor. Be it the Mughal or the Rajput, be it the Agra Fort or the Jaipur, each and every aspect of the movie has been done with mind blowing perfection. The cinematography and picturization is comparable to any International movie. A R Rahman’s scores have already created waves among the audience. The background score is even more inspiring. I doubt how many Music Directors can compose a devotional song as exceptional as ‘Khwaja Mere Khwaja’ At times ,Amitabh Bacchan’s narration seems just enough to make people stay glued to the screen.

The Choreography by Raju Khan in Azeem-O-Shaan Sahansa (Title Song) is one of its kind. The circular formations made by 400 odd dancers as well as their expressions give the ultimate thrill and excitement. I just can’t stop myself appreciating the Costume Designer who had designed the costume of each and every cast in the movie with great care giving the movie the much required ‘Period look’

Hrithik’s acting as well as expressions are just awesome in this movie. As they say ’Hard work never go in vain’. His dialogue delivery also needs to appreciated. Through sheer hard work, he has mastered even the extremely difficult Urdu words.And the flow of words were just too natural.

Aishwariya has also given complete justice to the character of JODHAA. The mastery Jodha had in Sword fighting or the Beauty she possessed as per history has been perfectly expressed thru Aishwariya


Each frame of the movie has been beautifully crafted by the extremely talented designer Nitin along with Ashutosh. Perhaps The ‘EPIC’ part of it lies in the EXTENSIVE RESEARCH done by Ashutosh and the toil thru which the crew has undergone to give it the shape which Ashutosh dreamt.

But of course, this no way means that the movie is all SHOW-YOUR-EXTRAVAGANZA or SHOW-YOUR-SETS or JEWELLERY- without –content. In fact surprisingly, the Larger-than-life Royal Era has been shown with such admirable substance and style that the EPIC feels come as natural as History. Contrary to the claim by the Director, the movie has more to offer than just Romance. The far stretched War fields echoing the Warriors war cries and the perfectly choreographed War scenes are perhaps India’s answer to the world as far as Capabilities are concerned..

LAGAAN, SWADES and then JODHAA AKBAR. One thing is clear that apart from the crew, Ashutosh has also retained his Class, level of creativity and film making.

I personally think this was the BEST POSSIBLE presentation of an historic ERA thru the tale of JODHAA and AKBAR.

EPIC : Exemplary and Perfect Indian Cinema

Even being a story of Romance, the pace at which the plot proceeds is wonderful. That’s why, at the end, only few ppl took the challenge of moving their eyes from the screen just to realize that 3 hr and 30 mins have passed.

The line

‘JITNA KAHEN HUM UTNA KUM HAIN…
TEHZEEBON KAA JO SANGAM HAI’ !!!

( from the song Azeem-O-Shan Sahansha) perfectly matches with the fact of such a wonderful team work of AGPPL group (Ashutosh Production company) coming together to make such a Marvellous movie.

U’ll love it if u can appreciate our centuries rich Indian culture, heritage and trend .Or u love to watch that unique blend of HISTORY and Geography presented with a commendable maturity level that is at par with any Hollywood movie..


Apart from the huge collection, undoubtedly, the movie will get applauds from all genres of people (Historician, archeologist, Cultural Groups and of course Movie Critics)

Hats off to the Creative Genious !!!

Hats Off to A R RAHMAN !!!

Hats Off to the whole crew and cast !!!