Thoughts after watching Jodha Akbar
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- At the outset, I am relieved that in Gowarikar’s version of 16th century Indian history, Rajputana women did not giggle every five minutes.
- The fact that this story is mostly fiction is very evident. While Gowarikar’s statement of disclosure makes it clear that this is not the only version that he came across while researching the subject, it’s a pity that people in India are mostly stupid.
- At the rate at which Akbar forced his opponents to make a trip to Mecca, wasn’t there a danger that all these people might run into each other and plot his downfall over mutton biryani and a nice strong hookah?
- And was poor Birbal edited out of the movie? What about Tansen? Todarmall hogs screen space!
- Akbar’s mother left him for 15 years (in her own words) in the care of a wet nurse while she traveled across the kingdom/world. But her political acumen is never in view. Maybe her core competence was external affairs, but she mostly plays a standard issue movie mom.
- It seems ridiculous that a statesman such as Akbar would bet his kingdom on a one on one RAW type death match with an admittedly stronger opponent when he had a better chance to win army to army. This sounds like one of the facets of this movie that is based more on fiction than fact.
- Is “arzoo… joostjoo” the Javed Akthar equivalent of Gulzar’s “khosaa… bhosaa” rhyme?
- There is at least one bit song (which appears in two different points in the movie) that will soon be the talk of all the Rahman forums.
- I am not too impressed with the Khwaja Mere Khwaja number. The use of Rahman’s voice for all three singers in the number is jarring, especially because all three are in the same frame most of the time. The gold standard shall still be Meenaxi’s Noor un ala Noor.
- Sonu Nigam rocks. Period.
- I think I am more of a Shah Rukh fan than I can ever admit or even stand myself. Hearing “haar” and “jeet” in the same line at multiple points in the movie did manage to keep Baazigar fresh in my mind. Damn you B!
- Amitabh Bachchan hovers over the movie as the narrator (like with Lagaan) and also in the form of Sonu Sood, whose resemblance to a young 1970s Amitabh is striking.
- Aishwarya does one of her standard ice maiden roles. Half frozen expressions with a hint of a smile have served her well so far and it does this time too. As mentioned earlier, the subject does not present an opportunity to let loose a giggle or two and this makes her presence fairly tolerable . And thankfully she does not have to use words like “like”.
- I can’t imagine who, apart from Hrithik Roshan, in current day Bollywood could have pulled off this role. Hrithik does look royal effortlessly.
- I have come to the conclusion that I can watch a Hrithik starrer without reservations, as long as he does not flail those rubber limbs of his on screen. Or if Prabhu Deva can be convinced to choreograph every single one of Hrithik’s dance numbers.
- It appears that Hrithik Roshan has finally made peace with the fact that his extra thumb is just not going to disappear.
- The said thumb is conspicuous, Freddy Savage’s mole in Gold Member. And distracting, especially when you see it hog real estate on screen, just when Hrithik’s Jalaluddin gets past Jodha Bhai’s three hour long on-screen KLPD, while Sonu Nigam does his thing with the soundtrack.
- Speaking of which, would any historical account of the age corroborate Akbar saying “Jodhaa, nee soadhaa”, when she was forcing him to take all those cold showers.
suraksha http://suraksha.wordpress.com
February 17th, 2008 at 5:33 pmI find I agree with every bullet of yours!
That said, Hrithik’s performance is amazingly subtle and I’m in love with him!
Also, Khwaja Mere Khwaja is oodles better when listened w/o the video, cos frankly, video just messes up all of ARR’s musical prodigy. Really.
I hated it when watching the movie, but when I listened to it afterwards, it’s magical. 
Nandhini http://www.curiously-curious.blogspot.com/
February 18th, 2008 at 12:17 amJodha Akbar can only be fiction for sure… for how can a emperor who has harem of 4 wifeys - one more even after his eternal love Jodhaa, can still be heads over heels in love with her? Bah humbug!
I’d surely watch the movie jus to drool over Hrithik…
sudha
February 18th, 2008 at 11:46 pmso, another large scale Mills and Boons adaptation?
Pushkaraj http://www.express-explore.blogspot.com
February 20th, 2008 at 7:52 amHey, agree with your views whole heartedly ! Four of us went to see this movie and the running joke was - This A. GowarikEr must be different from A. GowarikAr who directed Lagaan and Swades !
I have a suggestion to the director. Start the movie with the events leading up to the marriage. Show the misunderstanding in between as the standard masala (ask Rajshri films or Ekta Kapoor to give suggestions on how to do this even better). After wife returns from her maika, end the film with the wife coyly saying yes to the husband in the night. Curtain falls. Viewers go home happy having watched a love story instead of a period movie.
Some more ridiculous bullets to add to your quiver of arrows -
When Jodha returns to the palatial grounds, Akbar looks sufficiently surprised. So someone can peacefully ride an elephant all the way from Amer to Agra and amble into the palace without the Emperor being aware of this at all!
Jodha singing Manmohana in her palace is audible all the way inside the Deewan-E-Aam? Wow, powerful voice she must have had !
For other such stuff, see the review on my blog.
Deepa http://lordlabak.blogspot.com
February 20th, 2008 at 12:54 pmLooks like its watchable. Which theater did you go to?
Kamini http://kaminidandapani.typepad.com
February 20th, 2008 at 8:32 pmThanks to your review, I spared myself the agony of watching this - a good friend invited me to watch this with her, and I rattled off your bullet points as my excuse to not go. Not worth wasting $10 on, although I might watch it on DVD for sheer entertainment value.
superstarksa http://superstarksa.com
February 20th, 2008 at 8:58 pmKamini: NOOO! Don’t take my word for it! Mebbe you’d dig Hiritheek (or Aish, not that there is anything wrong with it :D). It is perhaps worth one watch. Mebbe not after the premiums that people seem to pay back home, but here, I pay the same regardless of which movie I go to. So it’s fine.
Deepa: Clearview cinema in my area.
Pushkaraj: When one get’s ready to watch a Bollywood “epic”, one keeps one brain at home. So no expectations
Sudha: Yaaruku theriyum. I haven’t read a M&B past the 10th page.
Nandini:
You go girl!
Suraksha: Yes, it looked like Hiritheek was subtle here. And you are right, Khwaja is better w/o the video. Btw, have you listened to Noor ul a la noor?
sudha
February 21st, 2008 at 12:26 ampoi!
Kamini http://kaminidandapani.typepad.com
February 21st, 2008 at 12:51 pmI think I’m a little too old to “dig” Hritheek!!
I’ve pointed my friend to your review. She thinks its the best movie ever!
Kamini.
jillumadrasi http://jillumadras.blogspot.com
February 21st, 2008 at 5:07 pmKhwaja without video == didn’t like.
Prabhu http://
February 21st, 2008 at 8:02 pmSo mothathula enna solla varey? Nalla irukka illaya? Oru dhaba paakalama venaama?
Vivek comedy nalla irunducha illaya?
kunal
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:55 amWhat is this going on over & over again!
Why in India people always make Big movies on these Mughals only, why didn’t they find any other Raja Maharaj better then this Akbar in Indian History?
Mughals ruled india for a very limited period, so why always Big Directors with Big project make big budget films on Mughals & Muslims alone.
Why they want people to go back to Mughal period & why they always want the people of today to see Muslims Raja’s as good humans. We all know how barabaric they were on Hindus & on Indians.
Comon guys its time to check the reality Or else these guys will keep on ruining us by deverting our interest away from our culture, as these kind of pics only gives a good impression about the Muslims Raja’s rulers, which we all know is not true at all!
Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, Prithviraj Chauhan, etc. they were far better then so called Akbar…but where are they? why do not directors make pics on them?
I think Ashutosh Guwarikar is been bullied by Ahider Ali to make this film.
Kunal
kunal
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:56 amWhat is this going on over & over again!
Why in India people always make Big movies on these Mughals only, why didn’t they find any other Raja Maharaj better then this Akbar in Indian History?
Mughals ruled india for a very limited period, so why always Big Directors with Big project make big budget films on Mughals & Muslims alone.
Why they want people to go back to Mughal period & why they always want the people of today to see Muslims Raja’s as good humans. We all know how barabaric they were on Hindus & on Indians.
Comon guys its time to check the reality Or else these guys will keep on ruining us by deverting our interest away from our culture, as these kind of pics only gives a good impression about the Muslims Raja’s rulers, which we all know is not true at all!
Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, Prithviraj Chauhan, etc. they were far better then so called Akbar…but where are they? why do not directors make pics on them?
I think Ashutosh Guwarikar is been bullied by Haider Ali to make this film.
Kunal
rinki singh http://
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:47 pmWell …what i want to say is that despite all the defects the movie has…it does not let get bored. You will enjoy the movie if u watch it as a simple love story wid out trying to dig up the history.Dont expect this film to increase your knowledge of mughal history.You will end up getting confused.I did the same and discovered one of the anamolies that is jodhaa was converted to Islam and was given baptised as mariam-ul-zamaani.Now that woke up my thinking cells and i was amazed to discover even more controversies….So better watch it for fun wid out applying ur brain…
rinki singh http://
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:54 pmI wud appreciate the star cast for acting well…
superstarksa http://superstarksa.com
February 25th, 2008 at 12:30 pmRinki: My idea of fun is not a Bollywood movie. I’d rather watch the Hollywood originals.
And yes, I’ll surely pass on your compliments to the star cast 
Kunal: You seem to have quite an agenda there. Cool down boss. Cool down.
Prabhu: Vivek enna da aanan? It’s been at least two years, Sivaji and Anniyan notwithstanding. We don’t seem to get something that we can quote like En iniya village old age-ey!
Jillu: You mean you liked the video? :O
Kamini: You are only as old as you think you are. Back when I was in grad school, I had a Sri Lankan friend (who was atleast 30 then). His mother was a big fan of Bollywood and supposedly watched Kaho Na Pyar Hai like 5 times and went to Hritheek stage shows in Colombo. And she must have been atleast 50. Unless you are 60, you have nothing to worry
Sudha: Unakkey theriyum. Naan Thalaivar madhiri, sollaradha dhaan seiyyven, seiyyaradha dhaan solluven! So naan solluvadhellam unmai, unmiyai thavira ver ondrum illai.
Auctions http://www.worthpoint.com
March 10th, 2008 at 11:05 pmJodha Akbar is basically 100 percent fiction. But one must appreciate the director for taking pains to make the film. When one makes a historical film, locations and sets become a major headache. In India, in many films it’s the songs that make a film hit or flop. One would have expected better songs.
karen
March 18th, 2008 at 4:24 pmbeing “NOT ” a bollywood fan i have watched Jodha Akbar 9 times in theatre. and every time with total involvement. if you have “any” romantic urge supressed in you ..take my word its gonna come out full blown as you watch this movie. you forget about everything else at least for a week… i hate bollywood masala stuff ..because of that i used to watch hollywood movies..but let me tell you one thing ..this movie cannot be compared to hollywood stuff ..coz they are no where near this master piece. i am not talking about the fight scenes or the sets ..i am talking about the perforamce and the direction. its beautiful…… NO hollywood movie can capture the real artistic love shown in this movie.. its just mind blowing. as for the costumes and the sets they were quite impressive….don’t fall for the negative reviews.. go watch it or else you will miss something so grand and beautiful.