thanks for posting web and blog reviews! On Feb 15, 2008 2:21 AM, Gopal Srinivasan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Anupama Chopra, Consulting Editor, Films > > The first word that came to my mind as I watched Jodhaa Akbar was epic. > > Everythingabout this film is big – the scale on which it has been mounted, > thepassion which director and co-producer Ashutosh Gowariker has pouredinto > every frame, the startling beauty of its leads Hrithik Roshan andAishwarya > Rai Bachchan and its daunting length of three hours and 20minutes. > > Ashutosh isn't a timid director. He finds no satisfaction in creating the > generic, instantly disposable Bollywood film. > > Ashutoshdreams big and goes where other filmmakers fear to tread. Who else > butAshutosh could create a sublime, superbly erotic love story about > analready married couple, who live in the 16th century. Jodhaa and > Akbarmarry to keep the peace between Rajputs and Mughals. > > The night before the wedding, her mother gives her a vial of poison, a way > out in case she cannot bear the humiliation. > > Itturns out that she doesn't need it. Akbar, an uneducated butenlightened > monarch, refuses to force himself on his wary wife. Hepromises that he will > come to her bed only when her heart gives herpermission to be one with him. > > What follows is a hesitant,yearning romance in which husband and wife > overcome their religious andcultural differences and some serious harem > intrigues and learn to loveeach other.Is any of this true? Nobody knows > and frankly I don'tthink you'll care because Ashutosh and his writer Haider > Ali createthis romance so convincingly. > > Hrithik and Aishwarya haveenough electricity to light up a few of the vast > palaces art directorNitin Desai has so painstakingly created in the film. In > an interview,Ashutosh said that Hrithik and Aishwarya were his dream cast. I > thinkthey were his only cast. It's impossible to imagine any other > actorsplaying these roles. > > Hrithik embodies the great emperor withoutever becoming theatrical. He is > regal, imposing, sometimes haughty butalways human. > > Aishwarya carries the lighter load, nicely. Shelooks more beautiful than > she has in any of her recent films. Her eyesflash fire, especially in a > sword fighting sequence, in which shenearly decapitates her husband. > > This is, as far as I know, theonly sword fighting as sexual foreplay > sequence in Hindi cinema.Whatweighs the film down are the peripherals > surrounding this romance. Thepolitical intrigues and anti-Akbar plots are > predictable and limp. Soare the actors enacting them. Many of the supporting > characters arepure cardboard and scenes just seem to go dead when Akbar and > Jodhaaexit the frame. > > This would have been less problematic if the film was shorter but at three > hours plus, it becomes frustratingly dull. > > Thefirst half of the film is exhilarating but in the second you are > likelyto get impatient and restless. The last 15 minutes feel like the endof > a marathon. > > Despite this, I strongly recommend Jodhaa Akbar. Ashutosh, Hrithik and > Aishwarya want half a day of your life. > > It's a big demand but this is a worthy film. Jodhaa Akbar is a grand and > gorgeous labour of love. > > Watch it! > > > http://www.ndtvmovies.com/reviews.asp?lang=hindi&id=294&moviename=Jodhaa+Akbar > > >
