Jodhaa Akbar

Language : Hindi
Banner : UTV Motion Pictures
Director : Ashutosh Gowarikar
Producer : Ashutosh Gowarikar, Ronnie Screwvala
Cinematography : Kiran Deohans
Story : Haider Ali
Screenplay : Ashutosh Gowarikar, Haider Ali
Dialogue : K.P Saxena
Lyrics : Javed Akhtar
Music : A.R Rahman
Release : 2008 February 15
Cast : Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Sonu Sood, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Suhasini Mulay, Raza Murad, Punam Sinha, Rajesh Vivek, Pramod Moutho, Ila Arun, Surendra Pal

Jodhaa Akbar is story of a romance between a Mughal Emperor and a Rajput Princess. Set in sixteenth century this story begins with a marriage of alliance between two cultures for political gain with the king Bharmal giving his daughter’s hand to Mughal emperor Akbar. Akbar didn’t realize that by accepting the proposal, he is not only attempting to improve relations with Rajputs but also starting a journey of true love.

Historically speaking the marriage had a significant impact on the Indian sub continent. Akbar who became the King at a very young age, has had to fight many battles to gain the control over the empire, he extended his rule and made policies that helped two main cultures and religions come closer. Akbar’s attempt to bring cultural diversity inside the Mughal Palaces changed India forever. His policies affected the lives of millions. But how these policies affected him on a personal level is a subject of great interest in itself.

Ashutosh Gowarikar tries to explore this subject with this film. The story revolves around Jaluluddin Muhammed Akbar and Jodha. Akbar while busy gaining and maintaining the rule of his vast empire, had to win the heart of Jodha. Akbar fell in love with Jodha but then there were politics of cultures, religions and armies. He had to keep every one happy, including Jodha.

When a Hindi film viewer thinks of Akbar the great, the image of Prithvi Raj Kapoor comes to their mind. Prithvi Raj Kapoor played the role of Akbar in 1960’s classic Mughal-e-Azam. Definitely people are going to compare Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Jodha Akbar with K.Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam. Mughal-e-Azam is one of the most loved Indian movies ever. It was a difficult task for K.Asif to finish this movie in 60s. It took him almost 9 years to finish the movie. It was a lavish production with grand sets, hundreds of extras, costumes and jewelry. There is no doubt that Ashutosh would come up with something much more lavish and grand than the Mughal-e-Azam but would he able to shot it as impressively as k.Asif did? The stories of two movies are totally different from eachother but there are two common aspects firstly they are both stories of Mughals falling in love, secondly they both need extra ordinary sets, costumes and talent to portray the lifestyle of Mughal Emperor Akbar.

A.R Rahman has composed music for Jodhaa Akbar and it is melodious but there is nothing so great about it. It is nice, very nice but it is not great. But then we can not say anything about the music yet as we haven’t seen how it fits with the theme of the movie. A. R. Rehman is very talented and I think if we are comparing Jodhaa Akbar with Mughal-e-Azam then A. R. Rehman is the closest to Naushad who composed the unforgetable music for Mughal-e-Azam.

Hrithik Roshan is playing the role of Akbar the great. Ashutosh made the perfect choice Hrithik fits in the costumes. He looks impressive, but then he will also have to prove his acting skills. This is the most challenging role Hrithik has ever done. It is a huge movie where he can prove himself eligible to compared with the likes of Prithvi Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar.

Aishwarya Rai, there is no doubt that she is one of the most talented actress currently available. She is beautiful and knows perfectly well how to portray the unforgettable beauty. Then again, she will have to act a lot better than she did in Devdas. Looking beautiful is not going to win her any more audience applause.

Expected to be released on 15 February, Jodhaa Akbar is the most anticipated movie this year. We can debate the impact of the movie on the Indian popular culture, we can compare it with Mughal-e-Azam. But there is no doubt that the most talented people of Hindi cinema has worked hard to make this movie and it is a must watch for all.

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