Ratheesh KrishnaVadhyar (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ratheesh) wrote,@ 2008-02-15 18:40:00 |
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Jodhaa Akbar
Watching Jodhaa Akbar was like watching an elephant. I felt that the film has something we call in Malayalam as "aanachantham" (Elephant's beauty). In the 3.5 hours long movie, we get to see exquisite sets with glistering palaces and actors wearing colorful costumes, the wonderful "khwaja mere khwaja" and "azeem-o- shaan shahenshah" songs choreographed with great effort, great visuals of Rajasthan's desert landscapes shot in ultra wide angle (There is a particular scene that reminded me of the famous mirage scene in Lawrence of Arabia), war scenes that are the finest I have seen in Indian cinema (Not that that is a great achievement, though), a sword-fight between Jodhaa and Akbar and another between Akbar and Sharifuddin, both picturized brilliantly, Another scene where we see Akbar taming an elephant, and many such splendid visuals. The movie is worth watching for this "elephant's beauty".
Apart from that, the film is about the love affair between Mughal emperor Akbar and his Rajput queen from Amber, Jodhaa. If we take out the layers of visual magnificence out of the film, it still remains full of life, even though some of its scenes are either too dramatic or too shallow and oversimplified, reminding of scenes from BR Chopra's television serials (like Akbar's visit in disguise to the Agra market to understand the "real life" of his countrymen and the abolition of pilgrim's tax that followed quite soon, Jodhaa running towards Krishna's idol and breaking into a song responding to the "dreadful" marriage proposal from the emperor, etc.). I was actually prejudiced against the movie thinking that Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai may not be able to do justice to the characters of Akbar and Jodhaa, but they have done a decent job, actually.
Watching Jodhaa Akbar was like watching an elephant. I felt that the film has something we call in Malayalam as "aanachantham" (Elephant's beauty). In the 3.5 hours long movie, we get to see exquisite sets with glistering palaces and actors wearing colorful costumes, the wonderful "khwaja mere khwaja" and "azeem-o- shaan shahenshah" songs choreographed with great effort, great visuals of Rajasthan's desert landscapes shot in ultra wide angle (There is a particular scene that reminded me of the famous mirage scene in Lawrence of Arabia), war scenes that are the finest I have seen in Indian cinema (Not that that is a great achievement, though), a sword-fight between Jodhaa and Akbar and another between Akbar and Sharifuddin, both picturized brilliantly, Another scene where we see Akbar taming an elephant, and many such splendid visuals. The movie is worth watching for this "elephant's beauty".
Apart from that, the film is about the love affair between Mughal emperor Akbar and his Rajput queen from Amber, Jodhaa. If we take out the layers of visual magnificence out of the film, it still remains full of life, even though some of its scenes are either too dramatic or too shallow and oversimplified, reminding of scenes from BR Chopra's television serials (like Akbar's visit in disguise to the Agra market to understand the "real life" of his countrymen and the abolition of pilgrim's tax that followed quite soon, Jodhaa running towards Krishna's idol and breaking into a song responding to the "dreadful" marriage proposal from the emperor, etc.). I was actually prejudiced against the movie thinking that Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai may not be able to do justice to the characters of Akbar and Jodhaa, but they have done a decent job, actually.
