Jodha Akbar review from a fan
I do not know from where to start????
Should I curse filmikhabar first, or rediff, or CNN-IBN or who else, because I saw the movie because I saw 4 stars everywhere, but may be they were out of 10.
I saw the first day first show here in US, that was Friday, Feb 15 2008, 5:00 PM. After traveling in massive rain for 2 hours, and boy was I disappointed??? And you know what was even worse, that I didn’t have to wait till interval to realize that I made a wrong choice, it was clear from the first 10 minutes itself, in the first “epic” fight.
Those who know me here (I used to post a long time ago) know how much I slammed Asoka, because I felt that it was a strong subject dealt so poorly by the director, but tonight I spent 2 hours discussing with my brother, how powerful Asoka was when compared with JA, and he agreed.
Why I am comparing this movie with Asoka??? because Ashoka and Akbar have always been my real heroes. They are the real historical figures, who are respected by one and all, regardless of religion, caste, or cadre. And I read about both in school history books, but sad to say, Akbar’s chapter was much more interesting in that history book than JA.
Very first thing is, when you do not have enough extras to show a BIG army, neither computer technology to replicate frames to show a HUUUGGGEEE army, then never take an aerial shot of so called “epic” battle.
TBH it was my fault to expect something like LOTR from an Indian movie, when we do not have the sufficient technology. But I was disappointed to see that JA didn’t even match Asoka standards, spl in war sequences, which was a low budget movie, and was released 5 years ago. Even after 5 years AG couldn’t muster the technique to show better war scenes, just baffled me.
Movie started, just the way Lagaan did, with Amitabh Bachchan’s voice, describing characters and exactly there ended all parallels with Lagaan. Then appears Akbar’s character, and for some reason he is shown weak, scared, intimidated and infact bullied by people around him. Then came the war scene, and trust me if you remember the age old Mahabharta war scenes on TV, you will bang your head on the wall after seeing these stupid scenes. So called soldiers are swinging their sword in the air for no rhyme and reason, and a “sniper”, with his bow and arrow is trying to kill Hemu in a manner that can be classified as comic relief. Trust me you will have a good laugh.
As movie progresses you expect Akbar to become a big strong king, as you have read in books, but he has been shown as a man with no intelligence of his own. He is always shown as a person depending upon someone else for advice, which is quite frankly stupid. I know Akbar was illiterate, but it is said that he surrounded himself with some of the most intelligent and nice people and as a result he was a very able and smart person and emperor, therefore was loved by all his subjects. For example his Nav-ratnas, the most talented people from the fields of science, music, dance, etc. Moreover Akbar had his Deewan-ae-aam. where he used to listen to the problems of the people, from the people, and used to give instant relief. But never once in the movie you feel like Akbar had any interaction with the people of his empire, he is shown having just one circle of trust and do everything as they say. Something which didn’t go down too well with me.
Now comes fighting with elephant, dude you gotta be kidding me. I mean really??? is this your idea of showing a strong man???? fighting an elephant with a “dhaal”??? and elephant becomes calm when you sit on top of him??? In between Hrithik had some ludicrous jumps though….which added some humor however unintentional from director’s point of view.
Only scenes where you feel for the characters is when Jodha and Akbar are getting married. The whole sequence is good and stays true to the stories and history. Moreover emotions displayed by Hrithik and Aish are good in this part.
Furthermore disturbing was the fact that AG for some reason looked really influenced by Ekta Kapoor’s school of hamming, camera movement and stupid background score. When you see Hrithik’s face being zoomed in and out with some silly music and people eavesdropping outside other people’s tents, you just wonder was this the same man who directed a movie like Lagaan????
Let me go to the last fight now, as it might be getting unbearable for you to read anymore. I am a fan of Hrithik, not because of his acting, as it is limited, but because of kind of preparation he puts in for the character. I thought it matches the professionalism of Hollywood, but here Hrithik, I guess didn’t really care. He never felt comfortable with whatever he was wearing, whatever he was carrying as a weapon. Hence you got a real stale fight scenes. They tried to copy Troy in the end, but as rest of the movie, it fell flat on the face, and the movie ends abruptly.
Good part of the movie is Hrithik Aish chemistry, rest is just a mystery. I do not understand why it stretched to 3:20 hrs, when clearly atleast 2-3 characters were not needed. They had nothing to do, it might have been totally edited and hence shortening the movie by atleast 30 minutes or so. Again a plus point, the woman who played mother of Akbar, she was classy, spoke really well, portrayed the feelings of a mother really well. She was the only character very well sketched. And the dialogs, I must commend the person who wrote dialogs, there were some hardcore hindi and urdu dialogs, but you never feel like lost. You will come to know the meaning and might end up learning something. And even the dialog delivery had been spot on.
As for performances, this is the first movie of Aish, where she acted better than everyone else. That can be due to her character being written and sketched out beautifully. Akbar’s character was written half heartedly and moreover Hrithik is not one of the best actors around, and hence you end up feeling sad for real Akbar. Aish’s bhaisa’s character was badly written and even worse acted. You can actually have an idea about the character by the fact that the guy has 20 minutes of reel time in the movie, scattered across 3 hours of run time, out of that he takes 12 minutes in dying. And even after all that you wonder why the “fish” he was in the movie from the very beginning?
I will give this movie 2 stars, that too from the goodness of my heart, and the fact that me and my brother went to see a movie after a long time, and ended up laughing nonstop for 4 hours, which was clearly not what AG tried, but still thanks to him.
And yeah on a side note, after watching I am convinced, you don’t need big body to portray characters like Akbar and Asoka, what you need is emotions visible in your eyes, your face, something which suggest you are a strong leader mentally.
Sidenote 2, please do not make Ramayna, and Asoka anymore, you don’t have enough technoogy to match the expected standards, and you end up mocking these highly respected characters.
And if someone is still reading, thanks alot for your time and effort, trust me you while reading and me while writing invested more effort than AG did while directing.
Rating: 2/5
PS: Thanks alot to Filmikhabar for giving me this wonderful opportunity to be a part of of the team and serving as a platform to let out all my frustrations and disappointments from the movie.
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Kunal Welcome to Filmikhabar !!
Excellent Review really liked the way u constructed your thoughts
Well i need some explaining on comparing Asoka Vs JA (the war scenes)
Kunal Liked to see more articles from u !!!
No buddy thanks to you for making me welcome, and I guess you added the pic. Thank you, I just forgot in all that frustration.
And BTW thanks to the whole Filmikhabat team, that is management and all contributors and people who comment for making it such a special place.
kunal gud review brother
but u look too frustrated with the movie
I think they shud make Jodha Akbar Episodes and telecast in Television
Far:
“but u look too frustrated with the movie”
Dude that was due to the reason that I really wanted to like the movie, and much more than that I have immense respect for Akbar, and it was painful to see him being portrayed in sucha a fashion.
“I think they shud make Jodha Akbar Episodes and telecast in Television”
Yeah even Asoka did the same, and it can improve matters I guess. Because once you see the movie, you feel as if there were many edits along the storyline. May be all these things would make much better sense once unedited form is presented to the audience.
how did the audience reacted ?
In what fashion , many sed HR was ok in the movie
I swear I won’t lie. First off hall was 25% occupied, but it can be due to first show and bad weather. Then there were 4 couples in front of me, then one big family beside us and 4-5 more couple behind us (all these couples due to valentine’s day may be) and we didn’t know anyone. And when me and my brother started slamming the movie, everyone joined us. Infact everyone gave a very sarcastic applause to the movie in the end. More Hrithik and Ash cried, harder people laughed in the hall.
Some said that best part of the movie was interval. People were really pissed, and I don’t blame them. It costed us, 2 brothers, $70, imagine about couples, they would have ended up smoking $200 for utter disappointment.
And Aksfilmi, the major difference between the war scenes of 2 movies was, in Asoka, wars were shown much more realistically. For example when in the first few scenes Ashoka doesn’t get the help from his brothers and is left with a small army, he is shown using tactics which can only be said as splendid. It was shown how the tactical side of a war is much more important than the brute force. Then towards the end, when Ashoka actually becomes the king and fights Kalinga, the war is fought in such an organized manner. Just the way you see in movie Gladiator. First arrows, then foot soldiers, and best part during all this time Ashoka never actually enters the war. It was so realistic as kings never used to go to war themselves, they used to sit somewhere safe and give their instructions from there.
Then do you remember when Ashoka is stopped by Danny’s character, at that time SRK, takes out such an innovative weapon. Something like a belt, which can cut across any human being. And how ably Ashoka was shown handling that weapon.
Sadly, no matter how big and strong Hrithik appears than Shahrukh, but never once he felt comfortable with whatever weapons he had. There had been no tactical side to his wars, infact there had been just 2 wars, first was a joke, second was one to one combat, where Hrithik lacked the kind of conviction he showed in those few scenes of Krish where he maneuvers the Chinese weapons.
That was good review Kunal. Keep it up. BTW, am happy to see all types of responses which are coming frm all sides for JODHAA AKBAR.
FENIL
hrithik and ash rock in jodhaa-akbar
Well I dint like Asoka bcoz it failed to convince.I do Remember Even Asoka got rare Reviews but JA luks superior prduct
But what i heard from many ppl COmbat fight in JA luked similar to fighting scenes from TROY
hi i liked jodha akbar a lot!! hrithik looks majestic, and ash is beautiful newz!! they make a hot pair onscreen, and the songs are wonderful! rahmaan has done a good job., well the fight scenes are not as good, but den its more like a love epic, than a war movie, so wat do u expect??
as a love story, its done a brilliant job, its a long movie, but kips u interested till the end,, dsnt bore u is wat i mean!good job hrithik!!
hey i am not ahrithik fan, but this movie is a mastrerpiece, it is one of the finest films ever made in bollywood. the only disadvantage is the length but seriously i didnt look at my watch because hrithhik perforformance was of such a high quality that it keeps u alive everytime…
KUNAL , SORRY DUDE YOUR REVIEW SUCKSSSSSSSS BIG TIME OR MAY BE YOU ARE BLIND THAT U DIDNT LOVED SUCH A FINEST FILM MADE IN BOLLYWOOD
Kiran:
“KUNAL , SORRY DUDE YOUR REVIEW SUCKSSSSSSSS BIG TIME OR MAY BE YOU ARE BLIND THAT U DIDNT LOVED SUCH A FINEST FILM MADE IN BOLLYWOOD”
Seriously dude I wish I was.
Di you really see that “sniper” scene when the guy with bow and arrow tries to blind Hemu??? or the scene where Hrithik is fighting with an elephant???? or the one where Hrithik tries to fight with a sword????
Go watch Gladiator to know how you should hold a sword.
And then, I have already mentioned in my review, that if its Aish and Hrithik romance you wanted to see, may be the movie is not that bad (though never as good as so many claims it to be), but seriously guys, you hear of Akbar and think about romance???? seriously???? I bet Star Plus’s Prithvi Raj Chauhan serial would have better war sequences than JA.
Anyhow I am not going to be a fishing @hole about it, you liked the movie, I didn’t.
And far as you said, last fight reminded of Troy, and though don’t get me wrong, Troy itself was a horrible movie (those don’t believe, please check the scorecard) but still Brad Pitt in those scenes was really good. When he holds that spear, it looks like that it will go through walls of steel. That conviction and those expressions were missing from Hrithik, and that can be due to lack of rehearsal and so many other things. Because Hrthik definitely looks stronger than Brad Pitt but never actually shows that performance. Hence the whole sequence suffers big time.
Grossing almost 30 crores in its first week is a lot for a film. Krrish grossed around that and that was a good movie. A film like JA, it would be a huge surprise if it grossed around that, but you never know. First it was CDI, then TZP which blew the box office away.
Im not sure what AG will direct for his next
I belive they did a decent job with all thandi publcity they still managed with decent opening
None expected JA as classic except few , i think this will worth a watch
Possibly the WORST review I have ever read, ever, somebody who has a lot of time to waste, somebody who bought a ticket in black and still get to watch the film standing all through will still better review it if he/she understands cinema. I think Akbar-Jodha was much-much more entertaining then your review because I never got a clue how this film got over because I was so involved but here my friend I got pissed, I got annoyed and frustrated so much by your writing that I didn’t finish reading the half of it probably.
Jodha Akbar is a love story firstly, It is not “lord of the rings” which is a fiction/story so why the hell were you expecting a magical what-not from old ramayana and lord of the rings or whatever, A 200 men army is supposed to look like 200 men army not a 2000 men army! You found the hemu’s killing funny, well you might need to check your taste in humour! because it was brilliant war tactics! how can u kill someone who is standing tall in the battle and has a height advantage plus all covered in metal! NO! Not by bramhastra my friend but by hitting the eye! thats wat they did! the shooter was taken in safety closer to hemu so that he can get a better aim! You said Akbar was shown weak, WHEN? WHEN? WHEN? If you are killing a man infront of 13yr old kid, is he not supposed to be afraid! Have you actually seen a mad getting killed? You know how it feels, I have seen a chicken getting beheaded and its not a good feeling bro, its a human and you are asking a 13yrs old, think about it! Now you say that he is shown with no brain of his own and was dependent on others,…hmmm… did you watch the film? NO you didn’t! He sent off Bairam khan because he was getting out of hands and killing innocent kings and war prisoners, he sent off Mahamanga(ila arun’s character)because she was playing politics, his brother in law betrayed him, and many of his associates like the character played by Raza Murad were killed.
And There are atleast ‘four’ full fledged scenes of his dewan-e-aam, isnt it in one of these events only he was shot down by a bow, a turkish shooter sent by his brother-in-law!!!!
The scene where he is tackling a elephant shows his prowess, he saves the other guy, this shows his respect for his associates though it was a normal mahawat, and finally a winning attitude but sitting on it. If you anything about horse riding or animal riding, if you sit in the animal’s top for a while he thinks he is been won over and comes to the rider’s terms.
One more thing, this film atop asoka any day, in any department. I don’t know why are you so bothered by the fighting sequence and all, this film is about love between a ruler and his queen, and not a barbarian like asoka. Yes asoka was a barbarian, he was referred as “Chand askhok!”. Whereas Akbar was a people’s man, and he believed in ruling and not winning, by a little persuasion by Kulbhooshan kharbanda’s character/jodha’s father akbar decided to give the amer province to sujamal(sonu sood), because he wanted peace and not to shed innocent blood. You didnt see the film bro, of maybe it was the rain and the two hour journey before the movie that pissed you off, do you remember this name ‘Akbar’ was given to him by people! Didnt you see the movie dude?
This movie does NOT contains heavy urdu at all, because then you guys can forget relishing classics like Mughal-e-azam and alamara.
Those who think that this film should be shown in episodes on TV, well I have got two word for you………..get a life! (oops ye to teen word ho gaye! LOL)
What more to say, you and all those who blindly for some reason are criticizing the masterpiece should seriously be given a ‘Jadoo ki jhappi’. Go watch this time in a normal mood, and you’ll come out in good mood. Jodha-Akbar Rocks!
Excellent Review. Jodha Akbar looks like a very low budget masala movie.
^^^^^^^^^^^
No sir I am not that Kunal
This is for the first time I came to know that there exists a site with sucha name.
****** Deleted ******
Let this be a warning.
Ur review sucks even more so when u compare this movie with Ashoka which was a flop, badly executed movie
Navratnas never existed till Akbar turned 40.When a person wears armours that weigh 10 kilos obviously will look tired during fight scenes
Maybe you should watch the entire movie before running your mouth off. Perhaps then your obvious prejudice will be contented in having more than just ten minutes of the movie to cynically rant about. If you plan on reviewing a movie, watch it in it’s entirety first.
I have not seen such a pessimist person as the person who wrote this review. This review is completely misleading. No need to say JA is a BLOCKBUSTER!!!! My friend go check the box office….that should say all. As for the movie i rate it 10/10 for it is definitely MUCH better in every sense than ASOKA, which was a COMPLETE FLOP. I can say you are someone who does not know how to rate a good movie. Reading reviews like yours makes me sick!!!!!!!
I completely agree with Kunal’s review..JA like OSO is a complete let down for me…I expected a lot from it like OSO..I agree even Asoka’s fight sequence looked classic against JA’s..
Asoka’s story might not be great but it was brillant in techincal department
yes srk is quite brilliant in technical things..I thinks he is the best when it comes to technology n marketing..
Kunal’s review is extraordinarily intelligent, analytical and logic-based to the hilt. Thank got the majority of movie viewers do not belong to his ilk. Thats why JA got a Four Star out of FIVE at most places. The very fact that Kunal is prepared to waste his precious time everytime some one is critical of him shows that he has a psychological problem May be this dude should get married and accusto himself to stupidity in real life. God bless!!
I agree with the comments on Kunal. He has written like a Concorde. Now he must realize that the Concorde is long grounded.
Amit sahab as such if you can see earlier I have refrained myself from responding to any negative feedback on me or my writing but then when personal questions are asked I feel the obligation to reply. After all you dropped by here, read such a crapy review and posted your thoughts with utmost frustrations, the least I can do is reply.
Thanks alot for reading it and I do appreciate you replying to it, no its no sarcasm but only respect.
And about my marriage, my mum thinks the same, so if you have anyone you can suggest then please do, may be I will get a breather from the usual photo dekho thing.
Rakhi Sawant, perhaps !?
^^^^ Na dude, I am a pervert but itna bhi nahin ki dost ki GF pe haath maroon, woh teri hai aur teri hi rahegi. Main Kangana se chala loonga.
And BTW you naming Rakhi Sawant, I actually got a hint of your taste, thats why may be you liked JA
No Offense huh
Kunal everyone is entitled to an opinion and i have to say i disagree with yours.
I really enjoyed the film and i though Roshan and Rai were fantastic together.
Mate if you look past the fighting scenes the story and acting is really good and so was the music.
When i watch it at the cinema all the audience thought it was a fantastic film and i have to say i am with them. It left me with a good feeling.
Kunal It didnt need your genius to understand why I suggested Rakhi for you. You yourself admit that you are a pervert. Where did you ever read that perversion has degrees ?
Anyway since you already have Kangna in mind why did you ask for my suggestion. You should have told your mom instead not to show you photos of others.
My sincere and final apologies for reading your critique. It is actually hypocritic. Jodha Akbar is not for perverts: “>>>itna ….ya …..utna.” So you are not qualified to write a review.
“My sincere and final apologies for reading your critique. It is actually hypocritic. Jodha Akbar is not for perverts: “>>>itna ….ya …..utna.” So you are not qualified to write a review.”
May be, but that sword practicing thing suggested something else.
May be it was for bigger perverts who enjoyed themselves such obscene expressions on the face of Aishwarya Rai.
Again I am no expert, you are.
Harry I totally agree with you, these are my thoughts, yours can be different. But that doesn’t mean I respect you or your opinions any lesser than mine, thanks again for the reply.
May be, but that sword practicing thing suggested something else.
May be it was for bigger perverts who enjoyed themselves such obscene expressions on the face of Aishwarya Rai.
Dear KUNAL the self-proclaimed DUDE: Do you know the meaning of obscene ? Or do you think you are the mother of all pseudo-American English writers. Sonny go and complete your schooling and try to become something in life before chala-loonga with Kangana. Dont waste time and space with your rotten monologues.
Do something useful to the society: drive a taxi, sell peanuts or whatever !! Leave Hrithik and Aish alone till you are fit and confident to mend their shoes.
“Do something useful to the society: drive a taxi, sell peanuts or whatever !! Leave Hrithik and Aish alone till you are fit and confident to mend their shoes.”
I will definitely follow your footsteps.