Feb 25, 2008 05:32 AM
1205 Views
(Updated Feb 25, 2008 05:34 AM)
When you know that the director of this movie has already made cinematic wonders like Lagaan and Swades, your expectations inevitably become high. Both of his previous movies were gems in their own ways, you’d therefore expect this one to be the same. But in my view it just falls short of being called a gem. Yes the movie is a great watch indeed but it falls just short of the high standards we expect from Ashutosh Gowarikar.
Let’s get into the nitpicking straightaway. Almost at the beginning of the movie there is this stunt where we see Hrithik fighting to control an elephant. Trust me, it looked inspired from Krrish!(Mind you, I thought Krrish was a fairly ordinary movie). The attire and hairstyle of Hrithik looked quite similar to Krrish. And in particular, when Hrithik jumps upon the elephant, I thought that this was something that was inspired straight from Krrish and it made me laugh out loud.
Though I felt that Hrithik performed well, he still could not get over some of his trademark gestures. At times he looked like the typical chocolate boy in love with the girl next door. I felt that his acting lacked the authority that an emperor has to show over his subjects.
Aishwarya was good. She fitted the role of Jodhaa and essayed the role of a Rajput princess standing up to the Mughal emperor very well. Ila Arun’s short role as Maham Anga was performed extremely well. The viewer almost had anger for what her character was doing in the movie.
The music of the album is very good. In fact this was what prompted me to look forward to this movie for nearly 2 months. Rehman has blended Hindustani and Sufi music in some of the tracks and they are an absolute delight to your ears. Take them in sync with the movie sequences and you have a visual treat in front of you.
Controversies apart, this is a movie worth watching in the cinema theatre. If you still haven’t watched it, then you’ve missed perhaps the best opening of this year.
