Jodhaa Akbar

Film-making is a creative process. Whether it is interpretation of history or presentation of fiction, the manner in which it is brought before the public,  speaks about the intelligence of the maker. Ashutosh Gowarikar’s latest film ‘Jodha Akbar’ is certainly based on history but that does not mean that the film maker has to go by only facts. May be, he may take relevant aspects from the life of the Great Moghul Emperor and  present the same to meet the requirements of his screenplay. When 'Moghul-E- Azam' was made, nobody questioned the integrity of its maker, as it was accepted as a great Love story of Salim –Anarkali and the conflict between the father and son.

Now, almost 50 years later, a young film maker dares to show the love story of Jallaluddin Mohd Akbar and his Rajput wife during their young days, it becomes the controversial issue for a section of society over the name of Jodha. Surprisingly, nobody objected to this name as the same Emperor’s wife in the film 'Moghul-E-Azam'. This is the best example to show how the attitude of our people can change with passage of time.

Surpassing  these controversies, 'Jodha Akbar' finally hit the screen almost coinciding the Valentine’s day. May be, the film did not receive a very warm welcome, as it should have got it otherwise; but it is a great effort by the filmmaker to present this little known love story and giving the same a touch of emotions. To be more precise, 'Jodha Akbar' is a technically well made film, with sincere efforts put in by all the artistes; but there seems to be something missing, to attain that much needed hype. A historical subject, a top class director, both leading actors as superstars; yet, there wasn’t a demand at ticket counters.  Isn’t that something surprising? However, UTV claims to have received a good response in overseas market. With no Hindi film slated for release in subsequent week, the film has chances to improve viewership.

When the filmmaker signed these two leading stars to play Jodha and Akbar respectively, there was a speculation that this pair would turn out to be a hit pair of the industry. But, then the marriage of Aishwrya to Ahbhishek last year, brought down the interest of the film enthusiasts towards the release of this film. And, this is not the only case in Bollywood. In the past, it happened in the case of top heroines like Hema Malini and kajol. The popularity does not affect much for the male super stars after marriage, but it does affect the female super stars.   

Leaving apart these issues, 'Jodha Akbar' is a technically well made film, but is bit slow with the inclusion of unnecessary battle scenes, when the focus of the script was only on the love relationship between the couple. The dialogues are missing the required punch, as any history based subject would have it. But, certainly, the film is a pleasure for your eyes.

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