| Azeem o shaan Shahenshah |
 Azeem o shaan Shahenshah
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Feb. 17th, 2008 @ 01:00 pm 
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When Mughal E Azam first released, it generated slow business. Audience reaction was very muted. People thought that the movie was rejected. Same happened with Sholay. The critics were merciless in their panning of the films especially Sholay. Extravagent films without "heart", they said. But then we know what happened. Both ended up being the biggest hits of their era. The audience reaction was muted not because they did not like it. It was because they were overwhelmed with awe. Awe at the splendour, the scale and the vision seen on the big screen.
Maybe we are seing the same with Jodhaa Akbar. Right now critics are being harsh on the film. They are calling it a bloated film with half baked plots and with more attention paid to the sets and costumes. Khalid Moahammed is finding ridiculous reasons to diss it. Nikhat Kazmi cannot be taken seriously after her plagarization controversy. Raja Sen has stated that Ashutosh Gowarikar is not best suited for cinema as an art form which I find a little hard to believe. Gowarikar is best suited for cinema because his vision just cannot be compressed into a TV screen even if it is a 50 inch plasma one.
However if you ask me as an audience member who watched the movie not out of professional obligation or with personal issues (which I think Khalid has for uncertain reasons), I will say this - the movie was freaking awesome. The splendour, the scale, the vision and yes, the acting (Of course Aishwarya Rai was aweful when she was talking).
People have claimed that the film is distorting history. I would ask these people to go read some actual history books. Bairam Khan who is almost deified by our school history books was actually getting out of hand when Akbar forced him into retirement. Akbar was well known for taming wild elephants alone with bare hands. Akbar did actually put Aadam Khan to death by throwing him downstairs head first. In fact there is one variant to the story - Akbar threw him down by himself. The character Maham Anga did exist and did have influence over her foster child Akbar. Ashutosh does well by not including Birbal into the picture as his existance and prominence is a matter of speculation. However Ashutosh does tease by including a young nameless Hindu courtier who accompanies the emperor in his first marketplace walk in disguise, a setting for countless Akber Birbal stories. Sure there are some inaccuracies like the climatic showdown (Akbar was a legendary warrior who was unmatched one on one..but a duel to decide the emporership is plain bad stategy) and the reason for the foster mother being made inconsequential. However there is a thing called creative license and we are talking about a commercial movie, not a History Channel special. However Khalid boy lamenting the absence of any mention of Din E Ilahi is ridiculous. The religon was thought of and practiced in Akber's last years which is much after the span of the movie. About Jodha's existance, the same is justified at the start of the film and is the perfect argument.
There are flaws in the film. The screenplay could have been tighter and some subplots could have been explored further. Then there is Aishwarya Rai whose dialogue delivery is so flat, it drives you to sleep. She does look really beautiful and "mallika - e - hindustan"like but age is catching up with her which means that the only reason for her still having a film career is fast fading out.
The good things about the film are too many to discuss. The music is good which is made greater by the fantastic picturization. The action scenes are great considering that there were real people, not animated characters fighting. People are comparing them unfavourably with those of LOTR and Troy. Unfavourable because the action budget of these films would have financed ten Jodha Akbers. The sets are great. Dialogues are authentic though tough to follow at times. The camerawork is of the highest quality. The full sweep of the battlefield in the opening battle scene reminds you of Lawrence of Arabia. Acting is good which is expected since it is Gowariker'r film. Nikitan Dheer is good as the evil brother in law and has a physique which made Hrithik look scrawny. Mention must be made of the return of Raza Murad and his booming voice to A - list cinema. As Akber Hrithik shows why he is the true successor of Amitabh Bachchan. The screen sizles when he is there. He virtually becomes Akbar. Watch him taming the elephant and you actually feel you are looking at one of the greatest experors and not at an actor.
Finally there is the direction. It must be difficult pulling off such a daunting project with huge stars, heavyduty research and huge expectations. He does it with success. Success because he has made people who really matter go numb with awe.I am feeling:  happy |
well put!
Maa badaulat khuss huey! :)
But just wanted to ask you something... remember this guy in the court who used to call out the names of the people..the court crier.. tall .. bearded guy.. whoz that guy ?
Thank you!!
Guy as in actor or the historical characte?
The actor is in quite a few movies - always as a 7 foot tall ruffian who gets hammered by the hero to show the heo's strength.
The historical character - will have to do some research.
| From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: |
February 21st, 2008 06:56 am (UTC) |
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hmm.. not the historical character but the person playing it.. for some reason whenever the character came on screen in the hall, people went laughing.. and i thot am i missing a joke here :|
waise wasnt there a book called 'akbar nama' detailing his life ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akbarnama
Just the sight of a guy normally getting beaten up in full mughal armour shouting out words in Urdu must have led the audience to laugh. It happened when I was watching too.
Yes the Akbarnama is there..it is a bit too flattering though according to some historians.
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| From: | ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) kashkool |
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| Date: |
July 16th, 2008 03:58 pm (UTC) |
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Salam....
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Hi there...
Where i can find translation for this nice music?
Thanks :)
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