I was a bit intimidated at the prospect of watching an Indian movie in the theatre. I'm definitely a fan of classic Bollywood, but I usually watch it on Saturday morning television, where I have the option to get up and go to the grocery store, make breakfast, clean the bathroom, and catch up with the film at my leisure.
I wondered if I'd be able to sit through a 3+ hour film without getting bored or antsy.
Jodha Akbar is the story of a ruler of the Mughal Empire
who is remembered for his tolerant view of religion and his contribution to the arts.
I'm not really crazy about schmaltzy, romantic films (don't tell me you're surprised) and was happy to find that this film was more of a historical drama. The plot was complex, with unending deceptions and misunderstandings, but was pretty easy to follow, and kept my inter
est. There was a lot of fighting, but a lot of the more brutal violence was depicted with subtlety. What most surprised me was the music in the film. There were only two or three long, choreographed musical sequences, and they weren't overly sentimental. The music sounded traditional but contemporary, and Aishwarya only sang one long number.
There were scenes which I felt were very sexy, and although couples in Indian movies seem never to kiss or go to bed together, I felt that the tension between Akbar and Jodha was built well, and culminated in a satisfying way.
My only complaints:
The score was a bit cheesy. At times, the music was so tense and dramatic that it made Akbar seem like a serial killer.
The large battles had a few gaps in them (I happen to be a picky jerk about epic fight scenes).
The film seemed to be trying to cover all the main genres at once, and fell shy of completely satisfying any of them. Not enough music to be a musical, not in depth enough to be really educational, and not enough action to be a straight action movie. At the same time, I was entertained all the way through. Perhaps there's a lot more to learn about Indian cinema.
Tip: pack a lunch if you go see this in the theatre.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Jodha Akbar or 3 Hours in the Dark
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Liz, since I shared in this experience with you I want to leave a comment. I think Jodha Akbar is the turning point in Bollywood cinema. In the last 5 years there has been a huge shift from classic cheesy Bollywood films to films that strive to be less melodramatic and more realistic. This movie was highly influenced by Hollywood historic epics like Troy, which have been very successful in India. That's a good and bad thing. I'm an Indian who hates Indian movies made after 1993, but I was disappointed that there weren't more Hindi songs in this film. Generally, the soundtrack had a more traditional sound (which I LOVE)than the disco/dance shit we hear in more mainstream Indian films. I'm not surprised that this movie has totally bombed in India because there are different expectations for Hindi films over there (i.e. they like to watch crap). Hritik Roshan played Julaladdin Mohammed Akbar really, really well. He's super hot. He has two thumbs. What more could you ask for?
In Jodha-Akbar, two of the most popular actors and actresses of the present period namely Hrithik and Aiswariya have played the role of Akbar and Jodha. Both have matured level of understanding and had done very well in the film.
Post a Comment