Jodhaa Akbar

After a dry spell at the cinemas for a while we finally saw the movie Jodhaa Akbar today. Have been always fascinated with the Mughal era and the customes and traditions that existed in that period. Was eagerly awaiting for this movie. The movie lived up to my expectation quite a bit but cannot say completely. I was expecting some more. A little more history I would say.

The costumes, the jewellery and the sets were excellent. Whether it was the red and gold jari ghaghara of Aishwariya or the the stone studded sherwani of Hrithik. Even the mojadis were very ornate. Aishwariya's yellow, rust and red ghaghara cholis depicted the colors or Rajasthan beautifully. The war scenes were pretty well done too. They seemed very real and majestic too.
There was also a tiny glimpse of the mughal zenana and the eunuchs that served them.

Hrithik and Aishwariya's performance fared well but could have had a little more panache. The first half of the movie was definitely a lot more enjoyable. The second half dragged a little bit. I enjoyed the parts that touched history like Akbar's tolerance to Hinduism and how that changed the Mughal influence in India. I guess I was hoping to see more on Akbar's court like his "navratan" etc. But I guess the movie was more about Jodhaa and Akbar and not just Akbar and how that changed history. All in all I would give it 3 stars.