Lagaan’s director Ashutosh Gowarikar surely knows how to blend in the east with the west, and by striking the right chords, he surely knows what he wants. He once again hits it well, with a hat trick, in Jodha Akbar. A fine crafts man ship is once again shown by the director. Jodha Akbar is a historic saga of the Mugal ruler (Akbar) and his hindu wife (Jodha). As always in Ashutosh’s movie, here too there’s a social message involved, and that is to promote unity between the Hindu and the Muslim. The movie has a lot more to offer than just that. The most highlighting point in the movie is the cinematography. The battle where Akbar is crowned as the Hrithik and Ashwariya do complete justice to the characters. Though Hrithik brings in a modern touch with the romantic scenes, specially when Akbar goes to bring Jodha back, his action scenes are sure to take your breathe away. Ashwariya blends in the perfect touch of attitude and grace. Big B re creates magic with his voice over. Ila Arun’s negative shades are very well highlighted. Sonu Sood delivers a brilliant performance as well. Leaving apart the historical loop holes, over all Jodhaa Akbar is a movie with flawless technicalities and a breathe taking cinematography. Though the movie might work 50-50 in the international markets due to the time frame, but the movie’s a must watch to know what the real India was all about. 
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Ashutosh Gowarikar hits a Sixer with Jodha Akbhar
'Jodhaa Akbar' screening disrupted in Gurgaon multiplex
A group of over 150 people tried to disrupt the screening of Ashutosh Gowariker's just released epic romance 'Jodhaa Akbar' at a multiplex here, shouting slogans against the film and tearing down posters.
The protesters gathered outside the PVR multiplex in Gurgaon's Metropolitan Mall, demanding that screening be halted.
The theatre stopped screening the movie for 5-10 minutes when the unruly crowd tried to get into the hall, said Satish Balan, deputy commissioner of police (Gurgaon East).
'They gathered around the mall at about 1 p.m. and wanted to stop the screening of the film. They resorted to slogan shouting. We persuaded them to go back and the screening was later resumed,' Balan told IANS.
'There was no need of any arrests. The situation was amicably handled,' he said, adding that security has been beefed up around PVR after the protests.
The police said the protesters, mainly from the Kshatriya (Rajput) community, were against the film because they feel Gowariker has distorted historical facts.
Starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai, the three-hour, 20 minute movie was released in 26 countries Friday, but banned in Rajasthan. The Karni Sena there has been spearheading a campaign against the film for quite sometime.
The community says Gowariker is presenting Jodha Bai as Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Akbar's wife, which is factually incorrect.
According to them, Jodha Bai was not the daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber as shown in the film. The princess was the daughter of Motaraja Udai Singh of Marwar and she was married to Akbar's son Salim alias Jehangir. And Mughal king Shahjahan was her son.
The Rs.400 million movie, produced by UTV Motion Pictures and Gowariker, sparked protests in Patna and Ahmedabad too.
While Pratap Sena, a small Rajput organisation, vandalised a theatre in Ahmedabad, Kshatriya Sena activists protested the screening of the film and pulled out posters at Ashok cinema hall in Patna.
Besides, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal are also up in arms against 'Jodhaa Akbar' as they feel it has 'objectionable dialogues' that hurt Hindu sentiments. They have threatened to launch a nation-wide agitation against the movie if these scenes are not removed.
The controversy notwithstanding, the film's box office performance is satisfactory, says Ashish Saxena of PVR Cinemas.
'Lot of clarity about the film's performance will come tomorrow, but the weekend was fantastic,' Saxena said
Aishwarya, Hrithik upbeat about 'Jodhaa Akbar'
'Jodhaa Akbar' lead pair Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan are optimistic that the historical romance will do well and the controversy over distortion of facts would disappear once people go to watch the film.
Both stars were in this suburb near the national capital Friday evening for the premiere of director Ashutosh Gowariker's film.
Rubbishing any controversy, an upbeat Hrithik told reporters: 'I just want everyone to relax, munch popcorn and enjoy the film. There is no controversy!'
Aishwarya, who was accompanied by husband Abhishek Bachchan, said: 'Ashutosh (Gowariker) comes for a couple of minutes in the beginning of the film and clarifies that the character (Jodhaa) is documented under five different names. Among them, Jodhaa is most popular name and hence the director used it so people can relate to the character.'
'After the audience watches the film they will understand and the row over distortion of facts will fade away,' she added.
The Karni Sena, a Rajput organisation, is protesting against screening of the film as they claim Gowariker's representation of Jodhabai as Mughal emperor Akbar's wife is incorrect.
The community claims Jodhabai was not the daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber as portrayed in the film, but the daughter of Motaraja Udai Singh of Marwar. They say she was married to Akbar's son Salim alias Jehangir. And Mughal king Shahjahan was her son.
The film was not screened Friday in Rajasthan following protests by the Karni Sena.