Jodhaa Akbar (2008)

A sixteenth century love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodha.

Director:

Ashutosh Gowariker

Writers:

Haidar Ali (story), Haidar Ali (screenplay),

Stars:

Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sonu Sood

22 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hrithik Roshan	...	Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan	...	Jodhaa Bai
Sonu Sood	...	Sujamal
Poonam Sinha	...	Mallika Hamida Banu (as Mrs. Punam S. Sinha)
Suhasini Mulay	...	Rani Padmavati
Ila Arun	...	Maham Anga
Raza Murad	...	Shamsuddin Atka Khan
Kulbhushan Kharbanda	...	Raja Veer Bharmal
Surendra Pal	...	Rana Uday Singh
Rajesh Vivek	...	Chughtai Khan
Pramod Moutho	...	Todar Mal (as Pramod Muthu)
Vishwa S. Badola	...	Saadir Adaasi (as Vishwa Badola)
Manava Naik	...	Neelakshi
Disha Vakani	...	Madhavi
Dilnaz Irani	...	Salima

Storyline

Jodhaa Akbar is a sixteenth century love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal Emperor, Akbar and a Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Politically, success knew no bounds for Emperor Akbar, After having secured the Hindu Kush, he furthered his realm by conquest until his empire extended from Afghanistan to the Bay of Bengal, and from the Himalayas to the Godhavari River. Through a shrewd blend of tolerance, generosity and force, Akbar won the allegiance of the Rajputs, the most belligerent Hindus. But little did Akbar know that when he married Jodhaa, a fiery Rajput princess, in order to further strengthen his relations with the Rajputs, he would in turn be embarking upon a new journey - the journey of true love. The daughter of King Bharmal of Amer, Jodhaa resented being reduced to a mere political pawn in this marriage of alliance, and Akbar's biggest challenge now did not merely lie in winning battles, but in winning the love of Jodhaa - a ...

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | rajput | emperor | hindu | princess | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | Musical | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi Urdu

Release Date:

15 February 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jodhaa Akbar - Die Macht der Liebe

Filming Locations:

India

Box Office

Budget:

INR 400,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£365,785 (UK) (15 February 2008)

Gross:

$3,440,718 (USA) (11 April 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ashutosh Gowariker Productions Pvt. Ltd., UTV Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

213 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ashutosh Gowariker hired a research team of historians and scholars from Delhi, Lucknow, Agra and Jaipur to guide him on the film.

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Goofs

In the scene where Maham Anga raises the issue of food-testing by the chef, she says to Akbar and the royal courts men... "Khud Jahaanpanah is baat par inkaar-e-harf nahin utha sakte," meaning "The emperor himself doesn't have the privilege/authority to raise objections on this issue." The actual phrase is "Harf-e-Inkaar." Harf meaning letter/word/point and Inkaar meaning "denial/objection." The "E" in such phrases is the Persian/Urdu style of addressing possessive forms of words. The order of the words was erroneously reversed, which changed the meaning of the sentence! Harf-e-Inkaar = Word of objection, Inkaar-e-Harf (wrong!) = Objection of word... (doesn't exist).

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Quotes

Todar Mal: [DVD English subtitles by Nasreen Munni Kabir]
[Akbar and Jodhaa, in private argument]
Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar: I don't understand?
Jodhaa Bai: No, you don't! You know how to wage war and conquer. But do not know how to rule.
Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar: [confused] What did you say?
Jodhaa Bai: That you have only conquered me, but not won my heart yet... you should have at least tried to know what really happened. But the truth is that you are far removed from reality. You do not know how to win hearts. To do that, you need to look into their minds, discover their little ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Jolly LLB (2013)

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Soundtracks

"Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah"
Written by Javed Akhtar
Composed by A.R. Rahman
Performed by Mohamad Aslam, Bonnie Chakraborty and chorus
Courtesy of UTV Music

User Reviews

What Can Be Said? Except Excellent

Swades was released in December 2004 and since then, this project was said to be considered by the director, Ashutosh Gowariker. The director of movies such as "Laagan" and "Swades," has once again left no stones unturned and proved that he is also capable of directing a movie related the colossal personality - Akbar the Great, also known as "Jalaludin Mohammed Akbar." A young Akbar, sets out to conquer Kingdoms and those who don't join him, are brutally executed but after a while he begins to pardon them and that's when many of his opponents begin to realise that they had and have, misunderstood him. One particular Rajput Raja Bharmal, instead of facing the Moghul's mighty army, decides that it would be better that his daughter, Raj Kumari Jodhaa Bai, who is be throned to another Rajput Prince, marries Akbar. The couple do unite in marriage but only after Akbar agrees to the two conditions which the Rajput Princess has put forward. At the same time, he has to win her heart as well as to look after the interest of his public.

Jodhaa Akbar, which stars Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Khulbhushan Kharbanda, Suhasini Mulay, Digvijay Purchit and Punam S. Sinha, is a romantic, biographical and historical movie, which is set in a era of revolt, conspiracies and war. It also deals with intercaste marriage, which at the time was not heard off due to the fact that when the Mughals invaded India, the Rajput Princesses and Queens became Sati when their husbands, the Kings were killed in battle so as not to be captured and, or, forced to live with the Invaders.

Hrithik Roshan, son of the director and producer, Rakesh Roshan and nephew of the music director Rajesh Roshan, was offered this role as the director, Ashutosh Gowariker, who had seen him in "Koi Mil Gaya." believed that he was capable of doing justice to this part and also because of his physique. His natural choice for the lead of "Jodhaa Bai" was Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, not only just because of her beauty but talent as well. He has proved to be correct with the cast - brilliant as they have done justice to their respective parts.

This is a well written story by Haider Ali, and co written, directed and produced by Ashutosh Gowariker, which has gone into great details with research and choosing sites for filming. The cinematography, by Kiran Deohams, is excellent and some cases breath taking. The music, by A.R. Rehman, is pleasant and suits the genre movie and the songs, though a few, are good as well and especially the wedding night song. The costumes and jewellery, which I am sure that a lot of the members of the audience, will be looking out for, designed by the famous Neeta Lulla, is elegant. The stunts and the fight sequences, which are well timed, and though they look dangerous at times, are worthwhile watching. In one scene, where Akbar is seen fighting an elephant, actor Hrithik Roshan did get injured but continued with the filming. His injuries were related to those of when he was filming for "Krissh." But really pushes the fight and stunt sequences, is the special effects by Pankaj Khandpur, which are worth to watch.

Conclusion: This movie has all the ingredients to become a classic, epic movie in the future, even though it is three and a half hours in duration. It is worth it.

For those interested in a bit of gossip. Hrithik Roshan, who has been offered to work in some Hollywood movies, may not have to go over to in at least one of them. The reason being is that actress Penelope Cruz, may be working with him in a yet untitled Bollywood movie, which is said to be directed by his father, Rakesh Roshan. Could it be that this is just the beginning of a merger between Hollywood and Bollywood? I wonder! Elsewhere, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, is soon to be working in a movie with the "Mahatama," Ben Kingsley, with whom she has worked with before, in an English version of "Taj Mahal." It seems like that she can't keep away from the family.