What could have been an epic, has turned out to be a ‘test-your-patience’ movie.
Jodha-Akbar had everything going for it - big budget, good director, popular starcast, and great publicity. But in the middle of all this, they forgot to add a gripping storyline and maybe ran out of budget to hire an editor. The film is so long that at times you think that you are watching an unedited version. One of my friends actually left the theatre during intermission! How can I forget the love song between Hrithik and Aish - it was dragging so much that people actually started yawning (if they hadn’t already done so)!
So, is the movie really bad? No. The first 45 mins or so are the highlight of the film. As the characters are being introduced, the movie moves on at a decent pace. Nice fight sequences and no songs are the mainstay during this time.
Hrithik made a very good attempt, but he didn’t ’sound’ like a king. Aish did the best she could. In the supporting cast, Ila Arun takes the cake. The actor playing Sharifudin was also good.
At the end of the movie, you feel like ‘Ok, so what was the point? Why did you make this movie?’. The graph and conflicts in the movie are erratic. Hrithik’s bare body scene is great, but doesn’t gel with the story.
Not to be harsh, but it seems like Mr.Gowarikar still has Lagaan hangover - in that he wants to make every film like an epic. With all said and done, I’d still say that you can see that lots of hard work has gone into it.
P.S: Did Raza Murad have a makeup person at all? His beard looked fake from miles ;)