To mark the official launch of Yahoo! India Movies portal, all Y! india employees were sponsored with the movie tickets to watch ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ - historical epic by Ashutosh Gowarikar. Watching such a well publicized movie on the very first day that too at PVR Cinema is certainly a welcome move for all the Yahoos after an eventful and stormy week at work. 
We were given tickets for the movie on friday morning around 11am, we had the choice of opting to watch either 6:10 pm or 10pm show. Both the shows were completely reserved for Yahoos. Most of us were standing in the long Q’s to collect the movie tickets and to register for the transport to reach home back after the movie, you can see the inline pics of the same.
Now, the movie review. Jodha Akbar could alternatively have been titled as a Royal love story. It’s the story of a princess who taught an emperor how to rule the hearts of his subjects. And an emperor, who had to fight his way through uprisings and plots to win the heart of his beloved wife. Jodha Akbar is such an engaging film that only after credit roll appears on the screen you realize that it’s three and a half hours long. During these three and a half hours what you see is mind blowing: grand sets, magnificent war scenes, spectacular sword duets. To add to the irony, one of my colleague told me that she was completely lost in watching the Rajput style of golden ornaments in the movie. Jodha Akbar might not be strictly based on history, it’s comes off rather as a folk-lore. However, the director’s care for details is exemplary. Take this one: Akbar visits the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer. Dargah is shown as a modest and austere place without the grand mosque that stands there today. This mosque was build by Akbar’s grandson Emperor Shah Jahan.
If epic sagas are about spectacular sets, grand fights, duets this one is at par with the greatest in the world. Look at this scene: Jodha’s father Raja Bharmal, visits to meet the Emperor Akbar for the first time and where he finds him: fighting with an elephant. The duet scene was breath-takingly filmed. We’ve seen “heros” reining in rowdy horses, fighting with tigers but this is a fresh royal touch. Though, it looks completely believable but it’s also little funny. Film has a couple of unintended comical moments as well. Look at this one: Emperor is having a darbar where clerics are unhappy at the fact that Jodha has been allowed to set up a temple within the premises of Mughal fort. However, in the middle of the royal court proceedings, we hear the resounding voice of Jodha singing manmohana…and the Emperor as if dumbstruck gets up and starts walking almost in a state of trance to his beloved. His similar walk at Ajmer that ends into swirling and dancing with the sufis again turns out to be little funny.
The film has great production values, magnificent cinematography, soulful music and background score and superb action scenes keep you stunned and immersed in the narrative. Jodha Akbra is a magnificent film for those, who want to see a great piece of period drama but if your expectations are far greater, if you’re looking for the emotional journey of the great emperor, your thirst might be left unquenched. Certainly this movie is a lot different from contemporary bollywood movies. While retuning back to home, we had a sound laughter all the way talking about this movie. This is the third movie sponsored by Yahoo! for me, Casino Royale and Spiderman part 3 were the other movies before this Jodhaa Akbar!
Taare Zameen Par is the movie that I selected to watch this weekend. It’s been less than a couple of hours since I saw this movie and couldn’t resist from blogging about it. Not sure if I would be able to express myself fully because I’m blogging about a masterpiece of an excellent movie that I have seen in the recent past. ‘Taare zameen par’ is the only movie that touched my heart after a telugu movie ‘Raja’.
Taare Zameen Par, which translates to ‘stars on the ground’, is a story about a slow learner, a dyslexic child living in modern India. Actor/director Aamir Khan nicely portrays the web of ignorance around the mainstream Indian parents, their obsession with ‘toppers’, high scorers and the Indian education system which strives to satisfy this obsession by way of rote and punishment. Caught in this web is a child, who doesn’t understand why he can’t get along with others.
This movie is definitely required for the present scenario in our country. The academic scene is extremely competitive and parents and teachers alike pressurize children to do better than their best. Parents expect superlative performances in all fields-studies, sports, music, dance and other activities which are supposedly hobbies like art, craft, drawing, etc., Even hobbies are chosen with a view to enhance academic performance. In this kind of stressful situation a child who is unable to perform feels like a fish out of water. This is the subject around which the movie revolves. I am not going to write move about the movie here. The intent is that one should watch the movie to get the gist of it in a better way than by just reading my few lines here. Go watch the movie.
I couldn’t stop tears rolling down my cheeks at many instances (especially for the title song and ‘maa’ song). May be that I am too overwhelmed by characters in the movie and the sequence in which they are captured. Bet, you can’t stop expressing yourself through tears while watching this movie! Unlike other Indian movies, you get to witness a genuine issue that kids in the modern world are facing. This movie is not for those who wish to see a routine fighting, romance, item songs etc., watch it for the lack of melodrama. Watch it for the performances and for the sheer genuineness that the film makers try to show!
Hopefully, this is a new way to see the children’ world and give some fresh outlook to understand their problems. The message that I got from the movie is that parents and teachers should seek first to understand rather than to be understood while interacting with children. All those parents who are under the impression that they are ‘helping’ their children do better should watch this movie. Hats off to the ‘Taare Zameen Par’ team for having given a path breaking film of a lifetime!
