Covering Bollywood and the Hindi Cinema

NY Times reviews the epical Jodhaa Akbar and finds the lead pair “wooden”. Not only that but the reviewer also has a problem with the length of the film. While liking the actors may be entirely subjective, I never understood why the length of a Bollywood film is such an issue. Bollywood films have their own pacing and style hence following western cinematic norms to please the Non-Asian audience isn’t what our directors need to aspire for!

Anyways here is the review for your reading and feel free to agree or disagree:

They may not make ’em like they used to in Hollywood, but sometimes in India they still do. “Jodhaa Akbar,” a historical romance directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, is filmmaking on the grand scale of Cecil B. DeMille, with romance, stirring battles, a cast of thousands and enough elephants and gold to sink the Titanic.

With so much attention focused on Islamic extremism, now seems an apt time for a movie about Akbar, the 16th-century Muslim emperor in India, whose legacy is one of enlightened rule and almost radical religious tolerance. “Jodhaa Akbar” begins before all that, when the young Akbar is still busy expanding the Mughal empire. This gives Mr. Gowariker a chance for some cinematic derring-do — in one spectacular shot the camera rushes back to avoid being trampled by two armies — and to show the seeds of what made Akbar one of history’s good guys. He fights with purpose (to consolidate Hindustan) but not without mercy.

The battles, though, are really a windup to the love story that propels the film. Forging a political alliance, Akbar marries Jodhaa, a Rajput princess (a Hindu), and then sets out to win her heart. These royals are played by Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, two rather astonishing specimens of human beauty. Neither is a great actor, but both know what’s required of a star and seem to the palace born.
Ms. Bachchan makes Jodhaa’s willfulness a sign of character, especially when she lays down the conditions for her marriage: She will remain a Hindu and would like a small temple for her Krishna statue in the Mughal fort. As Akbar, the green-eyed Mr. Roshan, a charter member of the Bollywood six-pack-abs club, has the bearing of a king, yet can seem a little blank when not in motion, fighting enemies or stripped to the waist taming wild elephants (just a hobby).

At — fair warning — three and a half hours, the film is too long. The court intrigues and counterintrigues can seem rote, and Akbar remains a bit of a cipher. Still, even the dramatically slack parts will probably hold your attention. Mr. Gowariker and his cinematographer, Kiiran Deohans, fill their frames with beautiful palaces and scenery, and the film bounces along to a memorable score by A. R. Rahman. (I’m still humming the songs.)

Mr. Gowariker’s “Lagaan” (2001), a classic root-for-the-underdog story, was one of the rare Bollywood movies to attract a non-South-Asian audience. “Jodhaa” may lack that film’s populist appeal but it shares its sense of national purpose and could just as easily have borne its subtitle: “Once Upon a Time in India.”