Movie Preview of Akbar Jodha

Jodhaa Akbar - Music Review
Composer: A R Rahman
Label: UTV Music
Rating: 9/10

For those who believe in omens, here is a good one. A R Rahman brings in the new year with some awesome music for Jodhaa Akbar. Now, hopefully, the rest of the composers can keep up.

To say that the music of the film matches the theme and the grandeur of the film would be an understatement. Like his other compositions for Gowarikar, there is a variety in them, and each is as compelling.

In Jashn-e-Baharaa, Jaaved Ali has delivered the song of year. Soft and melliflous, the song stays with you for a long time.

Rahman takes to the microphone for Khwaja Mere Khwaja, a sufi qawwali, that.s at once devotional and soothing. The ease with which Rahman hits the high notes gives the whole song an exalted feel.

Mann Mohana is again a devotional song, sung by beautifully by Bela Shende. Javed Akhtar.s lyrics are complete mastery, while Shende.s voice leaves one with the memory of Chitra in her numerous renditions for Rahman

Inn Lamho ke Daaman mein sees Sonu Nigam and Madhushree excelling in a song that demands restraint and passion. Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshah is a paean to an emperor, and every bit as regal.

The instrumentals are in keeping with Rahman.s class. A wholesome experience, this.

Akbar-Jodha is a forthcoming film, currently in production, being directed by well-known and critically acclaimed director Ashutosh Gowariker starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai in lead roles. The movie is a huge historical epic about the romance between Mughal king Akbar, played by Hrithik Roshan and his Rajput wife, Jodha Bhai, played by Aishwarya Rai. The movie is said to be a romantic musical. The movie is currently in production and is said to commence shooting in April 2006.

Jodha 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 Godavari 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 love hidden deep below resentment and extreme prejudice.

Jodhaa Akbar is their untold love story.

Trivia:
• There are twelve songs in the movie composed by A.R. Rahman.
• Ashutosh Gowariker is hiring a research team of historians and scholars from New Delhi, Lucknow, Agra and Jaipur to guide him on this film.
• Salman Khan was considered for the role of Emperor Akbar.
• Was earlier titled Jodha-Akbar.