hey pplJodha Akbar is a good movie that deserves a four star rating. Go watch the movie if you love either of these: beautiful jewelry, wonderful sets, an almost mills and boons hsitorical romance and HRITHIK. Believe me he looks yum.

The first star would be Aishwarya Rai. She looks ravishing. Must be the first actress who expresses better with her mannerisms and eyes than dialogues. Thank goodness Gowarkier has ensured that it is her swords/eyes/mannerisms that do most of the talking- masterstroke ;)

A bigger star in my opinion is the artwork- the detailing from sets of Agra Fort to fight seqences is superb. There are flaws like how come the king"s abode is almost a tent while the new queen gets palacial rooms?? But you will never bother about it- the way the movie is mounted, its grand and beautifully grand. The jewelry is amazing! All women out there you can watch it for the sake of  jewelry Aishwarya gets to wear. Kundan, loads of it with alongside emeralds and rubies is the color palette. Clothes, fabrics all look good. Neeta Lulla has done a good job. In fact a word on Ila Arun- she looks so different without her usual clutter that it takes a moment to recognize her. This must count as a pathbreaking role for her and she looks menacing without the makeup.

An even bigger star is Hrithik Roshan. I was among the doubters before I saw it for myself. Hrithik was always too polished and easygoing to be the formidable Akbar. But he does well. He looks YUM, acts well and..what else do you need?? The topless scene where he is showing off his sword fighting skills and muscled body to his new bride is worth the ticket. His urdu is clipped but then who needs a poetic Akbar?? His mannerisms nearly befit a king, he flounders in very few sequences and that is pardonable. Though Aishwarya has an author backed role, Hrithik steals the show with his sheer hard work.

The biggest star in all this should be Ashutosh Gowariker. There was so much that could have gone wrong with the movie- scale, bad acting, pace etc buit he has held it together. He is said to be a team man who can extract the best out of people and it shows. There is everything from emotional drama, political intrigue to a sweet romance in the movie and nowhere does the director let the script down. It is always the side characters that make a film on this scale interesting and by populating the canvas with the likes of Ila Arun, Raza Murad and Kulbhushan Kharbanda the movie becomes interesting.

Now the star that is missing. Well its in the scripts, screenplay, story - the stroy is fictionalised history as Amitabh"s baritone informs at the beginning. Though there is enough masala in the script with the romance running right through it could have been great had there been a depth of thinking behind what was being said. There are so many times that you feel let down by the script. When Jodha"s bhajan interrupts the council"s meeting expressing dissent over her religious freedom one expected Akbar to come back and make a statement or effect a closure in some other way- never happens. Even before, how does the maharaja think of marrying Jodha to the emperor?? It wouldnt have been so easy for him but that is never explained. The fight sequences lack any strategic comment which makes it tough to belive that an emperor was fighting battles without strategy??
Some of the sequences are good- the one where jodha cooks and then is forced to taste the food before the emperor can eat it and he eats from the same platter. It drew a lot of applause from both men and women. Akbar"s favorite solution for overbearing advisors is to send them on pilgrimage, after a time it becomes funny.

The movie is money"s worth and every inch of the 72 mm it fills.