Ashutosh Gowarikar has maintained the consistency of directing films laoded with great casting,soulful music and great performances by the cast, especially hrithik, who stuns you with his flawless diction and persona as does the ever graceful and dignified aishwarya rai...
however, apart from the length and pace of the film which tends to drag at times, its neeta lulla who has marred the otherwise simply yet stylishly created film...
her outfits for jodha are pathetic... they are as ordinarily done as a balaji set-up would have.. the colors were resticted to orange, and yellow mainly ... as a rajput princess, they would have done well to show her in typical rajasthani work, in a myriad of colors,bright fuschias and mauves, reds and blues and creams....sadly, her make-up too made her look pale and washed out.... the costumes in general were a let-down.... if compared to a PAHELI, in which each junior artiste was also very correctly dressed, right down to the right embellishment... which is what makes the film watchable- vivid colors, brightness,transporting one to the era rightaway.
Even the sets, were totally lack lustre.... the mughal architecture and feel were missing... there was no art of that era, no pots or urns or wall murals that are so typically mughal.... poor lighting mars half the visuals and whoever heard of a meeting betwwen kings of several states seated on a simple yellow rug ... the least they could have done was to decorate the tent with lamps and engraved poles and mirrors...however nowhere was there any evidence... it isnt just the language.. which is where sanjay leela bhansali scores depite a weak script. His films create a visual that is easily one that makes you believe in the story...
sometimes its just a certain scenery, a shot with even a bejwelled hand feeding a pigeon that can say a lot about the story....
in case of a historical, no amount of research can make up for the staid sets and costumes....
neeta lulla needs to give up designing , especially for the gorgeous Ash ..she makes her look shabby and unnecessarily made up...
akbars' mother, essayed by mrs.poonam sinha was dismal to say the least. The lady was expressionless.
All in all, a visual disappointment...
mr.gowarikar could have focussed more on the intricacies of the relationship between jodha and akbar... a few more scenes involving their own private moments....
