Customer Reviews

Jodhaa Akbar (Bollywood Movie / Indian Cinema / Hindi Film Blu ray DVD) [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

This film is outstanding. Historical accuracies aside, this movie has an amazing message. It is such a beautiful story. It is also the biggest bollywood movie I have ever seen, with thousands of extras in some scenes. The costumes and set design are absolutely stunning and look phenomenal on the big screen.

The dvd however is a complete flop. It is not even anamorphic widescreen. When it is stretched to fill your widescreen tv, the picture becomes heavily pixelated, and the subtitles get cut off!! I'm hoping that UTV will correct this issue, and hopefully in the future, release this film on Blu-ray.

This version is missing about 30 minutes and one song from the movie (as shown in the theatres).

Somehow the studio (accidentally or maybe deliberately) messed up with the 'pre-release dvd' version of this movie (as the actual release date is 28/04/08) and the bad version of this dvd has propagated throughout.

Really don't waste your time with these pirated DVDs.

Those who say they did not find parts missing clearly did not see this movie in theatres!

The movie is great; but, this DVD is very bad!

The file is outstanding. One of the best from Bollywood. Super Direction by Ashutosh, terrific acting by Aishwarya and Hrithik. Can be compared with Hollywood's Ten Commandments or Cleopatra. But this is the worst quality of DVD I have ever seen. The packing looks nice because of the colorful pictures and art work but the material used is cheap. I wish Ashutosh Govariker had chosen company like Yashraj Films to release the DVD. The Film is divided on 2 DVDs. When you load the 2nd DVD for the 2nd half of the film you have to go through UTV's stupid senseless startup routine! (Logo, menu etc.) This breaks the charm and continuity of the film. But its UTV. They will never care to check how such 2 DVD films are released in Hollywood!

Customer complaints dated before August 2008 pertain to a 200 minute, one-disc version released by Dancing Dolphin, LLC.

Buy the three-disc Collectors' Edition released by Utv instead.
Running time is 209 minutes in Widescreen NTSC format. English and Arabic subtitles are available even for the songs. The picture and sound are spectacular.

Watching this instant masterpiece from India, its unbelievable that the world has yet to take note of the industrys' obvious genius. "Jodhaa Akbar", a 3.5 hour long epic that works both as a love story, as well as a religious tolerance message, is prime example of how Bollywood is infinitely more creative, colorful and luminous than Hollywood. The film takes us back to the times when movies like "Gone with the Wind" were made - but with better looking actors, better music, better direction, and a budget that could sink the Titanic.

My favorite thing about this movie is Aishwarya Rai (now Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan). This is an actress who starred in this decades' best Hindi film thus far ("Devdas"), and also headlined the best Bengali film of the decade (the underrated "Chokher Bali"). I saw it for her, and rediscovered the worlds' most beautiful woman. Seriously, is she even human? Aishwarya is beyond a perfect being - its as if the heavens and the stars and some alien DNA all combined to create one spectacular vision. Take it from me - no human woman, before or after, will ever look as good as Aishwarya does in this film. And re-reading that line, Im afraid it still doesn't do justice to her unsurpassed beauty. Indian women are where its at.

Hrithik Roshan plays the King Akbar, but I found much to like about this otherwise wooden actor. The film has a few scenes that stand out way after the movie is over, and if you're into researching and studying film as a passion or a hobby, this movie is tailormade to cater to your sensibilities. Despite both actors being in their mid-30s, their unique love story burns with the incandescence of a teenage romance. The director is especially successful in providing different shades to the character of Jodhaa - Aishwarya goes from warrior princess who excels at sword-fighting, to a bhajan-singing housewife - all within an hour. The scene where she faces off with her mother in law over who rules the kitchen (and thus the heart of her man) is my special favorite.

Ultimately, the film succeeds for me because its not frivolous. It would have been so easy to make a beautiful looking movie and doll it up, but this one actually has a message. However, if you're not Indian and you're reading this review, the magnitude of the films' message would perhaps be lost upon you. The fact that a conservative Hindu princess entered a completely Muslim household almost 500 years ago is utterly fascinating. How did she survive there? Did they try to convert her to Islam? The movie addresses all this. I loved how the Jodhaa character refuses to accept Islam as her own religion, though she respects it from afar. The couple get married with Hindu and Muslim rites, one after the other, and the story chronicles how the fact that they came from two different religions had nothing to do with what they felt for each other.

The music - well, this soundtrack admittedly has no standout tracks upon first listen, and you simply have to watch the film to appreciate the album. Its mood music, and Rahman has done a wonderful job at it. The track where Jodhaa and Akbar consummate their marriage is unique and touching, primarily because of the way its shot. Gowariker, as ever the perfectionist extracts nuanced performances from all concerned. But the film belongs ultimately to Aishwarya Rai, who proves beyond a doubt that she is the most luminous actress on screen in any part of the world. Yes, she isn't a seasoned actress like Meryl Streep, but look at her. What eyes! What lips! What a fascinating specimen of how incredible human genes can be! Her role as Jodhaa propelled her, in my mind, to the very top of the list of actresses in the world today who are actually worth watching.

A five star epic? Yes. Its not better than other Indian classics such as "Mughal E Azam", but this is easily the best film India has released in the last twenty years. I highly suggest you track this down and watch it on the big screen while you can, because its worth every second of it. I'll certainly be buying the DVD as well as the CD - this is a film to watch with your family - and put it on repeat. A modern masterpiece.

I watched this movie twice and I am still telling people about it. The charm of this movie doesn't leave one's mind. I found part of its appeal in that they didn't dwell on the fighting that was going on during that period. They showed some and enough to show the Emperor's good judgment as far as dealing with his subjects and especially those he had conquered. It was refreshing to see his religious tolerance and respect for his new wife. The fact that he abided with her wishes concerning her faith made his views far before his time. I know there were inaccuracies as far as historically but it was not a documentary.

I was awestruck watching this movie. The acting was outstanding on the level of Best Actor for Roshon. As a lay person I would not notice technical things but the overall scope of the film. It was lavish and gave a good idea of what life was like in that time and place as far as the cultural differences and the political intrigue. I have nothing but raves for this movie and any criticism for it would be by someone who would never appreciate a movie of this type in the first place.

There have been many comments about the lackluster quality of the DVD, and so my review shall focus on the movie itself [with the hope that all the flaws of the DVD shall be addressed in future DVD releases of this amazing movie].

The film "Jodhaa Akbar" is an ambitious project even by Bollywood standards, for historical and period movies are quite hard to pull off and draw the masses. However, "Jodhaa Akbar" is one of the rare exceptions - even at more than 3 hrs in length, the story unfolds in such a manner as to draw in and engage the viewer's attention, with most of the movie focusing on the evolving relationship between Emperor Akbar and his consort Jodhaa Bai. The storyline is based on a little known story in history, that of Muslim Akbar's marriage and relationship with the Hindu-born Princess Jodhaa. The time period is sometime in the 16th century, where Emperor Akbar [Hrithik Roshan] marries a Hindu Rajput princess, Jodhaa [Aishwarya Rai]in order to cement an alliance between the Muslim Mughals and the Hindus. As the daughter of King Bharmal of Amer [Kulbushan Kharbanda], the strong-willed Jodhaa refuses to go meekly to her fate, and demands that Akbar agree to two wishes before agreeing to the marriage, one that she be allowed to keep her Hindu religion and not be forced to convert [in Islam, marriage between a Muslim and non-Muslim requires the non-Muslim to convert in order for the marriage to be considered legal], and second, that she be allowed to erect a shrine in her quarters dedicated to Lord Krishna. Akbar agrees, but is later frustrated when his attempts at intimacy are rebuffed by Jodhaa, who wishes for more time to get to know her new husband.

Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai credibly portray the royal couple who try to adapt to each other's customs and give and take, even though it is Jodhaa who is most put upon, considering she has to leave her family and friends behind for a strange new life in a Mughal palace, and where she is welcomed by new friends [Akbar's birth mother] and rebuffed by foes [Akbar's wet nurse and Minister in his goverment, a bitter old woman who is very antagonistic towards Jodhaa]. Akbar, as portrayed by Hrithik Roshan, comes across as a visionary leader before his time, who sets an admirable example by marriage, in order to bridge the chasm between the Muslims and Hindus in India. His style of governance is firm, yet incredibly tolerant, and he deals with his opponents in a fair and just manner.

Aishwarya Rai's Jodhaa is luminously beautiful [and honestly, I can't imagine any other contemporary Bollywood actress portraying this role]. She comes across as fiery and gentle, a contradiction of sorts, yet her facial expressions and mannerisms effectively portray the thawing in her feelings towards her powerful and equally determined spouse. What starts off as a purely political alliance and marriage of convenience slowly evolves into a true marriage based upon love, tolerance and compromise. One of the most powerful scenes in this movie [and there are many such dramatic scenes that pack an emotional punch] is the sword duel between a thinly-disguised Jodhaa and Akbar. Their chemistry is so palpable that one ceases to remember that these are two actors playing roles in a movie.

Besides the credible acting by the two leads, there are many other strengths in this movie, most notably the beautiful cinematography and the stirring music [unlike many Bollywood productions, the songs here do not interfere with the plot]. One of my favorite song sequences in this movie is the one that has the Sufi master singing praises, complemented by a Sufi dance performance. Akbar joins in, portraying his own spiritual release and this comes across so beautifully in showing the deeply spiritual aspect of Akbar's character.

The gorgeous costumes and jewelry are additional eye candy, as are the beautiful and authentic looking sets. All in all, "Jodhaa Akbar" delivers all that one could expect from a historical period drama - the casting is excellent, and the direction assured. Highly recommended!

This DVD is a pirated version of the movie. We saw the movie in theaters and it is an AMAZING movie. We highly recommend everyone to see it in theaters or wait for the official DVD set to be released. This DVD is missing portions of the movie, the sub-titles are either wrong, make no sense, or are missing all together.
Do yourself a favor, and wait until the official copy comes out. The sub-titles are so bad that in some scenes it completely changes the tone of the movie.
Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai are wonderful in this movie. Seeing this movie is a MUST but not this version of it.
We will be first in line to buy the official DVD when it releases.

This is an illegal pirate DVD that should not be on Amazon at all. The film just released and there is no legal DVD for many weeks.
This product must be taken down from Amazon and the seller banned from the site!

I WAS A LITTLE WARY ABOUT BUYING THIS MOVIE-NOT BECAUSE OF THE CONTENT, BUT BECAUSE A NUMBER OF REVIEWS HAD SAID THE DVD FORMAT WASN'T UP TO SNUFF AND THE SUBTITLES WERE HARD TO READ. NONE OF THAT WAS TRUE. THE DVD"S WERE TOP GRADE AS WERE THE RECORDINGS AND THE SUBTITLES WERE THE BEST I"VE EVER SEEN. THE STORY IS FASCINATING AND THE FILMING BREATHTAKING. IT RIVALS THE THE TOP 10 CLASSICS OF ALL TIME, AND I FELT LIKE I WAS BACK THERE EXPERIENCING IT--EVEN HAVING TO READ SUBTITLES DID NOT DISTRACT FROM THE EXPERIENCE. IT WAS LONG, BUT THAT WAS A GOOD THING BECAUSE IT WAS SUCH A PLEASURABLE EXPERIENCE. VIVA LA BOLLYWOOD!!!