With their ethnically indeterminate looks and impeccable English, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan could be India’s first international movie stars, writes Anupama Chopra in The New York Times:
[Photo: Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Bachchan in Jodhaa Akbar]
Last October Aishwarya Bachchan grappled with a tough choice. The Bollywood star could either stay in Los Angeles to pursue a lead role in Will Smith’s new film, “Seven Pounds,” or she could return home to Mumbai to celebrate Karva Chauth, a daylong ceremonial fast that some married Hindu women observe as a prayer for their husband’s health and long life. (The observance is a new one for Ms. Bachchan; in April she married Abhishek Bachchan, an actor and the son of the Indian film star Amitabh Bachchan, a union that prompted Time magazine to describe the three as “Bollywood’s Father, Son and Holy Babe.”)
Ultimately Ms. Bachchan chose to return to Mumbai and starve with a smile. National television channels covered her first Karva Chauth as headline news. Two months later she shrugged off her loss in an interview. “You do what you have to do,” she said. “Feeling torn and thereby unhappy, confused or guilty is not something I want to feel. So you make your choices and go with it. You get some and some you don’t.”
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Pratap Bhanu Mehta in The Indian Express says some Supreme Court orders are inimical to liberal values
All due respect to the Supreme Court, it is now fair to say that unwittingly some of its orders are giving aid and succour to all those tendencies that are out to subvert liberal values in this country. For the second time in less than a year, the Supreme Court has passed an order that should send a shiver down the spines of all those who care about freedom and the possibility of open-minded scholarship. In an order passed in the context of a Special Leave Petition 8931, the Supreme Court has suggested that “after hearing the learned counsel for parties at some length we feel that if Paras 2,5,7 and 8, of the Schedule are omitted, interest of justice would be best served.” The court clarifies that this suggestion shall “not in any way affect the merits of the issue involved,” which shall be examined after the response of “respondent no 4” is received.
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As protests against Jodhaa Akbar spread across the country, Rajeev Masand interviews Aishwariya Rai Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan and Ashutosh Gowariker on CNN-IBN:
Rajeev Masand: Let me begin with Ashutosh. The idea of this film has been with you for four years, from the time you wanted to tell the story to the release of the film. How has it been?
Ashutosh Gowarikar: The story first came to me way back in 2002 but when I heard it I realised it needs a lot of preparation. So, I thought let me finish Swades and then Haider Ali (the writer of the Jodhaa Akbar) and I worked on the movie.
Rajeev Masand: What was it about the story that made you say yes to it?
Hrithik Roshan: That is an interesting story by itself. The drama was told to me as if it was a contemporary corporate world empire and alliance kind of film. So, that was the way he (Ashutosh) sold it to me. And he did that to make sure that I react to the drama and content of the film. He didn’t want me to get enticed by the decorative aspects of a period film.
Aishwarya Rai: It wasn’t about what the film was going to be set against – not about costume, jewellery and palaces.
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Bijoy Bharathan in The Asian Age:
Jodhaa Akbar, Ashutosh Gowariker’s big-screen adaptation of the love story that blossomed from the relationship between one of India’s greatest Mughal emperors -Akbar and his beloved wife Jodhaa — has now sparked a renewed interest in the history of the Mughal period. But really, who was Jodhaa? And how instrumental was she in shaping the destiny of this nation? Did she even exist in the first place or was she just the figment of a collective imagination spawned through centuries-old folklore?
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Vir Sanghvi in the Hindustan Times on the recent Jodhaa Akbar and Rani of Jhansi controversies says it’s almost impossible to deal creatively with a historical account without stirring up a storm
Such is the the climate of intolerance in today’s India that it is almost impossible to write a book or make a movie without having to cope with a mob of protestors who claim that you have offended their caste/community/religion/region/city/grandparents/favourite pets.
Two such protests erupted last week. The first, and more publicised, of the rows related to Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar which is still to be released in Rajasthan because of fears that so-called Rajput organisations will vandalise cinema halls where it is shown. The second, and less known, relates to Rani, a fictionalised biography of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi by the well known author Jaishree Mishra. Apparently the book is insufficiently respectful to the late queen and the Mayawati government has assured the protestors that it will be banned in Uttar Pradesh. Both protests raise several issues which have been insufficiently addressed so far. Here are some of my concerns:
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Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Jodhaa Akbar opens to favourable reviews after weeks of controversy surrounding its historical authenticity and a boycott in theatres across Rajasthan. Sundeep Mann in Passion for Cinema comes away believing he has just watched a classic
It’s been a long time since I have walked out of the cinema hall with a feeling of equanimity and the asseveration of having just witnessed a film that will go down in history as a classic. The last time I was overcome by such a feeling was with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s poetic Saawariya, a film that many people rejected for its folklore style.
Jodha Akbar rekindled my faith in why Hindi cinema is the greatest entertainer in the glimmering world of movie lights, for it could only be the Hindi film industry that could conceive such a monopolizing oeuvre.
Set in the 16th century, Jodha Akbar is a sumptuous saga of romance which blossoms under the schismatic setting of political astriction during the Mughal era.
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Trade circles, however, have been less than enthused as the film opens well below expectation in India, reports Ibos Network
If controversies are expected to boost a film’s initial, that hasn’t happened in regards to the advance booking of Jodha Akbar. Though the film is expected to open better overseas, the Friday advance opening of ‘biggest film of the year’ in India is well below expectations. Chennai is at 85% which is good but not record-breaking. Delhi is hovering around 65%. Bombay is trailing at 60% and Calcutta follows even tad below. Indore is around the 60% mark. Centers across Rajasthan are of course 0% because they aren’t even letting the movie open there. The figures are mostly off single screen theatres as most multiplex chains nationally have bypassed the film till now.
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Controversy and Bollywood’s versions of history seem to go hand in hand, writes Tehelka’s Himanshu Bhagat. The latest casuality seems to be Ashutosh Gowarkikar’s about-to-be-released film, Jodhaa Akbar.
WHEN K ASIF made Mughal-e- Azam in 1960, he adhered to popular folklore and showed Jodha Bai as the Rajput queen of the Mughal emperor Akbar. There was no controversy. Asif’s tale of forbidden love between Akbar’s son Prince Salim and the courtesan Anarkali became a huge hit. Perhaps people were too busy humming “Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya” to notice any historical inaccuracies. Or they just didn’t care. Almost fifty years later, as Ashutosh Gowariker is set to release Jodhaa Akbar, a tale of love between Akbar and Jodha Bai, played by Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai, a section of Rajputs in Rajasthan has protested that the film is historically inaccurate and threatened to block its screening in the state.
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