Jodhaa Akbar has been on the verge of release for months. Can we have an official date please? For a film like Jodhaa Akbar work doesn't end with the shooting. To match the sound of a cannon or a bow and arrow, takes time to get pitch perfect. We couldn't keep the October 12 deadline. There was no question of releasing in November and December along with either Om Shanti Om or Taare Zameen Pan I'd assured both Shah Rukh and Aamir that there would be no clash. So it was January 25 till my back injury put us back by another fortnight. Now we're releasing on February 15, for sure. Does the date have a particular significance or is it just the attraction of a Valentine Day's release? February 6 is Akbar and Jodhaa's wedding anniversary That's what the royal family tells us though some historians insist that it's January 14. Were you a history buff in school? I hated history I could never remember dates. The history lessons are catching up with me, first Lagaan, now JodhaaAkbar Why Jodhaa Akbas? I was intrigued by their marriage of convenience. A Hindu Rajput princess and a Mughal emperor entering an alliance for political gain, it's no different from the arranged marriages we have today The movie is supposed to have already crossed the Rs 50 crore ballpark... My wife Sunita is the executive producer After taking sets, locations, costumes, every detail into consideration, she arrived at a figure of Rs 37 crore. We've stretched that to Rs 40 crore. That's the official budget. There will be comparisons with Mughal-eAzam.. I'm prepared for that but honestly there can't be any comparisons. The stories unfold in different periods. Still when you think of Jodhaa and Akbar you think of Durga Khote and Prithviraj Kapoor. Both Prithviraj Kapoor and she were close to 60. Comparing them to Aishwarya and Hrithik is like comparing Ajay Devgan with Bobby Deol or with Sonu Sood because they all played Bhagat Singh. Is Aishwarya's voice being dubbed? Her Urdu diction was suspect in Unfrao Jaan. As a Rajput princess, she's not expected to speak Urdu. Hrithik was the one who had to slog. Apparently, Hrithik wasn't allowed to view his shots on the video monitor. I don't like my actors to keep running back to the video after every shot. It distracts them which is why the monitors are placed a distance away Hrithik made a sarcastic dig at how long the film has taken to wrap up. The battle scenes took some time and dates had to be extended. Still, we wrapped the film in seven months. So what's next? Lagaan was a fantasy, Swades a social drama and Jodhaa Akbar an epic romance. May be something more contemporary I'm tired of scouting for period costumes and properties. . A was produced in 1960 at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore The official budget . or JA is RS 40 crore gggror MA tailors came from Delhi, goldsmiths from Hyderabad, Kolhapur craftsmen for the crowns, ironsmiths from Rajasthan and footwear from Agra in JA over 80 elephants, 100 horses and 55 camels were used

Jodha Akbar : Music Review

AR Rahman: The Maestro

In a world of chaos and endless insanity, there are a few things one wishes always keep coming….

Morning steaming cup of tea and untouched newsprint, the unruffled texture of Scotch, an astonishing book you feel blessed to lay your hands on, good cinema and of course, good music.

They restore your faith in life, in that after all the grilling, you will be treated to your 15 some day. AR Rahman’s music constitutes one of those healers for me. And it not only remains intact in its untainted form, it gets better by the day. Here is one guy who refuses to look back. And thank God for that.

Jodha Akbar is the final period film composition from Rahman, or so we are told. So I would like to give the score what it deserves, an effort to understand it from all possible angles – the conception, the technical specifics of the songs like the instruments used and the journey of the songs. Too bad I am not well endowed with enough resources for accessing all that information but I will try and see if someone can contribute in this effort.

Rahman has been showering us time and again with his prowess on diverse musical forms. From Punjabi Giddha & Bhangra to Gujarati Garbha to Carnatic to Qawwali to Devotional Bhajan to Arabic, he has been a constant teacher opening up these huge floodgates of scintillating music orchestrations and vocal styles, in his Midas touch and a knack for perfection. But one form that has been an undercurrent of all these manifestations is Sufi, a riddle that takes a lifetime to solve.

This mystique Arabic and Sufi air is created by string instruments like The Oud(used mostly as an accompaniment for solo ‘takhti’ singers), The Qanoun(similar to a Santoor only the strings are laid on a metallic table) which provides the sharp edges to a Qawwali or a long recital) and The Saz(a Turkish instrument which looks like a guitar), and the one-string Rababeh(Lebanese folk sing-along instrument).

Coming back to Rahman,who started with a simple keyboard, he would strike the magic keys and these simple tunes would later take myriad wondrous forms, in all their flowing exuberance and glory.
When such a composer becomes so big for any project, the whole ball game becomes quite a spectacle to witness, it can swing either ways, and that risk adds life to the ‘critical’ projects.
It is no joke for the players in this game, they have no option than to win.
Rahman has been winning this game for as long as I can think, with minor exceptions or flaws. Lagaan, Swades, Guru, Yuva, Mangal Pandey, Rang De Basanti, Sivaji and now Jodha Akbar. When has the expectation from him being any less but the sky?

When I listened to Azeem-o-shaan shehenshah, it for a quick moment made me think of Rahman dressed in the Mughali Zirah Baktar(armoured dress) and battle all these expectations at the peak of fury and rage. Pretty short-lived moment of fun.

Brief Preview
Jodha Akbar is interesting because it looks at reinventing an oft-misunderstood history. It pitches love against politics. We know Akbar the Great as a majestic leader, a shehenshah. Here we get to see him as a human, what the man was made of, his emotional composition. And how the early events in his life changed the shape of the Mughal Empire and the nation on the whole. And here we get to see the oft-ignored historical character of Jodhaa, a Rajput Princess who shaped the destinies of many a wars and the warrior at the helm.

I am interested in knowing if Akbar-Birbal has been explored.
Kiran Deohans is shooting a film after long, in his noticeably small repertoire.
The film is done in sync sound.

Here r the tracks of the album...the songs r really good. click on the links to listen to them...

Azeem O Shaan Shahenshah

In Lamhon Ke Daaman Mein

Jashn E Bahaara

Jashn e Baharaa (Instrumental)

Khwaja Mere Khawaja

Khwaja Mere Khawaja (Instrumental)

Mann Mohana

The inspiration behind Jodhaa Akbar

We must add here that historicals are usually lengthy and ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ is no exception!