Yes - I know - but I was referring to the Mughal Empire and thieir origin ... !

whatever! but still, Soundtracks, like taj mahal(roshan), anarkali, Mughl e azam, amarpali seem more authentic to me as compare to asoka,and now jodha ka akbar!

EVEN MARHABA REPHRASED CAN BECOME ASOKA THEME SONG! ALL THE REST COULD BE SOUNDTRACK OF FILM LIKE GURU! YOU CAN JAI JAI KAR GURU TOO! BHAJAN SONG SOOTHES OUR INNER SELF WITH BARRAGE OF VIOLINS AND CELO INTERLUDES/ARRANGEMENTS IN SYMPHONY STYLE!

odhaa Akbar Sold for Record PriceAdd to hotlist
By Our Correspondent ©2008 Bollyvista.com


Jodhaa Akbar
Jodhaa Akbar
Perhaps the most costly and eagerly awaited film of recent times has set a new record. If the reports are to be believed, Jodhaa Akbar has fetched its makers Ashutosh Gowariker and UTV a record and whopping Rs 90 crore for the rights.

The magnum opus has been taken by Anil Ambani's Reliance Entertainment for all rights of theatrical distribution. The Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starrer period film has been made at a budget of Rs. 50 crore and is slated for a mid-February release.

***Hopefully it is not KHODHA AKBAR NIKLA CHUHA!

the war scenes look very impressive!!!
the film has run into controversy after some rajputs contested that jodha was actually not akbar's wife, but his son's...

by no means better than STINKY PANDEY!

not long now, lets hope it lives up the the hype!

In case we start wondering, a few Yrs down the road, how long was the orig theatrical release, here is a link to a news report:



BTW, Rajputs protesting Jodha Akbar will not create any hype but Censor worthy scenes, if any, sure will bring much needed hype.

Thanda matlab Jodhaa Akbar

By Joginder Tuteja, February 6, 2008 - 11:48 IST



Thanda matlab Jodhaa Akbar



When it comes to great anticipation, immense hype and some positive buzz, Jodhaa Akbar certainly deserved much better. However, as things stand today, Jodhaa Akbar is turning out to be one of the most 'thanda' projects that industry has seen for quite some time.

If one looks at the project's scale, star power, built up during last two years, credentials involved and last but certainly quite important - money spent, this Ashutosh Gowarikar film should have created immense hysteria by now. So, what is it that is missing which is stopping Jodhaa Akbar from creating hype a la an Om Shanti Om or a Dhoom 2 or a Welcome? Let's try to figure that out!

Issue - Poor publicity

This certainly seems to be the prime most culprit here. For reasons known best to its producers, UTV Motion Pictures, one of the costliest projects ever being churned out of Bollywood is hardly seeing much money being pumped into the film's promotion. On a relative scale, even John Abraham starrer Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, another UTV film, had much better drive associated with it.

Not only has the promotion been completely lukewarm qualitatively, even quantitatively the film is lacking the kind of zing is deserves. This is why if an average viewer still pops the question - 'When is Jodhaa Akbar' releasing' - it is a scary sign indeed!

Solution

Just get it on; and get it hard! With hardly a week to go for the film's release (on February 15), one fails to understand what is stopping it's makers from bombarding print, satellite and web media with multiple promotional campaigns. A film of this stature should be all over. Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai do make news but even Shah Rukh Khan does so in his own right. But then we all saw how far he went towards making his Om Shanti Om a blockbuster it is today!

Emperor Akbar was Jodha's father-in-law'

February 07, 2008


A still from Jodhaa Akbar








A former minister in the Chandrashekhar government in the early 1990s, Lokendra Singh Kalvi, 54, has a new agenda. He has now taken up the issue of the distortion of history in Ashutosh Gowarikar's Jodhaa Akbar.

Heading a Rajput outfit called Sri Rajput Karni Sena, Kalvi says he takes strong exception to visualisation of the Jodha-Akbar romance.

In an exclusive interview with Onkar Singh in New Delhi, Kalvi denied that he was deliberately kicking up the controversy to seek cheap publicity. He tells us more.

When did you decide to take up this issue?

On January 20, we had a meeting of Rajputs to discuss the reservation issue. During the course of the meeting, some MPs and MLAs from the state mentioned Jodhaa Akbar and how history was being distorted. Sri Rajput Karni Sena, of which I am the chief convenor, decided to take up the matter on behalf of the Rajput community.

*
Did Jodhabai really exist?

What is the distortion that you are talking about?

According to history books, Prince Jehangir married Mote Raja Udai Singh's daughter Manmat Kanwar, who was also known as Jodhabai, as she came from the Jodhpur kingdom. By the marriage, Emperor Akbar became her father-in-law. She was three years younger to Jehangir.

So who was Prince Salim's mother?

Salim's mother, according to historians, was the elder daughter of Maharaja Bharmal of Jaipur. The marriage between Emperor Akbar and Harkanbai (Salim's mother) took place on Feburary 6, 1562. Salim was born in 1569.

Is it true that the NRI club of historians are behind the protests?

Yes, the Historian Club of the NRIs is involved and one Dr Ms Vyas, who resides in United States is the main person behind this movement. She asked me if we could move the Supreme Court of India on this matter. We would certainly be probing that possibility.

*
Protests against Jodhaa Akbar

Is it true that you formed a committee of historians?

Yes, we constituted a three-member committee of historians in India. They submitted their report in 15 days.

There are allegations you are kicking up the controversy for publicity?

If that were true, then I have a hundred issues, which I can raise and get media attention. I am not worried about what people say. Two days ago, a team from UTV (the producers of Jodhaa Akbar) met me and asked me how the whole thing could be sorted out. I do not know who those people were, and I told them if the producers of the film can change the name of the main character, then we have no problem.

I saw to it that when Amitabh Bachchan [Images] and his family were in Jaipur to celebrate the birthday of his son, Abhishek, there was no untoward incidents. It may have caused embrassment to the Rajputs.

Professor Satish Chandra, former University Grants Commission chairman and well known historian, told rediff.com that he was against the banning of Jodhaa Akbar. What is your comment?

For me, it is good enough that he admits there are historial distortions. We have to see whether there should be a ban or not. We will not allow the film to be released in Rajasthan. That is final. We are in favour of the order of the Rajasthan district court, which was moved nine months ago.

But when Mugal-e-Azam was released, there were no such protest.

I was a kid then. I remember there were protests but then the issue was settled out of court. That will not happen now. The producer must make the necessary amendments, as it hurts our ego.

http://indiafm.com/movies/review/12618/index.html


et's get one thing straight: You haven't watched anything so opulent, so magnificent like this in a long, long time on the Hindi screen. It's not just body beautiful, but there's soul as well.

It requires courage, prowess, patience, aptitude, knowledge, passion and of course, loads of currency to attempt a movie like JODHAA AKBAR. But more than anything else, it requires your firm belief in the subject, the belief to attempt a historical when historicals are considered an absolute no-no in the industry, the belief to spend almost Rs. 40 crores in a film that could go either ways.

Write your own movie review of Jodhaa Akbar
Only when you're convinced yourself can you convince millions of moviegoers. And convinced you are after watching JODHAA AKBAR, a film of epic proportions.

Now let's clear a few misconceptions pertaining to the film…

* It's blasphemous to compare MUGHAL-E-AZAM and JODHAA AKBAR. While MUGHAL-E-AZAM was primarily about the legendary romance between Salim and Anarkali, a subject that has been attempted quite a few times on the Hindi screen before, JODHAA AKBAR is about the relationship that the young Akbar shared with Jodhaa.


* A lot has been said and written about its length [3.20 hours]. Does the viewer of today have the patience to watch a really lengthy film in today's times? But once into JODHAA AKBAR, the sequence of events, the drama, the romance, the war… every aspect keeps you mesmerized. Oh yes, the length does pinch you at one crucial point [second hour, which is relatively shorter], when a song breaks out. Otherwise, the 3 + hours are very well spent.


* When you watch historicals like MUGHAL-E-AZAM and RAZIA SULTAN, the usage of chaste Urdu is difficult to comprehend at times. Not here! The language is simplified - Akbar speaks in Urdu, Jodhaa in Hindi - and it's easy to decipher.

As a cinematic experience, it would be wrong to compare JODHAA AKBAR to any of Ashutosh Gowariker's previous endeavors. Why, it would be erroneous to compare the film with any film ever made before in this genre. This one stands out and stands out the tallest.

To sum up, JODHAA AKBAR leaves you spellbound, enthralled, entranced and awestruck. Ashutosh Gowariker makes the legendary characters come alive on screen. Take a bow, Ashu!

Set in the sixteenth century, JODHAA AKBAR is a love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Little did Akbar [Hrithik Roshan] know that when he married Jodhaa [Aishwarya Rai Bachchan], he would be embarking upon a new journey -- the journey of true love.

The daughter of King Bharmal of Amer [Kulbhushan Kharbanda], Jodhaa resented being reduced to a mere political pawn in this marriage of alliance, and Akbar's biggest challenge now did not merely lie in winning battles, but in winning the love of this defiant princess.

One of the prime reasons why JODHAA AKBAR works is because the present-day viewer is unaware of the romance between Akbar and Jodhaa. Sure, we all know of Akbar as a great emperor, but the love story makes for a refreshing subject. And the execution of a number of sequences makes JODHAA AKBAR extremely special.

Some instances:
* The war sequence at the very outset. You realize the scale and magnitude of the film at the very beginning.
* Hrithik taming an out-of-control elephant. It's hair-raising.
* The two pre-conditions set by Jodhaa, before her marriage to Akbar. Very interesting.
* The confrontation between Ila Arun and Ash at the kitchen, when Ash decides to make the meal herself.
* The immediate sequence, when Ash is asked to taste the food herself by Ila before she's about to serve the food to the Emperor and his associates. Once done, Hrithik demanding that he be served the meal from the same platter that Jodhaa had used.
* The intermission point, which sows the seeds of a misunderstanding between Hrithik and Ash.
* Post-interval, Hrithik returning to Amer to get Ash back to Agra and the welcome ceremony by his mother-in-law [Suhasini Mulay].
* The sword fight the very next morning, between Hrithik and Ash.
* The 'Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshah' track, when the entire kingdom hails Hrithik.
* The fight in the climax [reminds you of the fight between Brad Pitt and Eric Bana in TROY].
Amazing moments indeed…

Ashutosh Gowariker knows that historicals have to be simplified while narrating on celluloid so that the moviegoer is able to grasp and comprehend the plotline and the sequence of events. Thankfully, JODHAA AKBAR is not in the least difficult to decipher. Gowariker's handling of the subject deserves the highest praise, for it's not everyday that you come across a film like JODHAA AKBAR.

A.R. Rahman's music is not the type that you take to instantly, but yes, it gels beautifully with the mood of the film. 'Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshah' and 'Jashn-e-Bahara' are the best tracks in terms of tune. In terms of choreography, 'Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshah' is awe-inspiring, while the execution of 'Khwaja Mere Khwaja' is outstanding. Rahman's background score is simply extra-ordinary.

There's no room for dullness in Haider Ali and Gowariker's screenplay. The writing is tight, the drama keeps you hooked and the romantic track is wonderful. The film also talks of secularism, an issue so vital in today's times. K.P. Saxena's dialogues are amazing. At places, soaked in acid. The writer comes up with several gems, yet again. Kiran Deohans' cinematography matches international standards. The movement of camera at various places, especially in the battlefield, is breath-taking. Also, the D.O.P. captures the grandeur to the fullest. The production design [Nitin Chandrakant Desai] is, again, awesome. Recreating the bygone era requires not just money, but also the vision and Desai proves his supremacy yet again.

Be it the war sequences or the sword fights or general action, Ravi Dewan's contribution to the film is incredible. Especially noteworthy is the fight between Hrithik and Nikitin Dheer in the climax. It's simply outstanding! Editing [Ballu Saluja] is perfect, although the romantic song between Hrithik and Ash can be shortened in the second hour. The costumes [Neeta Lulla] as also the jewelry also deserve special mention.

JODHAA AKBAR also works because of the right casting. It's difficult to imagine anyone else in the role of Emperor Akbar. Hrithik seems born to play this role and he enacts it with such precision, such flourish, such confidence that it leaves you asking for more. A mind-boggling performance without doubt!

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is superb. Oh yes, she looks ethereal -- a compliment she has heard a trillion times before. What's new in that? But watch her emote in this film. You realize the amazing talent that has hitherto not been tapped by any movie maker. A flawless performance indeed!

JODHAA AKBAR has a host of characters, but the ones whom you carry home, besides Hrithik and Ash, are Sonu Sood [excellent], Nikitin Dheer [fantastic], Ila Arun [electrifying; her finest work so far], Punam S. Sinha [graceful], Kulbhushan Kharbanda [perfect], Raza Murad [effective] and Rajesh Vivek [good]. Amitabh Bachchan's rich barritone voice adds lustre to the magnum opus.

On the whole, JODHAA AKBAR is, without a shred of doubt, a brilliant film in all respects. This historical has all it takes to prove the first blockbuster of 2008. Very strongly recommended!



4/5

odhaa Akbar is okay, but overlong

Raja Sen | February 14, 2008 18:59 IST


Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan in Jodhaa Akbar








In Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodhaa Akbar, there is a particularly outstanding song sequence that must be praised. The titular couple's wedding banns have just taken place, and a group of singers sit cross-legged to offer the lord tribute. Each of them sounding suspiciously like AR Rahman, the minstrels break into the touching Khwaja Mere Khwaja and take the track to an almost trance-like happiness, the two backup singers even looking nearly identical.



Hrithik Roshan [Images], playing the Emperor of Hindustan, watches this with first bemusement and then, curiousity. Wordlessly, he leaves his throne and joins the dervishes as they whirl, gracefully entering into the trance with feckless fervour. It is a strong, well-performed scene, telling a tale and insightfully revealing a character by a mere gesture, a showing of mood.



If only... if only the entire film was made with such restraint.



Don't get me wrong, Jodhaa Akbar is not a bad film at all. It's just not great and -- despite the daunting three and a half hour length -- it could well have been. Heck, Spartacus was longer and Mughal-E-Azam only a trifle shorter, and both 1960 releases hit immortality. Historicals, it can almost be said, deserve an extra hour of running time.



That doesn't mean, however, that we thus go overboard the tragic way Ashutosh does. He is a fine director, no question, and while there is no scene in this film that makes you cringe, there is much waste. This film works when treated as a simple, compelling romance between an unlikely wedded couple, but outside of it, Gowariker falls prey to all the big-budget trappings.



'These are my sets, see how they glisten,' the director seems to croon as he shows off big rooms and elaborate costumes. Again, there is no fundamental problem with this, provided the action within has some substance, or at least style. But the royal intrigue is predictable, the characters obvious and underwritten.



In contrast to the well-handled moments between Jodhaa and Akbar, the rest of the film seems contrived and weighed down -- both by a pressing need to live up to scale as well as the director's undeniable soap-opera sensibilities. (The latter is exhibited best in the close-ups and the abruptly cacophonic background score.) Hence the romance works, but the history, well, seems to be getting laboriously in the way.



I'm not even going to touch on fact and fiction. The best historicals have little to do with the truth, and let's just give a filmmaker benefit of doubt and the license to have his own interpretation of a period with varied chronicles. But palace intrigue and dramatic conspiracy can be cinematic and entertaining without having to be simplistic and even banal. There is no air of urgency, and no surprise as the antagonists -- from rivals to elephants -- obediently fall over, on cue.



Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai in Jodhaa AkbarAnd the falling is, unfortunately, sloppy. The director can handle romance and emotional conversations well, as we are well aware, and war is just not his forte. Soldiers charge at each other visibly trying to hold back, and while I'm sure hundreds or thousands of extras are impossible to control, the battle sequences are amateurish to an embarrassing extreme. They might have worked if shown in fits and spurts, swords thrust strongly in rapidly edited montages set to a peaking score, but here we are shown long and tiresome battle sequences -- scenes where we see extras twirling weapons and jabbing the air pointlessly. Tsk.



Still, the romance. The film has a good and solid heart, and the story, of a conquering, defiant young king -- this one really was meant to be princeling for a while longer -- taking a bride for strategic reasons and then falling helplessly in love with her unbridled spirit, is a winner. The movie is a treat in the inventive scenes where Jodhaa (Aishwarya Rai [Images] Bachchan) stands up to Akbar, the Rajput princess in no way ready to yield without a fight. Literally.



Their chemistry is palpable, and the two undoubtedly pretty protagonists do well to keep the heat alive through their every on-screen interaction. Jodhaa makes Akbar wait an exasperatingly long time, and Gowariker makes this gradual evolution of their relationship work, their love building only alongside their increasing respect for one another.



Roshan proves to be a very good Akbar. There are times when his inflection seems too modern, but the actor gives the performance his all, slipping into the skin of the character and staying there. He has the right air of cocksure arrogance and bearing, also managing to convey the Emperor's sharpness. Gowariker tosses him a topless sword-practice scene graphic enough to be labeled gratuitous, and not just does the actor take it in his stride impressively well, but even makes it charming in the way he smirks for his queen. Hrithik is an increasingly remarkable blend of tremendous screen presence and acting conviction, and seems to be getting better with each film.



Aishwarya, pretty as ever, is not given much dialogue, a directing masterstroke. The actress looks stunning -- and is photographed very well indeed -- and while her sentimental scenes and tear-filled speeches are often flinch-worthy (inspiring sympathy for the Emperor persistently trying to woo her), she does rather well when she's feisty and combative. Her parries, accompanied by near Seles-ic grunts, are practiced hard and look more real than the king's, as if she'd gleefully cut through chainmail vests if she could. Her eyes are a mega asset here, and the director uses them perfectly, taking them from subdued pain to injured pride, all the way to roaring warrior-girl killer eyes, flashing in glorious isolation while the rest of her startling face is covered.



Punam Sinha in Jodhaa AkbarTo nobody's surprise, Gowariker populates his film with a great supporting cast. Nikitin Dheer, Pramod Moutho and Visshwa Badola deserve to be singled out, as does the one and only Raza Murad -- if only for that magnificent voice. Sonu Sood, as the queen's brother, is given a powerful role, but he plays it with such old-school grandeur that it almost seems spoofy. Punam Sinha and Manava Naik do very strongly, while Ila Arun hams it up bigtime.



All in all, it's an okay film. There is a very nice love story somewhere under all the blockbustery bluster, and its characters work brilliantly together. The rest of the film is naive and simplistic, but Gowariker's enough of a craftsman to get his detailing right, his performances restrained and make sure even the melodrama has panache. There is skill here, but it is killed by a devastating lack of economy.



To paraphrase screenwriting guru Syd Field, a scene should be entered as late as possible and exited as early. Gowariker does the complete opposite, lingering on inexplicably as he eavesdrops on his characters in attempts to brood to build mood.



While his intent is great, this movie -- coming after his last film, the well-intentioned but drastically overlong Swades [Images] -- shows that perhaps Gowariker -- a fine handler of actors and emotions -- isn't best suited toward cinema as an art form. A killer six or 12 episode big-budget television miniseries perhaps? Like a Tamas, maybe? I have a feeling he'd be super there.



Rediff Rating:
2.5/5

Ashu's films are always plagued with this curse!

odhaa Akbar is a spectacular watch

Arthur J Pais in New York | February 14, 2008 12:48 IST


Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai







Set against the bloody and turbulent period of the 16th century when Akbar is consolidating his empire through unorthodox alliances that includes a marriage to a spirited Rajput princess, Jodhaa Akbar is a leisurely and overdrawn film, which is nevertheless magical for good part.

In a way it is like reading an epic Russian novel. There are too many characters and too much happening. But if you can read through the first 50 pages, you get hooked.

In the case of this magnificently mounted and often thrilling film, with a career defining performance by Hrithik Roshan [Images], the first 20 minutes look like a boring and at times, confusing history lesson which would have become burdensome but for the sonorous narration by Amitabh Bachchan [Images].

But once princess Jodhaa (Aishwarya Rai [Images] Bachchan) is persuaded by her father (Khulbhusan Kharbandha) to forego an arranged marriage to a Rajput prince and marry the young Muslim ruler (Hrithik), the film begins to blossom, and hold your attention.

The film is about three hours and 30 minutes but once it hooks you, the length does not matter.

Never mind how the film, which reportedly cost $10 million, will fare at the box office, there is no denying that it is arguably one of the most spectacular films India has made. Two of its musical numbers, Khwaja Mere Khwaja and Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah, are among the film's highlights. The former, a beautifully choreographed Sufi number, which is enthralling and accompanied with gentle trans-inducing movement, takes place at a crucial moment in the film. So does the second number, performed with vigorous dancing, which fills the screen soon after Akbar has consolidated his hold. Add to these songs, the splendidly staged action scenes, especially the sword fight between Akbar and Jodhaa, and a number of battle scenes, and you then have a spectacular epic.

There are times you feel the changes Akbar goes through could have been better narrated but one applauds writer Haider Ali and director Ashutosh Gowariker for not making Akbar a one-dimensional cartoon figure. In one of the most important sequences in the film, for instance, you see Akbar giving into his baser instincts, as he orders a cruel death to a palace traitor.

A still from Jodhaa AkbarIt is not that the royal intrigues and violent confrontations go away after the Jodhaa and Akbar wedding. But the relationship between Jodhaa and Akbar, which is often fraught with misunderstandings and continually challenged by the Muslim clergy and the powers behind the throne like the foster mother Mahan Anga (a hypnotic Ila Arun), becomes the film's main occupation.

The main business then is how slowly the political alliance that created the marriage between Jodhaa and Akbar is turned into a loving and respectful relationship, and how the young emperor deals with the orthodox Muslim establishment, and proclaims religious pluralism. And how in the process he ensures his Hindu wife is given the due respect.

Some historians and viewers may question the plot lines developed in the film. Some may wonder why the film does not show any indication how, in his later years, Akbar would not allow his son to marry a court dancer.

But it is suffice to say that the Akbar we see in the film is quite an intriguing, colourful and tough ruler. And Hrithik brings his muscular presence and charismatic personality to make the role his own. Watch him negotiating with Jodhaa their troubled marriage, and the tense scene in which he saves the life of a friend and tames a wild elephant. Also, watch him in one of the most moving scenes in the film when he reveals to Jodhaa a crucial aspect of his education. Watch also his expressions when he discovers the betrayal by one of the most trusted persons of the royal household and how he lets his mother (an impressive Punam Sinha) come back fully into his life.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has never looked this gorgeous. Some of her dramatic scenes are weakly performed but she whips up excellent chemistry with Hrithik.

The film could have gained considerably if the secondary parts have been played with power. As Jodhaa's brother Sujamal -- who is estranged from the family -- Sonu Sood is rather weak. And as such his rebellion and subsequent change of heart do not carry the required emotional weight. The women fare better in the secondary characters.

Working with A R Rahman following Swades [Images] and Lagaan [Images], Gowariker makes an excellent use of the five intricate tunes. The first song, Manmohana, which unfolds at a delicate moment disappears after a minute, and is deftly brought back at an important juncture many minutes later.

Rahman triumphs as a composer whose score, now sonorous, now very light, adds to the film's many moods.

Cinematographer Kiran Deohans not only captures well the vivid battle scenes but also the close ups that convey the growing relationship between Akbar and Jodhaa. Some of the film's most arresting visual scenes come at the end of the Sufi song when Akbar is bathed in celestial light.

Whether it is Rahman, Deohans, the choreographers or the stunt coordinator Ravi Dewan, Gowariker has shown once again what a great team builder he is. The next time he should try doing something very radical for him: make a two hour long, seamless but a pulsating film that has all the passion and intrigue of his previous films.

Rediff Rating:


Want to see this movie? Check out Rediff Movie Tickets!



4/5

just back from Satyam Theatre Nehru Place Delhi - the movie is "new" -- not just new as in "released today", but because it has a lot of "newness", "freshness" about it... it's light on its feet, that's its beauty -- being able to do that to a heavyweight historical celebrity is no mean feat. well done!! the movie doesn't seem long at all, and has its moments of brilliance.

so after all, it is not khoda akbar nikla chuha

I wish ashu would have been able to convince idiots of Sony corporation to carry it, so instead of crapola baawariya, we would have some thing decent to look at for first hindi bluray!

Really wanna watch this flick, but I'm sitting overseas right now in non-Bollywood land.

Just wish Gowariker would learn to shorten his movies. On repeated viewings you realize both Lagaan and Swades could have been shorter by an hour each.