On the up side, this film had some magnificent sets, gorgeous costumes, and the story had some great moments. Aishwarya Rai puts in a great performance. Surprisingly, the scene stealer is the underutilized Sonu Sood who reminds me of a young Amitabh Bachan. Sadly, it ends there.<br /><br />On the down side is everything else. The movie was supposed to be an epic but the only thing it had resembling an epic was its length. In Jodhaa-Akbar it seems like the extras were over worked and underpaid. They were hardly moving in the backgrounds and the camera/director seemed preoccupied with individual fights. I guess the extras thought that with the camera so far away, they would never make it into the frame. I wish that had been true.<br /><br />Now I said the sets and costumes were terrific but the cinematography fails them. I went out of my way to find out the cinematographer was Kiran Deohans. The rest of the cast and crew undoubtedly have a long career ahead of them but Mr. Deohans' career might come to an abrupt halt after this film. This is an epic and the audience needs to "see" this film as an epic. The camera moves too slowly, sits too still, and those great costumes and sets don't get the treatment they deserve.<br /><br />The story was quite shallow. You would think the Emperor and Empress of the Mughal Empire would get a story befitting them, but not here. The twists and turns are utterly predictable. The narrative and characters lacked depth. Hrithik and Aishwarya have little or no chemistry between them. I felt like they had more chemistry in Dhoom 2, a film I thoroughly hated and gave zero stars. If them two of them finally come to love each other, why does it look like they're faking it? An epic needs to be long and this film has the length to prove itself as one. But the pacing in this film is painfully slow. Let me explain, there's a difference between a film being too long and a film moving too slowly; Jodhaa-Akbar is the latter. The dialogue needs to be more rapid, the scenes need to be trimmed down. I don't mean to keep mentioning Dhoom 2, but one of the things I hated is how every time Hrithik was on screen the film would go into slow motion. Here, they're in regular motion but it still feels like slow-mo. It's not a good sign when you're looking at your watch and wondering when is the movie going to end.<br /><br />As much as it hurts for me to write this, one of the film's biggest draw backs is Hrithik Roshan in the role of Mohammad Jalaluddin. Hrithik's performance is inconsistent and quite unrefined. Inconsistent because I felt like I was watching Hrithik play several different characters in the film. It was never the same Akbar from the first scene. I don't think this was a result of the character growing because like I said; there really is no growth after his marriage to Jodhaa or any character for that matter. Keep in mind that inconsistency is really not the actor, it's the director. It's the director's job to keep make sure the performances are everything they need to be and really visualize the look and feel of the film. The director has to keep his or her eye on the ball and in a film this large, it's understandable why they might lose sight but that's no excuse. So this isn't a minus for Hrithik as much as it is for Ashutosh Gowariker. A writer at the Hindustan Times, Mohammed Khalil said Gowariker has miscalculated the technical and emotional content and I think he's absolutely right. Now I say the performance is unrefined because of the lack of character in the character (yes, I know that one hurt). I just didn't see a Mughal Emperor when I looked at Hrithik. Instead what I saw was a Bollywood heart throb/poster boy who hasn't matured enough as a performer to pull off this kind of a role. I still think he has all the potential in the world, no doubt. He gave a very memorable performance in Koi Mil Gaya but this is no Koi Mil Gaya.<br /><br />Hrithik's biggest flaw is something he has little control over; his looks. Truth be told, Hrithik is just too feminine to portray a character that's supposed to be the embodiment of authority and masculinity. His physique is top notch but it's hard to take someone seriously when they have green eyes. His soft image is what prevents him from properly playing the all powerful Emperor and calculating army commander. There is something that could be said about Hrithik's physical presence in the film though. I'm not giving away any spoilers like I promised. There is a scene in the film where the gate to the palace opens and Hrithik is standing on the other side. It's a long shot and there is no light near Hrithik, all we see is a silhouette. He then screams at Jodhaa. I swear the combination of the sound of his voice and physical presence; I thought he was going to kill everyone in his path. Suddenly we get a close up as he steps into the light and the green eyes melt away the coldness; I heard an aunty in the row behind me say, "Awww, Rohit!" So like Aishwarya, Hrithik handles the confrontational scenes with a wonderful subtle intensity but his good and somewhat girly looks are what bury his performance.