Jodhaa Akbar

Definitely the best of the historical Bollywood epics I've seen so far. This movie has everything: sword fights, war elephants, singing Sufis, political intrigue, hijras, an explicitly anti-Islamophobic message, steamy romance, and of course, bunnies.

The film wins on me just on virtue of how magnificent its mise en scene and general filmmaking quality is. The narrative is kind of wonky, though. The depiction of Akbar is tame compared to his historical counterpart and I couldn't help but feel it was dumbed down in a lot of cases especially with how it handles religious conflict and avoids his eccentric qualities entirely. But despite that, I do think the narrative has enough bite and grace to handle its plot beats in ways that never bored me.

The best idian film!!!

Though it is daunting in length and imperfect in execution, "Jodhaa Akbar" is dripping in beautiful imagery, grand in scope, and powerful in message.

Shot themselves in the foot with the PP, but there are some undeniably lovely moments (saving graces). Glad I sat through it.