(2008) / Jodhaa Akbar (2008) Director: Ashutosh Gowarika. AS/A2 Study Guide written by Tahira T. Riyaz 1

Transcription

1 (2008) / Jodhaa Akbar (2008) Director: Ashutosh Gowarika AS/A2 Study Guide written by Tahira T. Riyaz 1

2 INTRODUCTION / This study guide is relevant to the A Level research-based essay component, as it will focus on literature and the arts. Students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the different characters, key themes, social and cultural settings and styles/techniques employed in the fi lm Jodhaa Akbar. Curriculum themes include: personal relationships; the respect for relatives; happiness; traditions; modern trends; social and cultural landscapes: India in the 17th century and the countries India and Pakistan. CREDITS / Ashutosh Gowarika Ronnie Screwvala, Ashutosh Gowariker Hrithik Roshan (Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar) Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Jodhaa Bai) Sonu Sood (Rajkumar Sujamal) Raza Murad (Shamsuddin Atka Khan) Kulbhushan Kharbanda (Raja Bharmal) Ila Arun (Maham Anga) R. Rahman Kiran Deohans Ashutosh Gowariker Productions India Feb 2008 Hindi / Urdu 213mins 2

3 BEFORE THE FILM Pre-viewing activities / 1 2 3

4 4 Synopsis /

5 False True Decide whether the following statements are Trivia: Did you know that? Aishwarya Rai wore blue contact lenses for her role. For the grand song and dance number, Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah, four choreographers were hired to teach the dancers. Over 80 elephants, 1000 horses and 55 camels were used in the movie. The director hired a research team research team of historians and scholars from Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Jaipur to guide him on the fi lm. The director banned the use of mobile phones for his entire cast and crew on the sets, because the fi lm was fi lmed in sync sound. Sync sound (synchronized sound recording) refers to sound recorded at the time of the fi lming of movies. Source: 5

6 About the Director / 3 6

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8 DURING THE FILM While-watching activities / 4 5 Maham Anga Akbar Rajkumar Sujamal Jodhaa 8

9 AFTER THE FILM Post-viewing activities / Talking about the fi lm / 6 main character film director setting storyline cast actor plot real events the film is about close up period production crew box office 9

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13 Animals /

14 15 The Music /

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16 Film Reviews / 20 (a) Extensive though it is, Jodhaa Akbar cannot be discussed using small talk. Everything in the fi lm is big and grand: the palaces, the armies and most importantly, the love story. It hits at the heartstrings and somehow has enough energy to sustain itself through the bloated script that perhaps should ve been chopped. Ravishing Rai is convincing enough but its Roshan s majestic performance as the love-struck warrior that packs the punch; it s his fi lm from start to fi nish. Don t let the running time put you off watching this unashamedly epic tale. (Reviewed by Tajpal Rathore, 2008) Source: lms/2008/02/11/jodhaa_akbar_2008_review.shtml 16

17 21 (Reviewed by Raam Tarat, 2008) 17

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19 Culture and Religion /

20 Picture references akbar&lr=&um=1&ie=utf-8&sa=n&tab=wi Bibliography and Webliography About the film Internet Movie Database Box Offi ce Mojo cemojo.com/movies/?id=jodhaaakbar.htm Wikipedia About the director ash.html ash.html (Ashutosh Gowariker s production company) (Interview with Ashutosh Gowariker, 2003) Reviews Frazier, Jessica, Film Review: Jodhaa Akbar, Journal of Religion and Film 12: 1 (2008), unomaha.edu/~jrf/vol12no1/reviews/jodhaaakbar.htm Sinanan, Anil, Film Review: Jodhaa Akbar, entertainment/fi lm/bollywood/article ece# lms/2008/02/11/jodhaa_akbar_2008_review.shtml Historical background Schimmel, Annemarie and Burzine K. Waghmar, The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture.Translated by Corinne Atwood (London: Reaktion Books, 2004) Gascoigne, Bamber, A Brief History of the Great Moghuls: India s most fl amboyant rulers (Running Press, 2002) About Bollywood films Dwyer, Rachel, Filming the Gods: Religion and Indian Cinema (Routledge, 2006) Ganti, Tejaswini, Bollywood: A Guidebook to Popular Hindi Cinema (Routledge, 2004) Gokulsing, K. Moti and Wimal Dissanayake, Indian Popular Cinema: a Narrative of Cultural Change (Trentham, 2004) Jha, Subhash K., The Essential Guide to Bollywood (Roli Books, 2005) Joshi, Lalit Mohan ed, Bollywood: Popular Indian Cinema (Dakini Books, 2002) Kabir, Nasreen Munni, Bollywood: The Indian Cinema Story (Channel 4 Books, 2001) Kaur, Raminder & Ajay J. Sinha, eds, Bollyworld: Popular Indian Cinema Through a Transnational Lens (Sage, 2005) Mishra, Vijay Bollywood Cinema: Temples of Desire (Routledge, 2002) Prasad, IM. Madhava deology of the Hindi fi lm: A Historical Construction (OUP, 2000) Thoraval, Yves, The cinemas of India (Macmillian, 2000) Vasudevan, Ravi S. Making Meaning in Indian Cinema (OUP, 2000) Virdi, Jyotika, The Cinematic ImagiNation: Indian Popular Films as Social History (Rutgers UP, 2003) lms/bollywood/ (South Asian Cinema: a bibliography) 20

21 Urdu Study Guide was produced for Cornerhouse (part of Projector: Community Languages) and written by Tahira T. Riyaz, Urdu teacher from Whalley Range High School, Manchester. Download this study guide from: In partnership with: Supported by: st Cornerhouse funders: 21