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More than meets the eye

For FAMILY VIEWING Aashutosh Gowarikar

For those who missed watching Jodhaa Akbar on the big screen six months ago, here is some good news. It is going to be screened on Independence Day on UTV Movies at 11 a.m.

The film that traces the life of Emperor Akbar from his boyhood to youth, bringing to the screen his doubts, aspirations, dilemmas, love and marriage to Jodhaa Bai, has Hrithik Roshan playing Akbar while Aishwarya Rai plays Jodha.

The telecast will be followed by 30 minutes’ worth of scenes that were deleted to trim the length of the film. Also, during breaks, director Aashutosh Gowarikar would ask the viewers a few “easy history questions”.

Among those who message all the answers right, five couples would be chosen to meet Hrithik, Aishwarya and Aashutosh in Mumbai. The deleted scenes include Akbar, Jodhaa and Birbal together, apart from others.

That the film didn’t do great business hasn’t exactly pinched Aashutosh. “I am not hurt. I am disappointed. More so because I lost one week and hence revenue in both U.P. and M.P. where the film was banned for unjustified reasons. In Rajasthan, it hasn’t released yet. I am happy that now through satellite, even Rajasthan would be able to watch it. They had banned it in cinema halls — now it would be seen in every home,” he says sarcastically.

A scene from “Jodhaa Akbar”

Aashutosh didn’t consider newcomers unencumbered by image baggage for his lead characters. Nor did he make use of Shah Rukh Khan or Aamir Khan to play Akbar, though he has worked with them earlier. He has a ready answer. “From the scripting stage, I had Hrithik in mind because the kind of regality, physique and stature that my Akbar needed, that only Hrithik has. I am sure of SRK and Aamir’s talent, but one shouldn’t debate on a director’s vision,” he says politely. For Aishwarya too, he thinks she has that grace and “that quintessential Amar Chitra Katha kind of beauty” that a queen is identified with.

“I could have taken newcomers too but I feared that they wouldn’t be able to shoulder the profundity needed to portray that role. Rather they would have scaled it down,” he adds.

Already home with his finances — having screened 1200 prints in 36 countries — Aashutosh feels the satellite telecast would just be “a bonus”.

Ali Imran of UTV, certain the telecast will draw maximum viewership, says, “We chose August 15 because on a holiday families like to watch a neat and clean film together, and the questions based on history would glue them to the television sets.”

Aashutosh is now going on the floor with his next film, “What Is Your Rashee”, with Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra.

“It is based on a book called ‘Kimball Raven’s Wood’ by Madhu Ryi. I have purchased the rights of this book to make the film. It’s the story of a boy who, when he decides to get married, selects and rejects girls on the basis of their ‘rashee’ or zodiac sign. It’s a romantic comedy minus mockery or spoofing. I think I am incapable of joking at someone or something.”

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