I had the pleasure of seeing Jodhaa Akbar in theaters, something I rarely get the chance to do with Bollywood movies. I must say, the $10 ticket price was well worth it, as Jodhaa Akbar was a truly great film, and I feel like I wouldn't have done it justice had I seen it on my tiny TV screen at home.

As you probably know already, Jodhaa Akbar is the story of the Emperor Akbar and his Hindu Rajput wife Jodhaa Bai. I think it's fairly obvious that the love story here is mostly fiction. So, if you're expecting to see this movie and get some kind of 100% factual history lesson here, this movie may not be for you. While the love story isn't 100% accurate, there are many events in the film that, according to a history book I read, did really occur in Akbar's life.

Needless to say, the sets, costumes, and choreography and cinematography are all amazing. The songs by AR Rahman are some of his best in a while, and are all blended very well either into the background score or as actual dancing. For those of you who are scared of any kind of typical Bollywood "dancing around trees and mountains," for Akbar and Jodhaa, have no fear, there's none of that. Some songs, such as Kwaja meere Kwaja, are done with very simple choreography, which keeps it very light and realistic. Azeem o Shaan Shahenshah is really the only song where we see people break out dancing, but that too is done as a show for the King, and does not seem to interrupt the script at all.

Hrithik and Aishwarya are good as the leads. Neither of them gave a particularly outstanding performance, but they play their roles well enough, and neither over-acts as they seem to in most movies that I've seen of theirs. The two also share some great chemistry in the romantic scenes of the movie.

My only huge complaint about this movie is the very beginning, which seems to drag a bit. It was necessary, however, for those who don't know much about Indian history to get some background info about the times, etc, so I can't blame them for putting this in.

Overall, I would whole-hearted recommend this movie to anyone who wants to be dazzled by visuals and enjoy a great story at the same time. I can only hope that the other blockbusters of 2008 can live up to this standard.