What is also impressive about Hrithik is that he is unlike other actors who are now rarely out of their real-life persona — Govinda plays Govinda, Shah Rukh plays Shah Rukh, Salman plays Salman. Hrithik, on the other hand, ceases to be Hrithik and seems to melt, metamorphose into Akbar as he cajoles, caresses and captivates his reluctant queen. He puts his entire self into playing the lover-king, even in the over-theatrical scene when he goes into a Sufi trance. His soft smile and beatific look transcend the ridiculous device of a ray of light zipping past.

We know that this man can be resolute as well as gentle, thoughtful as well as warrior-like. And so the capricious beauty he encounters has to be tamed to his ways, much like the wild elephants he encounters. But instead of a Taming of the Shrew situation, this process has to appeal to modern sensibilities, and so he gives her respect and equal status in return for her love. She, in turn, before acquiescing to love him, struggles to establish the ground rules of this equality. Of course, the latter is part of the script and of the ideal make-believe world created by Gowariker in which Hindus and Muslims live in gender-sensitive, happy harmony. But it is a good measure of Hrithik’s acting that he manages to convey to Aishwarya that he (while enacting Akbar) loves her and she too, like us, responds to him, coming alive, out of her normal ice-maiden stupor. If a liberal-minded, truthful and intelligent man looked at us with that deep love and slight smile, would it be possible to resist?

... contd.