Sonu Sood’s Sujamal, the real hero of Jodhaa Akbar, got sidelined in the worst possible way

On the 15th anniversary of Jodhaa Akbar, we revisit the film that had the hero's journey for a supporting character who got the worst possible deal.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | February 15, 2023 08:03 AM IST

3 min read

Sonu Sood played Sujamal in Jodhaa Akbar and got the short end of the stick.

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After Lagaan got nominated at the Oscars, Ashutosh Gowariker had a blank cheque for a few years, in which he managed to make some really long, and a few really forgettable films. And during this time, Gowariker made the period piece Jodhaa Akbar starring the two biggest stars of the time, Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan. And while the film is called Jodhaa Akbar, it did not belong to either of those characters. It was Sujamal’s film and he was sidelined to less than 30 minutes of screen time.

It’s hard to be passionate about a not-so-memorable film that released a decade and a half ago but why would Ashutosh make a film about Jodhaa and Akbar where the hero’s arc belongs to Sujamal? He is the guy who talks about ‘samman, garima and uchit adhikaar’ when he is cheated out of his inheritance. He even threatens to burn the kingdom, not literally, and claim what rightfully belongs to him. And after Ashutosh sets up this plot, Sujamal disappears from the film for over an hour. Even when he reappears, he is struggling to breathe in an overcrowded film which is primarily aiding his journey, but doesn’t care about him.

Sujamal gets the entire hero’s journey in a film where he isn’t even treated as a significant enough character. He has a goal to achieve, he is faced with conflict, and ultimately he meets his fate but Jodhaa or Akbar get nothing apart from a love story. Akbar does get a climactic sword battle in the end and if you still have any energy left by that point, you are wondering about the pointlessness of the same because obviously, he will win the fight. He’s Akbar. We know he won’t die fighting against a nobody.

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Sujamal, on the other hand, is living on the edge. He is risking his life to see his sister and risking his supposed kingdom to save Akbar’s life. He is ready to concoct a plan with the bad guys to claim his inheritance, but only if they aren’t really bad, because Sujamal cannot let go of his principles. And even after dying a tragic death, Sujamal’s arc is forgotten within seconds, much like how he was forgotten through most of the film.

The year Jodhaa Akbar released, there were enough jokes about the film’s duration. Ashutosh Gowariker was applauded by everyone for his ‘hit’ film that fetched him a few awards but in hindsight, the movie wasn’t worth all the hype that surrounded it. Jodhaa Akbar is no Lagaan, and looking back, it was probably this film that signaled the downward trajectory of a filmmaker who made history for India at the Oscars.

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