History is rife with marriages made for practical alliance, but the ones that are more memorable are the ones made hand-in-hand with true love. Jodhaa Akbar may not start out with love at first sight, but director Ashutosh Gowariker reimagines the titular couple of the Mughal Empire with all the production value and all the slow-paced, step-by-step building of a romance that strengthened the kingdom. With Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan slashing their swords in place of flirting, Jodhaa Akbar transforms historical fact into a captivating epic romance, even though the film is quite long, and the accuracy is slightly dubious.

If there was one thing I missed about 2000s filmmaking, it’s the swordfighting as a means for flirting. Can this make a comeback?