Understatement is not what you dig for in an epic romance drama that’s set in a period identified with pomp. Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar – despite its spectacular premise and ethereal-looking actors – has its neat share of hearty, everyday blips.

Emperor Akbar (Roshan) is stopped before his feast, to be told by Princess Jodhaa (Rai) that the food is low on salt. After his first look at the demure princess, the Emperor strolls down the palace corridor like a lost teenager, as curtains swirl to A R Rahman’s rapturous score. Jodhaa and Akbar cross swords in a duel that would decide whether the Princess of Amer would return to her shauhar’s palace that she had left after a fight.

Gowariker’s detailing works fine in these little touches. What really fails Jodhaa Akbar is its compliance to convention. And it’s not just the classical three-and-a-half-hours run. It’s about clunky writing, underwhelming battle sequences (watch out for those cannon balls and deadpan soldiers) and an inefficacy in tapping into the minds of its protagonists, who are already out there on the pages of history.

The story of the feisty Rajput Princess and her politically arranged marriage to the Mughal Emperor, as traced in the screenplay (Gowariker and Haider Ali) is not quite a story that had to be told again. Not with this grandstand splendour, at least. The set-piece battles and songs are shot like fancy pageants – the rousing Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshan has giant drums and a crowd of minions genuflecting to the all-conquering Emperor – but Gowariker gets it wonderfully right with Rahman’s terrific Khwaja mere khwaja.

Roshan, the stray affected bits notwithstanding, is in top form. Rai puts in a fairly restrained turn as well. But it’s the fringe players who get a better deal from the writing. Particularly engaging is Maham Anga, the Emperor’s overbearing badi ammi (played with spunk by Ila Arun) and Sujamal (Sood), the failed, tragic prince.

Jodhaa Akbar is mounted on the epic romance staples. While the love story, by itself, is engaging, it doesn’t come with perspective that could have made this a worthier effort. Despite the all-out sincerity of its lead actors, their presence primarily works as a smart tool here. That’s precisely why the camera closely freezes on a sweaty, topless Roshan, almost calling out for the gasps.