Movie Review - Padmaavat - by Suhel Johar

Padmaavat Is Definitely Worth A One Time Watch.

Padmaavat is Sanjay Leela Bhandari’s interpretation of the legend of Rani Padmaavati. Frankly, there is no much difference between the title Padmaavat and Padmavati. No idea why there is a row even for the film’s title. Padmaavat has been at the epicentre of various controversies, especially in North India. Most notably, Karni Sena from Rajasthan and other Hindu-organizations across the nation threatened to vandalize theatres screening the film. Finally, with Supreme Court extending its full support Padmaavat finally released today (25th Jan) in a grand way. Padmaavat is definitely worth a watch, for its scale and stellar performances from the principal cast. Although the fringe groups have been protesting against the film saying it has hurt the Rajput sentiments but it actually showcases the Rajput valour, pride and ultimate sacrifice. In fact it seems as if the film was sponsored by the Rajput community to highlight the cause of its community.

The story of the film goes like this. The Maharaja of Chittor, Ratan Singh (Shahid Kapoor) of the Mewar Rajput Kingdom dynasty visits the Sinhala. During his search for diamonds and valuable stones, he spots Sinhalese Princess Padmavati (Deepika Padukone), who is beautiful, smart and a great political strategist. They both fall in love with each other and eventually get married.

The high priest or Raj Guru of the kingdom, priest Raghav Chetan, sees the couple in their intimate moments. Furious over the incident, Maharaja expels him out of the kingdom on the advice of Rani Padmavati. Humiliated by the action, the Raj Guru pledges to destroy Chittor fort in vengeance, and seeks asylum under the reigning Sultan of Delhi, Allauddin Khilji (Ranveer Singh). The ex Raj Guru talks at length about Rani Padmavati’s beauty, her charm. Raghav Chetan also tells Khilji that if he wishes to be the true Sultan of Hind, he needs to have Padmavati by his side and rule the Rajputs. Khilji, a sexual fanatic, is by now smitten by Rani Padmavati and expresses his desire of having Padmavati. He immediately sets for war on Chittor Fort with his infantry to conquer the kingdom and Rani Padmavati. The power-hungry Turkish-Afghan ruler, Allauddin Khilji is so obsessed with her that he goes to great lengths to fulfill his greed. Thus, begins one man’s battle for honour and the other’s battle for lust. Finally as he rages severely brutally shattering the Rajput warriors and the King to capture her, she performs Jauhar (the ultimate sacrifice) to protect her dignity.

Having the story been so much familiar, one might not feel the excitement of ‘What’s gonna happen next’ moment. The film makes a laborious start that extends beyond purpose and is bereft of any emotion. The mood of the film borders on being melancholic. Could it be because of the expected tragedy that a sense of gloominess prevails throughout the film? The first half creaks and groans to a grinding halt for interval after a tiresome 90 minutes because of its slow-paced narration. The film until then is on expected lines. The second half tries to breathe some life and salvages some pride towards the end. It is a pity that the save for the three lead characters the other characters are presented in a feeble way and make their presence on and off without any strength or conviction. We are kept intact with the dramatic events and what stand out to be sparkling highlights are characterizations of the three lead characters, nuanced performances and technical attributes.

Padmaavat is a long film. SLB is not known for his brevity but a few songs and a sequence that includes an attack on Khilji could have been chopped out on the edit table. Although Deepika has performed to the best of her abilities there is not enough meat in her role to shine. Eventually, she is everything visually one hopes for, but she lacks the engaging factor that was needed to take the epic to the next level.

Padmaavat is truly the brainchild of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Each frame in the film is like a painting on the canvas. The director has been successful in taking the audience into the 14th century. Richness and grandeur can be seen in every frame of the film. Bur overall direction by SLB is not at its best. The film’s script written by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Prakash Kapadia fails to establish emotional connect as the writing is pale and withdrawn. Dialogues by the duo though are effective. The film’s cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee deserves a special mention for doing a magnificent job. Editing by Jayant Jadhar, Akiv Ali and Sanjay Leela Bhansali could have worked overtime in minimizing the length of this long drawn film. SLB’s songs strike a chord while Sanchit Balhara with his background score elevates the mood of the otherwise glum film. The visual effects breathe in life and give depth to the film.

Performancewise, Ranveer Singh as Allauddin Khilji is outstanding and steals the show with his hyper-active performance. Cruelty, strategies and cunningness shown by his character is nothing short of sheer brilliance. Similarly, Shahid Kapoor is quite commendable and has given an excellent performnce as Ratan Singh. Deepika Padukone playing the title role oozes the beauty that the character is supposed to have. She plays the beauty-with-a-brain and valour part very well. Be it the beauty, charm, or outlook, Deepika has nailed it.

Aditi Rao Hydari as Khilji’s wife Mehrunnisa has done well and so has Jim Sarbh playing the role of Malik Ghafur, a slave to Khilji. Rests of the cast perform accordingly.

 

On the whole, Padmaavat is quite an average weekend watch. The film definitely didn’t deserve the unusual attention from National Media. There is nothing in the film to hurt the Rajputs. In fact it seemed as if the film was sponsored by the Rajput community to highlight the cause of its community.