Jan 30, 2018 11:04 PM
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Padmavat finally released last week. It has been a long wait. The proletariat is lapping it up. The 110 Crore weekend haul is an indication of the same. This is excluding its overseas collections, where also, it is raking in the moolah. Team Bhanshali trounces all opposition and romps home with a stunning majority.
The stellar cast of Deepika, Ranbir and Shahid held their ground and made their Director proud. Deepika seem to have been born to play Padmvati. She is regal, elegant and heart breakingly beautiful in the movie. The candle lit scenes helped, I guess. We were hoping to see more of Deepika as Padmavati in the screen but Ranbir seem to have convinced Banshali otherwise. He has the most interesting character and did his best to make it his own. He successfully bollywoodised Alaluddin to this badass Sultan who likes his meat and women in equal fervor. The item song he got(with some fab dance steps) is an ode to his star power and a sequel to his earlier Malhari number in Bajirao. Shahid on the other hand, I think got a raw deal. He is this moustache twirled principled King, with his nose up in the sky. He played it ramrod straight with a unblinking stare. The perfect King. Not a millennial pin up though.
Padmavat is best enjoyed, when seen on the big screen. The effort to make every square inch of each frame exquisite is evident. The exotic forests of Ceylon, the foreboding Palaces of Khilji, the sandstone interiors of Chittor, all are created with care and caressed with an aesthetic which is unreal. Each and every costume is a work of art and enhances the way each character moves or talks.
The music is patchy and a bit forced. It oscillates between traditional Rajhasthani tunes and shaky middle eastern harmonies. Our friend Banshali seriously need to find a music director for his next movie.
So far so good. We can choose a historical tale and tell it in an artistic manner with beautiful people. But the art which is created must connect to its audience of the present. It needs to be relevant. There is a scene in the movie when Alauddin slyly uses the green coloured Islam flag to convince his army about brotherhood and sacrifice. He needed their support to achieve his goals. To me that was relevant to the present. Otherwise the director played really safe and sanitized the script thoroughly before he filmed it. We would have loved the film more if Banshali had told this old tale with a new interpretation. After all “Chinta ko cinema ki nok pe rakkhe, woh Director”.
Damm the critics. They got it wrong. Padmavat is a must watch inspite of its weaknesses.
