Cast: Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Jim Sarbh, Aditi Rao Hydari and others
Production Companies: Bhansali Productions & Viacom 18 Motion Pictures
Based on: Padmavat by Malik Muhammad Jayasi
Music: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
BGM: Sanchit Balhara
Cinematography: Sudeep Chatterjee
Editor: Jayant Jadhar & Akiv Ali
Screenplay: Sanjay Leela Bhansali & Prakash Kapadia
Producers: Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Sudhanshu Vats & Ajit Andhare
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Rating: 3/5
Padmavati... Sorry. It is Padmaavat. We saw a huge uproar in the media, people, politicians regarding this movie for the past few months. However, after the supreme court intervention, it is going to hit the screens on 25th January across the globe. At this juncture, I watched this special press premiere of Padmaavat today. Here is my review of this most awaited film of recent times-
Padmavaat Story:
This story starts from Alauddin Khilji (Ranveer Singh) taking over the ‘Sultan’ title of Khilji dynasty by murdering his uncle Jalaluddin Khilji (Raza Murad)- the first Sultan of Khilji dynasty. On the other side, Rajput King Ratan Singh (Shahid Kapoor) the ruler of Mewar meets Padmavati (Deepika Padukone) and falls in love with her at first sight. Later, he marries Padmavati. As per the story, Padmavati happens to be the second wife to Ratan Singh.
As the time passes, Alauddin Khilji- who is a big womanizer all throughout his life hears about the beauty of Padmavati. This makes him declare war against Mewar to capture Padmavati. At this juncture, what will be the reaction of Ratan Singh regarding the war waged by Alauddin Khilji? Whether Alauddin Khilji is successful in capturing Padmavati or not?
The answers to the above questions are answered in the movie.
Actors & Performances (As per the order of appearances’):
Ranveer Singh: This man eclipses every other character in the film with his spotless performance as Sultan Alauddin Khilji. He is the entertainer, show stealer and the must-watch person in Padmaavat.
Aditi Rao Hydari: She played the role of wife to Alauddin Khilji. Even though her screen time is very low, she made sure her role gets imprinted on audience hearts with her performance.
Deepika Padukone: She played the title role and she gave her best for this epic role. This role and film will be registered as one of the best films in her entire career. Deepika Padukone portrayed the Rani Padmavati so elegantly that everyone will be mesmerized by her splendid performance.
Shahid Kapoor: He is seen as a Rajput King Ratan Singh in the movie. He perfectly suited to the role of Rajput King. His subtle action in emotional scenes is superb.
Jim Sarbh: He played the role of Alauddin Khilji’s slave named Malik Kafur. His role and performance is the surprising thing to the audience.
Analysis:
Sanjay Leela Bhansali has been gone through a huge pressure in both physical & mental aspects with this movie. He was beaten up, got threatened and even put under mental torture in the travel of this film- Padmaavat. However, his conviction & dedication & vision & hard work towards Padmaavat pushed all the above aspects aside.
As we already got know about this fiction story is an adaptation of the Padmavat- an epic poem by Malik Muhammed Jayasi. Sanjay Leela Bhansali tried to depict the best from the Padmavat poem and he gave his best in capturing the drama between the characters like- Ratan Singh-Padmavati & Ratan Singh-Alauddin Khilji & Alauddin Khilji-Malik Kafur.
In this movie, he gave less importance to the action sequences except for the pre-climax episode (Ratan Singh-Alauddin Khilji Sword Fight) nothing worth mention. He puts more concentration on the intense drama between the lead actors and tried his best in glorifying the characters of the main lead. Please don’t expect highly octane action episodes in the movie.
In the first half, the director prepares the audience for an intense drama in the second half by establishing the characters and he executes his plan in the second part. As we compare, the second half is more intriguing to the first half.
On the whole, climax stands out as the best in the entire film. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s mark grandeur, intense & awestruck capturing reflects in the climax scenes. However, it is not Sanjay’s best but it finds its place in the good films of SLB for sure. Because we will get the feeling of his trademark magic is missing in some parts of the movie.
Technical Aspects:
The Cinematography from Sudeep Chatterjee needs special mention as he gave beautiful visual to Sanjay’s vision.
BGM from Sanchit Balhara is outstanding and songs from SLB are okay except for few.
Production values are grand from the makers and most importantly the art department gave its best for this kind of film.
Plus Points:
+ Story
+ Performances
+ Climax
+ Grandeur
Minus Points:
- Songs
- Duration
Final Verdict:
Padmaavat- Surely worth watch. However, it is not the best one from Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
A small bit of suggestion to the readers: Try to watch the Hindi version of Padmaavat for the best understanding of the film with the Hindi dialogues. It may be diluted in regional language versions.
Review by Sandeep.
