That Sanjay
Leela Bhansali (SLB) is a master director was never a doubt. That he compels
you to watch his movies, again, there is no doubt.
But, with
each compelling story he tells us, the pressure on him to outdo the prior movie
becomes a huge task.
The last
movie he made, Bajirao Mastani was before India experienced either Dangal or
Bahubali – the conclusion. The two movies have collectively reset the Indian
audiences expectation of story telling and grandeur.
Couple this
with the absolute mayhem created by the fringe elements in India, Padmaavat had
a lot riding on it- both for it and against it.
And, off we
trudged into a theatre to check what was in store.
In brief,
this is the story of a bestial king besotted with a beauty in a distant land.
Ramayana retold, but there is no lord Rama, no Hanuman who can change the
course of destiny.
With most
Indians having an idea of Allauddin Khilji, one sees the movie feeling
helpless, very much aware of the tragedy that is to unfold.
How does
the movie fare?
At many
points in time, the movie meanders, the pace tepid.
Of the star
cast, Deepika stands out. She looks ethereal, regal and strong. Essaying her
role with dignity, she brings to life the famed Rajput
One can
sympathise with Shahid Kapoor because SLB is too obsessed with Ranveer and
Deepika to give real screen space to any other character.
The strain
of telling a story that has to be “politically correct – read showing Rajputs
in good light”, shows up during the movie.
There are
so many scenes that glorify the Rajputs that at some times, it becomes platitudinous.
And diabetic.
To
counterbalance the glory of the Rajputs, Allaunddin Khilji is shown in such poor
light, so many times, that it gets nauseous.
The
depravity, debauchery of Khilji is too gory to appreciate. As the director
revels in this, he loses the plot. And, Ranveer, while doing justice to it,
makes the movie respulsive.
At the end,
you have a movie that leaves you with a mixed feeling. Of something that could
have attained greatness.
While that
is about the movie, it is also time to doff our hats to the courage shown by
the director and the star cast.
To live
with death threats, physical attacks, trolling, sabotage, movie getting banned
and what not and still go ahead and make a movie because you believe in it, is
a sign of courage.
This
courage by the team is a triumph of creativity. May we have more courageous
creative people like team Padmaavat.
The other
thing that strikes you is that India has not changed much over 700 years. Then,
a Khilji could pillage, destroy kingdoms because the rest of the Indian kings did not come
together. They chose to be mute spectators.
Today a
Sena does almost the same. Damaging property, vandalizing sets, giving death
threats. And nothing happens to them, because , in this case, the Governments
chose to be mute spectators.
To sum it
up – Go watch the movie – the director’s courage deserves our support.
