Padmaavat - Movie Review

Way back in 2008, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali (SLB), made a French Opera 'Padmavati' on the same theme as this much-debated film, which had received a standing ovation from the audience. With a change in the name and a magnificently large canvas, 'Padmaavat' comes out as the most opulent film SLB has ever made. Sadly, grandeur does not make up for the bumpy-ride.

Based on a Sufi poets fictional poem, Padmavat, the movie traces the story of Rani Padmavati of Chittor (whether part of history or a folklore is something that remains debatable). In summary, it is the story which we have read in our school books as well - Mighty Khilji ruler, Allauddin Khilji, hears of the beauty of Rani Padmavati of Chittor, and wages a war against her husband, Maharawal Ratan Singh to claim victory over her and Chittor. But as the norm in the day was, the Rajputi women self-immolate themselves instead of falling into the hands of the enemies, once their men lose the battle.

The movie, in signature SLB style, is extremely beautiful in every frame. And like a quintessential Bhansali film, it suffers from its directors love for romancing with the celluloid. The first half is especially slow and lengthy, with too many subplots increasing the run time. In the hindsight, I reckon all these sub-plots were necessary to build the three main characters - Rani Padmavati (Deepika Padukone), Maharawal Ratan Singh (Shahid Kapoor) and Allauddin Khilji (Ranveer Singh), but it is important for a director to adopt alternative style of narration, to cut down on the run time. For instance, the story of the three brothers in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows', is depicted using a 2-minute narration using cartoons. In Hindi cinema, I can think of another period drama - Jodhaa Akbar, which had used a map to show the changing rule over Indian sub-continent, with the baritone of Amitabh Bachchan to go with it. The point is, there are a lot of other ways which a director can use to make the narrative shorter, crisper and keep the audiences engaged. SLB gets overboard while romancing the larger-than-live canvas, that the first half leaves the viewer exhausted.

Thankfully, the second half picks-up much better! Here, the characters invest their emotions into the story and that makes for an interesting watch. While the end with Jauhar was expected, your heart goes out to the women and their fight for their honor. Coming to the performances, Ranveer Singh as Allauddin Khilji delivers one of his best performances - he is shrewd, has menacing eyes and maneuvers well in the climax from an arrogant Sultan to a helpless man. Shahid Kapoor is good as the subdued Rajput Rana and rarely does his performance come out as fake or contrived. As Rani Padmavati, Deepika Padukone was expected to carry the film on her shoulders, and she succeeds to a great extent. While I liked her performances, I wish she showed more shades to her character than those stoic stares and moist eyes. One such scene where she slightly shows other emotions is in the second half upon her return. I will still be biased and give her the points for this one :P

Special mention to SLB again, this time for the beautiful background score. The haunting music in the climax remains with you even after the movie ends (its still playing in my head as I write this!). Among the other performances, only Jim Sarbh gives a notable performance as Sultan Khilji's close confidante, Mallik, helping SLB throw a heterosexual angle to Khilji's personality.

While I am happy the movie could finally see the light of the day, I would have been happier if the movie was crisper and a little faster in the first half. At 2 hours 43 minutes, it feels much longer than it actually is. But yes, it is still definitely worth a watch.

My Rating - 3/5

Cons: A super lengthy first half

Pros: A fast-paced second half