Disclaimer: I own my opinion and I stand by it. If it
offends you, make better arguments and talk me into changing mine!
The Wikipedia page says “Padmavati was an
exceptionally beautiful princess of the Singhal
kingdom (Sri Lanka). Ratan Sen,
the Rajput ruler
of Chittor Fort, heard about her beauty from
a talking parrot named Hiraman. After an
adventurous quest,
he won her hand in marriage and brought her to Chittor. Alauddin
Khalji, the Sultan of Delhi, also heard about her beauty,
and laid siege to Chittor to obtain her. Many events occurred during the period
of the siege, till the fort was finally taken. Meanwhile, Ratan Sen was killed
in a duel with Devpal, the king of Kumbhalner,
who was also enamoured with Padmavati's beauty. Before Alauddin Khalji could
capture Chittor, Padmavati and her companions committed Jauhar (self-immolation)
to protect their honour. After her sacrifice, the Rajput men died fighting on
the battlefield”
What a beautiful story is this! Imagine this on
a Bansali film..beautiful long frames, burst of colors, mersmersing music, the
drama on the battlefield and the whole wow factor! Now, the first trailer comes
out. Looks good, nothing extraordinary (can’t help, SLB has gotten us used to this
kind). But, the only thing that strikes is Alauddin’s resemblance to Khal
Drogo. Nope! I don’t want that. Khal Drogo led the Dothrakis, earned the
throne, this people’s respect and also loved his wife. Alauddin wasn’t any of
those, so why make the audience draw that reference point! So, the trailer
failed for me.
Now comes the ‘ghoomar’ song! Deepika looking
gorgeous as ever and she is doing the traditional dance. While the Karni Sena
is breaking things objecting the whole existence of this movie, I feel we have
seen enough of festive dancing in SLB movies. Why not have dancers do some
beautiful performances and have the queen sit back and enjoy. Why does the
queen have to take the efforts to perform and please! Showcase her grandeur in
a different form. Her dancing had absolutely zero reason to come into focus
when the character is so much more!
The movie starts off with Deepika trying to
hunt a deer and that’s how she meets Raja Ratan Sen. A glimse of her boldness
comes through when she makes a slit on him saying you are ready not to leave
yet as you are still healing, all in a flash! Loved that scene and wish there
were more scenes like that to showcase her warrior-like, bold, impulsive nature
a little more. Very less was shown about her courage and grit. It just felt
like the movie was less about her and more about the Rajput war values and
principles. There are barely any impactful dialogues made by rani Padmini or
any moments to fill with awe! My point is why am I watching Alauddin Khalji’s
cracking jokes, dancing like a professional, blowing kisses to himself on mirrors
and striking the Ranveer Singh charm when I am here to watch a tale on Rani Padmini!
The plot promises so much more and somehow looks like just another SLB movie.
This was an excellent opportunity for some animation with the whole talking
parrot villain and bad dark character of Alauddin and the bold beauty who
defies them all..but what’s in the movie is nothing remotely close! Where is
the magic? The Jauhar scene was well shot though. Loved the top shot where she
walks into the fire. On that note, to all the pseudo-feminists out there, those
women who jumped into that fire chose to die over being raped and that was
their choice. Talking of choices, next time you choose a story like this, SLB,
make it worth the hype!
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