Finally, saw Padmavati! Being a fan of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, watching Padmavati after one week was really testing my patience and curiosity. I'm going to call the film Padmavati because I think calling it Padmavat itself is an insult being done on SLB's creation. I have known this concept of Padmavati even before his Bajirao was released which was pretty famous as his award winning stage opera! That must have actually created some expectation back in my mind!
Thoughts that were going on in my mind before the film, were like- will it be like Bajirao Mastani? Does it really talk bad about hindu especially Rajputs? Will Shahid fit into Ratan singh role ?.... Etc etc. Moreover I was expecting more out of him because of his recent Bajirao Mastani and that kind of influenced my perspective a lot. One disappointment with the film even before it was released was the not so- attractive songs. Only khalibali and Ek Dil caught my attention (I think Ghoomar was usual SLB's Dola Re, Dol Bhaje type songs, where he tries to lure his audience with his grandeur.. it's not working for me SLB sorry macha). There's no much suspense in the plot, as we already knew that there's going to be gang-sati aka jauhar in the end. In films like these where we already know the end, the creator usually tries to pull out some magic with the actors he has, tries to be subtle in scenes and dialogue and gets his effort oriented more and more towards holding the audiences in their seats. And in here SLB leaves some of his viewers yawning!
Rawal Ratan Singh's character is more of a stereotype Rajput, who talks about his pride, courage and their lineage always.( I understand why descendants of Rawal singh,or atleast that's what they say right?, joined Karni Sena) Shahid plays his role. Nothing much to say about Ratan Singh. Moving on to the main characters- Alaudin Khilji and Padmavati, Alaudin is stealing the show. Padmavati is more of a underplayed Mastani in her Rajput attire. Special mention is Malik Kafur- his vera level chemistry as a slave with his master.
I'm taking two of his earlier films for comparison. Be it Bajirao Mastani, or Ramleela, he had, in my perspective, a very different approach as how to describe his characters. We have an interview kind of situation where Bajirao is tested to become Peshwa , then in the course of the movie, things fall in place which skews Bajirao's mind against his own clan for his love. In Ramleela, the whole enmity between Rajadis and Saneras is unfurled in the very first few scenes. He gives the whole story first as in Ramleela (which we knew already is Gujrati Romeo-Juliet), or he holds the story back, narrates individual characters as in Bajirao Mastani. In Padmavati, he tries Bajirao method for a Ramleela like story, where of course you knew the end. That went miserably back-firing at moments.
Also one strange thing about SLB in this film is he openly demarcates the good and bad characters. In Bajirao Mastani people shift from good to be bad and vice versa (Priyanka Chopra trying to kill Mastani and her son, Krishna Bhat revealing his caste views, Bajirao's son imprisoning Mastani etc). Even in Ramleela, he tried to reason with both Saneras and Rajadis, which is emphasised in the climax scene, where Baa kills her own son to save a Rajadi boy. But, Alaudin is shown extremely evil and there is no solid logic for this trait. And again, Rajputs especially Ratan Singh is shown as someone who is just , proud to be a Rajput and always merciful. But did you notice the antagonising fact about Rajputs in general, they even go to an extent to kill their friends for a small unjustiified behavior, but show mercy to a evil enemy? Ratan Singh could have just beheaded Khilji in a scene and escaped. But the Rajput law comes in the middle and spoils his mind. (Damn I don't like Rajputs for this very reason!!) The whole point in the film was like- Rajputs are divine and Khiljis are devils. Padmavati did not have any emotional struggle among the characters , this slowly builds up and I lost interest in the protagonist - Ratan Singh.
Last thing to mention is the politics that delayed its release . Karni Sena must actually accept Sanjay Leela Bhansali as their leader for he had glorified Rajputs to a greater extent. I think whatever the creator thinks, must be allowed to be expressed and that is the very meaning of democracy. Padmavati is one of the recent evidences that shows that we are losing our right to express too. The one-line of the story is something which almost every community in the world has, as a folk-lore. Beautiful princess, greedy and devilish villain and super-good Hero, who loves the princess. Some where in middle of the movie, in spite of splendid acting by Ranveer and Deepika, the connect is lost! Disappointing SLB... Disappointing!!!
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