Padmavaat - movie review


I will start by doing what I usually to at the end, my recommendation : Do not Watch This Movie !!

 Save yourself the money and if you think you have that excess money, then save yourself the time. Lie down and stare at the ceiling, I bet you that those 3 hours would be well spent. Waise, abhi toh utni garmi bhi nahi hai ki free AC ke liye theatre jayo. I will tell you what, don’t even waste time reading this review & get going on doing what you best do on your busy Monday morning.

I will confess that I am no history buff and have absolutely no clue as to how far the movie story is true from a historically perspective, neither will I venture to figure that out. Period movies are like that and lots of previous such movies have faced similar such controversies. At times, I feel that maybe the stakeholders themselves, stroke these kinds of controversies, else why would I end up watching a period movie like this. It just evokes curiosity and you have no choice but to go with what the family wants. These sky rocket the price tickets in the theatres and coupled with the absurd cost of the eatables, there has to be a nexus somewhere. Well, this is my conspiracy theory and let’s gets back to the movie for now.

Firstly, I would like to ask SLB why he chose this story in the first place. It has no story, no theme, lacks content and definitely no substance to make it as a movie. There is not a single scene where you could say that, I was fixed at the end of my seat for even 5 mins. You could stroll and be back and nothing was amiss. (I went for a couple of smoke breaks J). It defies all logic to pick this up for a film.

The controversy is just too farcial. While, I admit that I am very poor history student, not a scene or a dialogue looked indecent. Infact, there are hardly and those too fleeting romantic scenes. As my dear friend remarked on WhatsApp “ Karni sena will now allow people to watch the movie but will not allow them to leave midway ” !! Trust me, its that kind of a torture. Imagine if I had gone for the 3D version and Ranveer Singh staring at you at a breath’s length.

Ranveer Singh’s character comes across as a drug addict straight out of "Udta Punjab" with a crossover with "Attila The Hun'. Perhaps they wanted to give him a mean streak but he comes across as a hungover with an extra dose of cocaine. Gabbar Singh, way back probably 50 years ago gave a much better feel of nastiness. For Khilj to be that ruthless and yet, just by a version of just a priest on how beautiful Padmavati looked, to invoke his inner brutality, is beyond comprehension. What motive that flute yielding priest held, is not shown or either edited. Khilji’s (Ranveer) relentless pursuit for Padmavati is either a love story that a wounded heart can vouch for or a battle so terrible that had a side story to it. Remember Troy ? Some would have watched it and possibly remember it too. The last fight with Brad Pitt ? Oh how magnificently SLB has messed up with this one too. This was the build-up, the climax, 2 kings on the go and what a wonderful set-up it was. They fluffed up it up totally.

Some Ghafoor as a slave, looks extremely irritatingly annoying. He appears to be gay and his devious eyes and mannerisms manage to give a feel that he will betray Sultan (Khilji) at some time. Though annoying, I think he has played his part well. His song for his Sultan is so out of place and so bloody gayish, that I was literally squirming out of my seat. Misplaced songs, which will never be replayed, have been a real issue with this movie. Shahid, looks terrific and I wish that he had some more meat in the character. Deepika has looked much more prettier in her previous films and though she continues to be one of my favourites, I will give her a thumbs down on this one.

The picturisation and the locales are good and you could perhaps give some points for the opulence. But, by now, we have all stayed in these palaces turned hotels in Jaipur, Udaipur etc. (Infact, I was scared to stay there, but that’s a story for another day). So the backdrop does not excite much and neither does the cast. The costumes are what I can buy from Maganlal Dresswalla or any local store in MG road Goregaon. The story keeps you asking and while the story is based on honour, valour, obsession, we only see obsession that a teenager would have for his classmate. And in similar vein, what Ramlal was for Thakur, proves to be same for Khilji and Ghafoor. Its that kind of a period story that has completely gone wrong.

A movie should be inspiring, uplifiting, powerful and have a message. This is regressive. A 1000 over females going to die over a funeral pyre is not what I wanna watch. (they stretched this passage for about 5 mins).True, it must have happened in the 13th century but recreating that in the 21st century does not make any sense especially if you don’t have a message at the end of it. We have many more inspiring stories in our rich history and SLB, I wanna ask you, what made you pick this one ?

 Stars : 0**





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