‘Padmaavat’ Review — Much ado about nothing

I would most likely not have watched ‘Padmaavat’ but thanks to the sequence of events orchestrated by the Karni Sena, I decided to. And here are my thoughts on it.

A brutal Alauddin Khilji, played by Ranveer Singh, lays a successful claim to his uncle Jalaluddin Khilji’s throne to the Delhi Sultanate. In the meantime, the idealistic to a fault Rajput ruler of Mewar — Maharawal Ratan Singh played by Shahid Kapoor gets besotted with the gorgeous Singala Princess Padmavati played by Deepika Padukone and makes her his second wife. Eventually Khilji learns of Padmavati’s beauty and wants to acquire her, what happens next forms the rest of the film. And since it is already widely known, it would not be a spoiler to know that the film ends with Padmavati and several other women committing mass self-immolation or Jauhar hence never letting Khilji get her.

Of course the large gaping holes of regressiveness and inconsistency scream all through Padmaavat. Hundreds of women, including one with a zoomed shot of her pregnant belly, jumping into a fire to protect their honour and the Director clearly glorifying this — felt rather regressive and unnecessary in today’s times. Moreover, Khilji can do no right, everything he does has to be evil. So he has kohl in the eyes and dirt on his face perennially, he yells always, he cheats on his wife, he beds prostitutes, he tears at meat, he murders relatives, he is bisexual, he has no ideals and wants to win at all costs. But that Ratan Singh married a second time despite an obviously unhappy first wife, that he slaughters a goat before going to war, that he forbids Padmavati from getting involved in matters of war despite her obvious knack for it, that he allows his soldiers to die for him, that he repeatedly makes poor administrative decisions — are all fine and supposedly backed by ideals and pride. Additionally, there are several sermons on Rajput pride. I wonder if Bhansali could have done anything more to further elevate Rajputs. Despite that, the maddening violence we have witnessed over the last few months at the very hands of the Karni Sena makes me wonder if they too know somewhere deep within that it is all just a farce.

Now to return to just the cinematic experience: Adding to his trademark sets, royal costumes, ethereal background score and poetry-in-motion visuals, Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali does a fantastic job establishing all characters and building the tension in the first half. Khilji is electric, Padmavati strong, the tension palpable. Then onwards, especially after Arijit Singh’s ‘Binte Dil’ — the first of many excrutiatingly unnecessary songs, Padmaavat suffers from the same fate as Bhansali’s last couple of films — ‘Bajirao Mastani’ and ‘Ram Leela’. He doesn’t know what to do with the plot he has built, hence it drags, gets contrived and leaves the viewers with a dissatisfied ride back home. He could have saved at least half an hour and made this a much more rounded cinematic experience. Moreover, there is as much chemistry between Shahid and Deepika as ice with fire and when there ought to have been more serious tension between Khilji and Ratan Singh, you instead get song, dance and unintentional humour.

On a side note, whether it was the fact that all of the story is based on a woman’s beauty or the many battles fought for getting her or even some specific war scenes, I couldn’t help wonder if Bhansali was inspired by ‘Troy’ and wanted to make India’s equivalent of it. Also, Ranveer’s look and some of his tribe’s swagger seem reminiscent of Khal Drogo and his Dothraki from ‘The Game of Thrones’.

Ranveer Singh is mostly electric, his Khilji is the soul of this film with Deepika’s Padmavati a close second. Singh brings a believable menace and intensity to his character and largely prevents it from being over the top and laughable where it would have been very easy for a lesser actor to fail. Khilji is also the least hypocritical and most honest character in the movie and you can’t help but root for him. Shahid Kapoor pales in comparison and is largely monotonous and flat all through. Despite being impressively bare-chested many times, he seems too mild and un-formidable for his fiery opponent. I couldn’t help wonder how the film would have been enhanced had a larger-than-life Actor, even Bhansali’s favourite Salman, played Shahid’s character. Deepika is once again supremely confident and stands her ground in this testosterone-filled world. I also loved the recent news that came out saying she was actually paid more for Padmaavat than Ranveer or Shahid. Despite all the work the Karni Sena, the Censor Board, Bhansali and CGI had to do to cover her midriff, she is adequately gorgeous given the fact that the entire story is based on her beauty. Though less flattering make-up, lighting and CGI on her face would have made her look more human and less plastic. Jim Sarbh of ‘Neerja’ fame is sufficiently cunning yet vulnerable essaying a rather rare overtly homosexual character in Hindi cinema. The actor playing the treacherous priest Raghav Chetan deserves special mention for his towering, intimidating performance, hope we see more of this Actor.

It was interesting passing through more than usual security checks and policemen while being told there won’t be an interval at the entrance to the cinema. Inside the hall, a staff member stood planting carefully slow ‘Namasteys’ while another stood recording a video of each new entrant’s face. And there were 3 slowly pronounced disclaimers at the beginning. After ‘Black’ and ‘Guzaarish’, everything else Bhansali has directed or produced makes me believe he’d be a much better Art Director, DoP and Music Composer for other Directors than being a Director himself. Plus, that way he’d also spare himself much ado about nothing.