Originally posted by: flipfl0p
Watched Padmavati two days ago.
First thing. I watched PV because, I like movies with historical backdrop. I did not view this movie because of the controversy. So please don't credit KarniSena for my ticket.
When it comes to Bhansali's movies (whether we love them or or hate them), one thing is certain. We can't say, we will watch it later, when it comes to Netflix. The grandeur can only be experienced at theatre.
Ashutosh Gowarikar also spends lot of budget. But his budget goes in addressing meticulous details for authentic look. Bhansali's budget goes in creating dramatic effect with diyas etc. Ordinary junta probably will not bother about authencity. So, for us, Bhansali's film look richer than AG's movies.
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Actors:
Ranveer: I have to applaud him for his script sense. He was actually offered the lead role. But he saw the potential in the villain role. Two years back, I thought he made a mistake. Khilji was not even an anti hero. He was an out and out villain. Whether it was his gut feeling or Deepika's suggestion (who chose Veronica against Meera in Cocktail), I wonder. But he won the gamble.
(Spoiler)----
His expressions are defenitely not over the top. One example. When he kills his nephew. All we see is his stone face and his nephew kicking the bed helplessly. At the end, we see Ranveer's cold blooded look.
It reminded me Ajay Devgan in Company (when he kills his own men for breaching) and Amir Khan in Earth (when he finds about Nandita Das after tricking the child).
It is not the hamming which usually Sharukh or Hritik do. His chin remains stable. His breathing does not get louder. Only his eyes. It is spine chilling. (I am not mocking at SRK or Hritik. At that time, their acting looked best. With time, our perception starts changing).
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Deepika Padukone : First on Ghoomar. Stunning visual setting and her captivating screen presence. There is something about her dances in SLB's films. Obviously many kids will perform them on their annual school day. Tomorrow, she will become part of their nostalgia as Madhuri and Sridevi were once. One might find my comparison strange as ranges/reaches of these songs are entirely different. Madhuri/Sri's popular dances were item numbers. Deepika's popular dances are more into classical. Also Deepika is definitely not as good dancer as Madhuri or Sri. But fact remains, her dances connect to the crowd in the same way. May be the settings, may be her beauty.
Whatever it is, she adds another dance number along with Diwani Mastani, Nagada, which (one should admit) is responsible for initial days (not just first, I went on the third day) collection.
Her acting as princess and queen. Once or twice I felt, the teary eyed expression was not needed. Except that, her acting is brilliant. I feel like laughing at the people who say, she had not many dialogues (means there was no acting required). Movie Pushpak had no dialogue. Does that mean, Kamal Hassan did not act?
Her role demanded every kind of expression. Vivacious princess, determined queen, passionate wife and a gloomy woman expecting the arrival of the darkest hour. She played every emotions perfect. Usually her dialogue delivery lets her down. Here somehow, they were not very distracting for me. (May be Malik Kafur's was so distracting that I did not notice Deepika's).
Shahid : Unfortunately, I don't have many good things to say. Whether the script let him down or he let the script down will be million dollar question. May be both.
The fact that Khilji's character attracted Ranveer more than Ratan during script reading implies Ratan's character was weak to begin with. Probably after Ranveer choosing to Khilji's role, SLB made Ratan's role even weaker. We ended up seeing a Yudhistir, who preaches about ethics all the time, while Bhim and Arjun (here Gora and Badal) are left to fight.
First is his physique. When he is looking at enemy's army from the fort along with other soldiers. He just does not look royal with his tiny frame. Second, the dress designers. Who designed those pink feminine salwars for him? Fire them. I could not enjoy his chemistry with Deepika too. Deepika looks better with matured faces (SRK or Irfan never looked odd with Deepika). Shahid can still do SOTY 2 and look younger than Tiger. I felt, their pair was a mismatch.
Basically, it was a poorly written character. On the top, Shahid did not fit the role.
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Music:
I am sorry. But Bhansali needs to realise his limitation as a music director. Ghoomar song is ofcourse based on Rajasthani folk tune. But Bhansali tweaks it to sound it more classical. A song does not need to based on classical music, to be a classic. Songs composed by IlayaRaja, Lakshmikant Pyarelal were based on folk music and had earthy feeling to them.
No doubt, Bhansali designs classical tunes, which most of the current lot cannot do. But the point should be on the relevance. Beauty lies with simplicity. That holds true for music too.
Once S. D. Barman had said, "My songs should be that simple that even my car driver should be able to sing". It is not that, he did not know how to compose classical songs. But he did them, only if they were necessary. Shiv Hari is a great classical musician. But whenever he composed music for Yash Chopra, the songs (even though they were based on raags) were pretty simple.
Unlike them, Bhansali creates songs (which in fact reminds me of old classical Bollywood songs) that cannot be hummed by most.
To me, the best tunes in the movie were the background music in the beginning of the movie (when titles were shown). It sounded typical Rajasthani. (I wish, there was a song with that music). Other one is the background music during Jauhar. That is so gloomy and haunting. Rest, I would call it average (Ghoomer and Bin Te Dil, both gave me "heard somewhere" feel).
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Script Writing
Padmavati is a story we have heard from childhood. When it comes on screen, it is natural tendency to watch it on screen. A serial based on Mahabharata will get high TRP, no matter how badly it is made. Bhansali should be applauded for coming out with this idea. But one trouble. Plot is wafer thin. One needs creativity to stretch this. Also limitations of not hurting people's sentiments. It is a gamble. Bhansali is not perfect. But he has won this gamble, that is what matters.
(Spoiler)----
There were no proper build up story for Padmavati and Ratan (Bhansali should take lessons from Ekta/Gul). . It was BaijiRao - Mastani Part II; Instant love. Instead, they could have been shown as being married in the beginning of the movie itself. It would have made no difference to the movie. But Raghav Chetan's rivalry needed more build up. The reason to banish him looked trivial and his bitterness/revenge feeling also seemed suddenly enforced. If Bhansali wanted to take creative liberty, he should have taken it here.
Character sketching of Ratan Singh.
Vasool is fine. But where is the bravery part? As I said earlier, he was as boring as Mahabharat's Yudhistir. My patience was tested all the time high, when Padmavati succeeded in releasing him. First of all, this fellow came against their wishes and got arrested. Now they have used all their tricks to release him. Here he goes and says, "I have to meet Khilji before leaving". Have some common sense man.
When Gora and Badal were fighting bravely and getting killed, the thought came to me. Did I see this Ratan dude lifting his sword any time? There you go. I was granted my wish. In palace, he lifted the sword with all spirit. We saw the splash of red in pond. Whose blood? A sacrificial lamb. Blah..
--- (end spoiler)
Problem was not just with Shahid (Of course, he does not have the physique). But it was the poor script writing which also lead the Ratan's character down.
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Grandeur :
This is something, all SLB's viewers will go to his movies. (Watched 2D movie. So I cannot comment on 3D effect). Of course, he does not disappoint. The scenes especially when Ratan brings Padmavati to his palace till Ghoomer are so grand and aesthetically appealing.
(Spoiler)-----
But I cannot say the same on war scenes. In BM, first half of war scene was really good. Whether SLB got chickened after Bahubali, I don't know. But there are no memorable fighting scenes in PV. It was a waste, showing such huge army (which would have costed a lot), doing nothing. (Is the budget really that big, when there are no proper war scenes?).
In the beginning, we see the armies marching towards each other. Then we see the dust. When the dust settles, we see Khilji carrying enemy's head. What happened before is left for our imagination.
Fighting at the climax. Again a huge army. But all we see is, two rulers fighting with the sword in front of their army. Even that fight is not nail biting. (Bhansali could have hired a Chinese or Korean action directors. They choreograph sword fighting really well). Here, Ratan's and Khilji's fight was as entertaining as murgi fight.
---- (end spoiler)
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My review ends here. My rating is 3 1/2.
Will I recommend to watch this movie? Defenitely yes. Why? Ghoomar, grandeour and Ranveer's and Deepika's act. A very thin story, compensated by stunning setting and great acting. Even supporting cast have a role and they have played them very well.
What could have made it better? A solid backing up story for Ratan and a star performer like Hritik. (A story will be balanced, only when both protogonist and antagonist are strong and equal. All Rajni's superhit movies usually have very strong antagonist and the lead beating them at the end). Here the movie was tilted towards antagonist.
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