Watched it yesterday. Turn out in the hall was good. (Equal or better than other historicals I have watched. BM & PV). I expect, the movie will do similar business in overseas as the other two. (Sorry. I might bring comparisons again in my review).
Negatives :
1. VFX. I watched in 2D. Cannot comment how good it was in 3D. But VFX in the beginning scenes (of the battle) was poor. Animals (like elephants) did not look real.
2. 2nd song (Shankara). Music was underwhelming. Dance steps were weird. Dance has never been Ajay's forte. He could have as well left this song.
3. Saif and Kajol's acting. Though Saif is praised a lot, I felt he was poor his fighting sequences. He emoted cruelty on his face very well. But fighting scenes were not good.
His expression when four soldiers get hanged suddenly, was the usual confused Saif. I did not get whether the director wanted to portray the villain in devilish shade or comic shade. Also did not understand, why he was holding sword in sharper side and hitting enemies with the handle of the sword. 🤪If I compare Uday Bhan with Khilji, Ranveer portrayed the villain better.
Kajol's acting: Of course it was not over the top. But she is generally not good at giving subtle, nuanced expressions. She was average. Anyway, there were not many scenes of her. But she did well in the last scene while looking at herself in mirror (if people were patient enough to sit through the credits). On the whole, she did not add any or take away anything from the film.
Pluses:
1. Story of Tanaji.
A story which gave me goosebumps as a kid. An inspiring and engaging story for any date and any age. Just like Jhansi Ki Rani, it is always a sure shot winner. Even without Ajay (with a good actor), it would have opened comfortably opened (like Manikarnika) around 7 crores. Ajay's star power added the extra crores.
2. First song: I bet you can't stop humming that war music even after you come out. It is one day since. It is still going on.
3. Acting of other character actors. Everyone were so refined and apt. But I have to say specially about Sharad Kelkar. His voice, his posture. Again I compared him with Shahid in PV. There many said, Shahid did not get a meatier role. But Sharad's screen time was even less. In spite of that, he could make a mark.
Just to give an example. When he is standing in Raighad, looking worried about the battle of Sinhghad. There is a similar scene in PV, where Shahid was watching on the top of the fort. This just one scene is enough to say what was Shahid lacking. Royalty.
It is not the footage that matters, how much you can fill in that space.
4. Direction.
First time I am watching a movie by this director (Om Raut). He is just fab.
Movie is not comparable to Bhansali or Gowariker in grandeur. For the same reason, it attracted me. It looked simple and authentic. Be it Tanaji's house or his simple dress (white dhoti). There was no distraction of grand set. There was no dragging romantic track either. Everything was centred around story.
Yes, sometimes the real story (in a biopic) will be small. Director has to add some extra stories to stretch it to two hours. SLB uses some romantic track as fillers (for example in PV, love story between Ratan Singh and Padmavati). But here, the filler story would be Tanaji finding out a secret passage. This gels so nicely with the story. Screenplay and narration were really good and engaging. Somehow the director did not show the ghorpad (though he mentioned team). I wonder why.
5. Ajay, Ajay, Ajay
Man, he breaths as Tanaji. So effortless. I have watched JA, BM, PV. Among these, I feel Ajay as Tanaji as the best. Every emotion seems genuine. He shows the vulnerability of a father/husband at home. (His interaction with Kajol was so natural, while Kajol was struggling to tone down her acting). His expression of obedience and loyalty to Shivaji and his mother are so enduring. To top it up, a fearless warrior who does not care for his death till he kills his enemy.
Quietly he shows what acting is, without ever overacting. He is defenitely one of the finest actors we have and he does full justice to Tanaji.
6. Rating:
I don't know what else could have been improved. I will give 5 Stars.
A defenite watch for families.
My main complaint (in abroad) is, why this film carrying 15 rating (children under 15 not allowed)?
I know the reason. In the story, Tanaji's hand gets cut in the battle, but he continues to fight. If any blood is shown, it automatically becomes 15. But Dabangg 3 was way more violent, had blood scenes. (It was a typical Prabhudeva movie where the villain kills the male lead's first love brutally). Still it got away with 12A (children can watch with parents).
Recently War got 15 tag. Bahubali Hindi version had 15 tag. (I watched Tamil version with subtitle, which cut the scene of Bahubali beheading a misbehaving guard). I am watching this strange trend of every popular movie getting 15 certificate but few somehow escaping it. (I wanted to open this concern in the forum as a separate thread).
Edited by flipfl0p - 4 years ago
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