Padmaavat: Beauty and the Beast

Rating: 3/5

Sanjay Leela Bansali, against all odds, released this movie but I am starting to believe that it was not necessary to go through all the trouble to release this one. It wasn't all that epic or beautiful when compared to his other movies. But I empathize with the protesters because Ranvir Singh with his charismatic evil eyes and perfect body dominated the Rajput's courage in the movie in spite of Shahid Kapoor having done a great job. After Haider, it has been a long time since Shahid took up serious roles with any scope for acting and he did a very good job in carrying forward the Rajput's pride and honor throughout the movie and beyond. As for Deepika Padukone, I was greatly disappointed by Bansali here, as he usually shows all his heroines more than just beautiful. She is a poor replacement for his usual pick, Aishwarya Rai, in terms of beauty and acting. Not that she is any less beautiful or a bad actor, it is just that neither her beauty nor her acting was utilized in the story. In my opinion, she had been more beautiful and acted better in many other movies rather than being a walking Tanishq jewelry mannequin. As a beautiful and brave Queen Padmaavati, she seemed to be smitten more by King Ratan Sing than he was, by her. Her glycerin coated eyes took away any focus from her elegance. She welled up in unrelated and unwanted scenes(which was every scene that she appeared in) more than the lead actors in the movie taking off their shirts unwarranted. Ranvir brought back Alauddin Khilji alive with his heinous villainous character.

Coming to the story, after facing a lot of controversies and the Bharath bandh, I expected a lot more from the flaw filled screenplay and the flawless director. The authenticity of the period is tainted by the modern influence. For instance the intimate scenes between Padmaavati and Ratan Singh and even the rearrangement of her wedding bangles in the very next scene after her marriage with Ratan Singh would have been unfathomable at the time. Alauddin's cringe-worthy lust after Padmaavati perfectly enacted by Ranvir and Ratan Singh's unabated pride for his country are the only things that kept me in my seat. Ranvir kicked it up a notch and it was much needed for the story and the screenplay. Climax was whirling at two different paces, Alauddin running as fast as Flash and Padmaavati cat walking in slow motion. Towards the end, the story teller is making the audience root for her suicide to protect her honor as there wasn't enough coverage on her swordsmanship.  

All in all, Deepika shouldn't be celebrating the release of this movie in a Rajasthani Dhabha because this shouldn't be considered success at all in her books or in the director's.

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