Review of Bajirao Mastani (2015) by Hasan M — 26 Dec 2015

Bajirao Mastani 2015 Review:

The lesser known story of Maratha Romeo and Rajput Juliet, an iconic and original indian love story is brought to Audience via extremely grand and sumptuous graffiti laid out like a liquid painting whose colors are truly feelings. Sanjay Leela Bhansali (SLB) and Prakash Kapadia (PK) who gifted indian cinema, films such as Black, Devdas and Guzaarish bring a grand dreamy lookback at a nostalgic love story which lays a benchmark for breath taking cinematography embroiled with unspoken dialogues expressing more than preachy speeches. The unnoticed but magnificiantly focal point is the idea born from the novel Rau by NS Inamdar which focusses not as much on the life of bajirao from childhood, ancestry ,wars or other individual per-say but dives into historic fictional re-telling of a divine relationship based on among two extraordinarily strong characters, Bajirao and Mastani.

The film is not perfect though with few hits and misses which could put off some audiences.

The Good:

Story : It's a love story between Bajiro and Mastani. The title of the film states it, the trailer states it. And so does the film. It focusses on both these characters the most while sneaking in just the necessary portion of powerful supporting characters including Kashi, Radhabai and Nana. Prakash and SLB do a good job as usual on following the subject without diverting from the love story.

Cinematography :

Every scene is a painting, beautiful internally, deep and unobstructive. From greyish blue skies, lush beautiful costumes, beautiful domes, palaces, minute carvings, distinct courtrooms, upto every drop of rain and dust, the cinematography elevates the focus on emotions and every detail compliments the emotions being portrayed throughout the film. It's not just beautiful to eyes, but to the heart. When the scene is tragic, you can feel the tragedy by the skies, dust and ambience besides that being portrayed by a character. When it's time to show posh lush culture, the grandeur is reflected by golden lights, grand reflective floorings, bright dresses and beautiful sets besides the characters. This helps express more emotions without words. It's a winner on this must see factor.

Actors:

Let's get the obvious one out of our way. Priyanka Chopra, who actually has very less screen time delivers brilliant performance in very few words. If she can not wield a sharp sword, that's okay, her eyes and words are as sharp and powerful. That said, Mastani truly deserves accolade for a top-notch performance as a woman who is lost in love but has found her self completely in pursuit of love. The complexity of the character's pain and joy is very simply portrayed by Deepika and by far one of the best performances of her career. When she is on the screen, it's difficult to concentrate on anything else because of her impactful performance.

Surprisingly both actresses and the supporting cast do amazing job at dissolving themselves into cultural characters. Tanvi Azmi (Radhabai) is an unexpected watch in the film who stuns with amazingly subtly and nuance filled performance that does a perfect portrayal from language, body language to conveying a character who otherwise could be either boring, bland or over-act. Tanvi Azmi makes a difficult role look so easy and natural, she is an invisible force of the movie. I would surely give her best supporting.

Role nomination at least if not the award. All other male characters as well do a great job.

Music : Awesome music which blends the cultural tone of the film while appealing to wider audience. Very wittily made music does not disappoint and is not redundant.

The ending sequence : The emotionally intense and morally virile raw ending is an asset of the film that reveals its self subtly hitting you like you would not see it coming. It could be too strong for some and too disturbingly bad for some people. For me it was a well deserved ending which made sense and is not done for the sake of the story.

The Bad :

Bajirao : Ranveer is a brilliant actor and looks picture perfect for the role. However, he seems to try too hard to be Bajirao and in many instances, inconsistently fails or excels. The 3rd act of the film has one his best acting and it feels towards the end of the film that he is now settled into the role. However, his acting feels just not good enough as compared to terrific and mega-perfection clad roster of natural supporting actors and two titan female performers who steal the show. Bajirao feels just not natural enough.

Pace of the film : The Story is to the point. However, the pacing of the film feels strange at times. It begins like a Ferrari, swooshing off the start line and then slows down, again picks up the pace and slows down again. It feels uneven and could leave audience waiting for the next big thing to happen while in middle of slow pace. Although it is understandable the movie builds depth and emotions of the characters, the pacing feels quite uneven and a bumpy ride that could break the built up audience excitement.

Conclusion : If you are in a mood for an emotionally intense love story of classic formula but modern marvel in terms of cinematography with one of the best acting performances and beautiful heart warming colors, this is a film for you. However, Bajirao and pacing of the story could leave you feeling unsatisfied and the powerful ending could either make you love or hate the movie.