Bajirao Mastani

The world, the goodness in it, works in mysterious ways. Right when you believe that you have the answers to everything and have figured out all there is to, life makes sure it surprises you. And that is why the urge to ‘live’ is eternal and addictive I guess. And I happen to like such surprises. Because it keeps me grounded and teaches me never to write off anything, anyone no matter how fast I tend to jump to conclusions on the basis of my partially understood and baseless assumptions.

BAJIRAO MASTANI has been waiting to see the light of the day for the last 10 years now since it was first expressed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and his desire to portray his version of it on the large screen. It’s taken 10 long years for this story teller to bring this project of his to the audience and allow them to have a glimpse of the magnum opus creativity and imagination of the SLB mind.

There is a saying that everything that is to slated happen has its time. The timing of an event has a far greater impact and importance than the occurrence of the event itself. It’s like the presence (or absence) of the wind that plays a key role to set a spark apart from a forest fire.  There is a large difference between Capability and actually achieving the maximum that you are capable of. And that is what life gives you time, opportunity and motivation for. Well if you are willing to take it up.

Just imagine the kind of conviction the writer director of this film would have had to have that every time the project was pushed away in the last 10 years he had the strength and self belief to put it back on the table and want to start and finish it only because he believed in it. Some perseverance that, I must say.

Everyone is well versed with the story line and know what to expect when and if you do decide to give this a one a chance. But what you don’t know is that it is going to compel you to think, feel and accept things to yourself- if not to the world- things that you haven’t thought and felt before. The movie was released after a 3:05 minute teaser and then a 3:45 minute trailer was aired to let the audience get a flavour of what BAJIRAO MASTANI had to offer to you. Trust me; the 6:50 minutes used to introduce a 158 minute long feature presentation is not even equal to 1/10 of  the actual film experience you will have when you decide to go for this beauty.

Bajirao played by Ranveer Singh is one of the most sensitive characters a male actor has ever had to portray on Indian cinema. Being a fearless warrior comes easy to men but to be able to balance it with sensitivity towards the women in his life is something Ranveer Singh has accomplished beautifully.

Deepika Padukone as Mastani is the ultimate epitome of beauty along with known to be a fearless warrior, a passionate lover, a sacrificing mother and a compassionate wife. She has done complete justice to such a strong character, where you can’t argue if there is another actor who could have play the warrior princess so convincingly.

Priyanka Chopra is the soul of Kashibai bringing out the playful emotions of a woman who has devoted her love and life to her beloved husband together with the portrayal of the fears, insecurities, jealousy and anger of that same woman who has been betrayed by the one she worships and who was her whole existence. Also the actors have aced their dialect so perfectly that it makes for such an enjoyable watch giving the required authenticity to this periodic drama.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali has created a master piece and this is by far one of the best films the industry has ever given to its beloved loyal audience, across all genres.  It literally transportsyou to an era that is almost 300 years old and shows you an approach to love, life, humanity that our modern age is still not modern enough to comprehend, accept and tolerate. Yes, the thought process and ideas depicted in BAJIRAO MASTANI are a far-fetched reality even today. So you can imagine how it was accepted and (in)tolerated by the society 300 years ago. Times have changed? Not as much as you believed they had. And this film is a testimony to that fact.

Bhansali’s version of Bajirao’s Saga will keep you involved, rapt, amused and overwhelmed throughout the 158 minute feature presentation, still leaving you craving for more.  And most importantly his darling project makes you vulnerable to all the basic human emotions that you are capable of feeling before Religion, Society and the people around you alter you into a mere follower of their own belief system in order to be accepted as one of their own. Obviously the ones that only understand and preach conditional love, will not in this lifetime be blessed with a mind that makes them treasure the heart(s) that love unconditionally.

There are not one, two but three extremely strong lead characters of equal degree which is absolutely refreshing to see in a Bollywood film as they have their individual place in the story, not once over powering the other two characters.  And the creator, SLB has directed them with utmost care, grace and with sharp clarity from his side as to how he wants each of them to be understood by the audience making for some fantastic, larger than life and visually stunning screenplay and storytelling that hasn’t been seen in a long, long time.

The supporting cast and crew, the large sets and umpteen junior artists only add further to this talented star cast giving you a feel of the magnitude of the time the story is set in. What ties it all together is Sanchit Balhara’s grand background score that is like a parallel story line playing on its own and is responsible for the regular Goosebumps that will take over your body every time the drama in the movie is intensified; especially Bajirao’s individual background score that is hauntingly melodious which is my personal favourite.

The film also boasts of one of the best set of dialogues that have ever been written making it almost a long poetry that is being recited by the never ending list of characters this project comprises of. So, full points to Prakash Kapadia for the mesmerizing dialogues and screenplay.

However, there are flaws present that cannot be overlooked. The open hair on the War field when you actually find it being tied during a dance performance or while the character is asleep is infuriating as hell. The song that makes the two female leads come together and dance just springs out of nowhere and has no significance or importance whatsoever other than serving as an item song to make the music album a whole package I guess.

Distorting history and historical characters to match your convenient ideas is like painting a picture that is nothing close to reality and yet portraying it as non-fictional under a disclaimer does not change the fact that you want the audience to get the feel that it is true as that makes it for an edgy watch, whereas it is actually an exaggerated version of the director’s imagination, and nothing else.

All said and done, Bajirao is not just a relative out performer when compared to Dilwale but an absolute winner in every department you can think of. At the end of the day though, Dilwale will have the higher box office collections simply because people by and large (like me) will choose Sharukh and Kajol over Deepika and Ranveer.

Watch the movie because it’s nothing like you’ve ever seen before both creatively and visually. It’s one of Bollywood’s finest imaginations captured on camera making for a breathtaking reality.