Bajirao Mastani -Review

They say there is a thin line between genius and madness. I often wondered about how this could be true till I saw Bajirao Mastani, from the same Director who had given some really good films in the past (then known as genius).

History speaks these facts about Bajirao I:

• He is acknowledged as one of the greatest warriors of history.
• He fought 41 battles and never lost any.
• He is acknowledged as the most influential of the nine Maratha Peshwas.
• Ladubai aka Kashibai was a dynamic personality of the Joshi Sarkar gharana.
• Bajirao died while inspecting his jagirs due high fever (possible heat stroke)
• Mastani, along with nanasaheb, chimaji Appa and Kashibai came to Khargaon, where Bajirao’s mortal remains were consigned to flames on 28 April, 1740.
• Exact reason and date of Mastani’s death is not on records but she soon died after Bajirao’s death at Pabal Village near Pune. Her grave is very much there in the same village.

Now what does Bajirao Mastani show:

• Bajirao’s Mother says to Kashibai that after she has come in the life of Bajirao, he has never seen defeat ( According to Bhansali, Bajirao lost one or more battles in his life, before he married Kashibai)
• Bhansali’s Bajirao is a Drunkard and dancer with dance steps suiting today’s youth at Ganpati festivals. The choreographers were confused by Bhansali I presume.
• Bhansali’s mastani and Kashibai do a dance number together with their sarees worn well below the waistline exposing their belly buttons trying to copy Madhuri and Aishwarya from Bhansali’s Paro and Bhansali’s chandramukhi characters. Bhansali who is still under the influence of success of Devdas paints Kashibai and mastani as Paro and Chandramukhi ( dola re dola rip off…gone bad). Bhansali should have opened History books and seen what was the “poshaakh” of the Prime Minister’s wife in those days (Records and paintings are available)
• Bajirao drinks himself to death..almost and in the end he becomes ‘Devdas’.. so much that he can barely walk.
• Bajirao goes mad in love of Mastani and dies in the waters.
• Mastani somehow comes to know the exact time of his death and gives up her life on her own ( history murdered time and again)

Story: The storyline broadly has been picked up from Wikipedia and then twisted and turned as Bhansali wanted and ensured that the Historians who wrote the facts then turn in their grave and beg no more rebirths. Bajirao was a brave fighter who fought 41 battles and ranks in the top warriors of the country. In the story he is painted more as a drunkard and has a ‘Devdaas’ kind of personality. There are many facts which are omitted and many which are twisted for Bhansali’s ‘Creative satisfaction’. Also the original shooting has gone well over 4 hours and the editing team had a tough time patching up the edited content. Result: lapses..serious ones. You move from the  last frame  of the end of a shot of one scene, to the shot start of the other which is entirely different. the smoothness of the flow of the story is lost. We also came to know after seeing Bhansali’s Bajirao that he was a Doctor too (he helps in the delivery of Mastani, cuts the Umbilical chord etc with great ease. Just for the sake of showing something which he feels is creativity?? The hatred amongst the Peshwas and Hindus is so much that they torture Mastani the true Filmy style (Historic facts show that Mastani was denied the status of Bajirao’s Hindu wife and was also held in captivity for a short while but never tortured so much as shown in the Movie) Also Mastani’s son Shamsher Bahadur was raised by Kashibai after Mastani’s death and he fought the great battle of Panipat many years down the line as ab ally of the Peshwa’s as an Independent ruler of Banda having his own army. Is there any need to spread hatred just for the sake of it?

Cast: The personalities described by historians do not match anywhere with these super light featherweight characters. Ranveer has tried his best and his efforts need applaud, but it is a sheer waste by Bajirao trying to add marathi accent to hindi language when you don’t have it. Deepika has done a great job on the acting front as mastani, now when the Director himself has decided to screw up the plot, it is not her fault. Mastani speaks plain Hindi and does not have any accent trace of the her Persian-Muslim Origin nor the Bundela Rajput one. Strange isn’t it?  Priyanka chopra too has done her part well and all others including Milind Soman , Benjamin Gilani have done their part well. Radhabai played by Tanvi Azmi has been painted grey for no reason in typical Bollywood style.

Direction: Should I even talk about it? Bhansali feels that by getting the most expensive sets, jewelry, hiring most of the Filmistan staff and making his heroine’s wear the heaviest of the dresses makes a good movie. Also he forgets that the viewers will accept hindi language when a movie is made in Hindi. So why try to put marathi words in between just for the sake of it? At time one actually wonders if bajirao spoke hindi all the time with some words in Marathi? He has tried to take creative liberty a bit too much in this film and spoiled it. The song Pinga and the Malhari dance are way beyond acceptance. This could have been made sober to be accepted by one and all.

Dance: Cheap and Vulgar if we are talking of the Peshwa period. We saw Jalaluddin Akbar (Hritik Roshan) dance in Jodha Akbar (what fantastically picturized Sufiana number was that and what a perfect dence step to depict the emotions) which was awesome. Indeed sentiments hurting dance which I am sure is no way entertaining. No wonder in many parts of Maharashtra and outside the shows had to be cancelled.

So much of neck bobbing only because they play maharashtrians? Really? Was he a Peshwa King or a dancer (read that as Tapori dance specialist who dances during Ganpati Visarjan )

I actually tried imagining Peshwa Bajirao Ballal Bhat aka Rau from the History way back in 1730-1735, who was one of the most elegant and Royal personalities of the nine Peshwa’s attempting that language and dance. Both he and me puked at the thought and the song.

Music: Original Music composer Sanjay Leela Bhansali has created some ‘original’ music with ‘inspiration’ I am sure. Check out the two numbers and then listen to the Pinga Song.. Coincidence! Eh?

Plus factors of the Movie: The cinematography, the sets, the costumes, the mahals and the overall picturisation of the movie is world class, typically Bhansali Style. He has left no stone unturned to show the movie fans what a bollywood movie could be. Mind blowing picturisation of the songs in terms of colors and decor. All commendable.

Appeal to Filmmakers: Please make movies as per the genres. When you make a family entertainer the film making is different than the one for a thriller. Likewise a Period film needs sensible research and presentation. Versatile directors should attempt something out of their comfort zone only after doing thorough research and presenting the facts as close as possible to the reality.

Verdict:

FLOP movie from a critic’s point of view who understands what a Period film is, looking at how the history has been tampered.

HIT movie, from a regular movie goers point of view. In case you are in the mood to watch something mindlessly entertaining, then this one is for you. Please do not attempt to find actual history here, this is merely an adaption from the history.

Please don’t compare the special effects and war scenes with Bahubali. The entire budget of the film was spent on the Grand sets, chandeliers, costumes and make up. So nothing was left to get good battlefield visuals which could have been a treat to watch if shot with proper expertise. The fights shots look patchy and one can make out most are animated.

Uttpal K

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