Padmavat - A Review

Padmavat - A Review

By

Ahmed RIK

Padmavat or a Sanjay Leela Bhansali's power ballad praising the valor, pride, and honor of the Rajputs. A film that had initially faced numerous crisis and controversies within India and that too by Rajputs themselves nowhere depicts Rajputs in an irksome position.







Padmavat, as said in disclaimer too, is not a history lesson. So if you're thinking to get a history lesson on the real story of either the Sultan Khilji or Maharawal Rattan Singh and the conquest of Chittor than let me warn you at this stage, it not a history lesson. Rather it’s a beautiful and an epic visual adaptations of the epic poetry by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi. Though the synopsis of the film and the story within the poetry differ but the main characters of the poem resemble.







The film opens with a great depiction of what could possibly be the 1300s in Afghanistan and then centers into the dark dynasty of the Khaljis. Than story transitions to the beautiful state of Singhal which itself acts as a symbol of the beauty of Rani Padmini. Slowly, the story transition to the colourful and gold dipped city of Chittor representing colorful and rich dynasty of the Rajputs. Frames later story got developed and an accurate portrayal of 1300s desert of Rajasthan was shown which would act as a battleground between the Khaljis and the Rajputs.









Sanjay Leela Bhansali with time has mastered his craft of telling a story and ensuring to maintain each frame of it colorful and attention-gripping. From his black to his recent, Padmavat, the art of amalgamating music with actions while tightly binding both with emotions could be seen precisely. The director had ensured that audience not even for a second could miss a visual pleasure, be it the depiction of Khilji’s Afghan Dynasty of Delhi or the depiction of Singhs’ Rajput Dynasty of Chittor. The transition from dark to color and from unjust to just is canvased well in each frame.











Actors have really done an amazing job. Be it the fictional portrayal of dark, cruel, brave and monstrous Khilji by Ranveer Singh. Be it the fictional portrayal of the fictional loving, caring, bold and dutiful queen of Chittor, Rani Padmini by Deepika Padukone. Or be it the portrayal of valorous, noble, conformist gentleman and a just king, Maharawal Ratan Singh by Shahid Kapoor. All of them together had done an amazing job. The audience would swiftly have to move their eyes when any of them shared the screen time with the other. Though at times, the dark and monstrous portrayal of Khilji by Ranveer Singh takes the lead in grabbing the audience attention. With this movie, Ranveer Singh has clearly shown his potential as an actor and had used his versatility amazingly well. All the other actors, namely Aditi Rao Hydari playing Khilji’s first wife, Jim Sarbh playing eunuch Malik Kafur, Khilji’s confidant and Raza Murad playing Jalaluddin Khilji, the founder of Khilji dynasty, had done an amazing job at their work.






The songs in the movie are again a job done commendably well by Mr. Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The poetry and the composition both well suite the era and the regimes where they were picturized. Like the song Ghoomar picturized on Deepika, carefully canvassed the Hindu rituals of Rajputs and was well choreographed to match the Rajput dynasty depiction.













The song khalibali which was picturized on Ranveer Singh again had an exceptional choreography which matches the character he played in the movie. The tune too had a Persian-Arabic touch to it which is a touch of Afghan music too. Other songs too were well-composed and well choreographed. The song binte dil could also be described as an amazing twisted treat for the audience. I would not go on to explain it as I would leave it as a surprise for the audience.







The dialogues in the movie were again well planned and executed well. The war of words between the protagonist and the antagonist was an audio treat for the audience. The dialogues from Ratan Singh at times were nothing but an ode to Rajput’s pride and honor and kept on reminding the audience about the Rajputs beliefs and how much they could strive to stay dogmatic. Ranveer Singh’s dialogue again were laid down to match the character he was playing. Time after time he reminded audience his craving for prestigious and rare be it an item, an animal or be it the wife of Ratan Singh. Deepika’s dialogue was again a female ode to Rajputi valour and pride but at times they do show the queen’s valor, courageousness, and intellect.







On the other hand, pointing out the cons, the film had inaccurately portrayed the role of Alauddin Khilji. Although Ratan Singh and Alauddin Khilji are actual life historical figures, Padmavati's existence is not historically proven. Khilji did attack Chittor in 1303 and conquered the fort, but not with a desire to capture the Queen of Chittor. Historians never mentioned any “Queen" of Chittor while mentioning the conquest of the fort. The poem Padmavat, which was written 200 years after the incident, ends with Jayasi's own words, "I have made up the story and related it."







In the film, Jalaluddin Khilji is portrayed as an arrogant, cunning, barbarous and cruel man. He was actually popular for being a mild-mannered and humble monarch. The film shows an unsuccessful assassination plot by Alauddin’s nephew which seriously injures the Sultan, but none of this actually happened. Historically, Ratan Singh departed from the battlefield and surrendered to Khilji. The two never engaged in battle.










Historical Portrayal of Alauddin Khilji







Business Standard India wrote that Khilji was portrayed as an "Indian Khal Drogo, wearing a fur coat and gobbling meat" in the trailer of the film. Historians believe "the sultan of Delhi who successfully stopped repeated attempts by Mongols to invade India would have been one of the most sophisticated men of his times." Historian Rana Safvi explained why Khilji was sophisticated. "It was under his rule the Delhi Sultanate heavily drew from Persia, one of the oldest and most sophisticated civilizations of all time. The rulers followed the exact code of conduct and etiquette as in Persia. It would have been very formal – the eating, dining and sartorial choices." Safvi stated that Khilji was portrayed as a barbarian in the film only to show him as a villain and Ratan Singh (played by Shahid Kapoor) as a suave and sophisticated rival. The film also suggests a romantic relationship between Khilji and his eunuch slave Malik Kafur. This is incorrect. Many historians argue that this was rumor spread by the people in Khilji’s reign who disliked Kafur, for him being a non-Turk and a eunuch slave general and yet being so close to Khilji.







The film is also diverted from the actual poem in many instances, but this could be ignored for the sake of creativity, like the single battle between the kings. The movie shows a battle where Ratan Singh almost defeated Khilji in the single one-on-one battle whereas in the poem Khilji and Ratan Singh never had a battle an instead it was a battle between two Rajput kings where both dies and than Khilji proceeds to capture the fort of Chittor.







Also, the portrayal of Amir Khusro is not done very accurately in the film. He was shown praising the barbaric acts of Khilji wherein real-life this may never be a trait of the great Sufi poet, Amir Khusro. He was there at the battle of Chittor along Khilji and it’s his account that shows us that it was merely a battle for the expansion of lands and not a battle for the lust of Queen.







Overall, the film is an epic piece of art which is a visual adaptation to another great piece of Art. Amazing action sequence and a great acting. Music and direction go very well with each frame. Though it does differ from an accurate portrayal of history and historical figures but that’s what the disclaimer at the start of the film already informs us about. I would give the movie 7/10 stars and an extra star for Ranveer Singh’s acting, he had really pushed his own boundaries. So in total, I gave it a good 8 out of 10. It’s a must watch Indian movie.