MOVIE REVIEW
M
movie review :
Bajirao Mastani
aratha history gets the full-on Sanjay Leela
Bhansali treatment in Bajirao Mastani. The overwrought but impressive extravaganza elevates
the legendary 18th century warrior-hero determined to
establish Hindu rule across the subcontinent to the level
of a selfless crusader for love in a climate of hate and bigotry. Bhansali fictionalizes several of Bajirao's key battles but focuses more on the married Peshwa's passion
for Mastani, the beautiful and courageous half Rajput,
half-Muslim princess of Bundelkhand. Every emotion in
the film - be it love, longing or valour on the battlefield - is
translated into a grand and elaborate song-and-dance
routine. A couple of the musical set pieces do not ring true
in a historical epic about a man whose place in history is
primarily as an unvanquished general. These are but minor aberrations in a sweeping love story that is mounted
on such a grandiose scale and crafted with such vaulting
zeal that eventually the smaller details cease to matter.
Bajirao Mastani is, in many respects, Bhansali's most
subversive film to date. Its central message is that all
religions preach love but love has no religion. Love, the
film conveys via Irrfan Khan's voice, is a religion by itself
and those that swear by its tenets become immortal like
Bajirao and Mastani. Peshwa Bajirao, played with flair
by Ranveer Singh, takes on the unbending clergy and
his own angry family to uphold Mastani's dignity after she
arrives in Pune as his second wife. To liven up this "love
story of a warrior", Bhansali, as is his wont, rustles up a
series of spectacular visuals, each as blindingly awash
in red, russet and gold and bathed in light and shade as
all the others. Some of the pivotal scenes are well conceived and executed and their impact is enhanced by the
impressive performances from the principal cast. While
it is difficult to take one's eyes off the screen, the pace
of the narrative, which runs for more than two and a half
hours, is not consistent. Large parts of the first half of
Bajirao Mastani appear to serve only ۙH \