Bajirao Mastani: Epic Love Story of Epic Proportion

Sanjay Leela Bhansali movies are always larger than life both in scale and grandeur, with “Bajirao Mastani”, Sanjay Leela Bhansali outdid himself in scale, grandeur and histrionics…

Technically this is Sanjay Leela Bhansali first political love story which is straight from history, and such subjects are like walking on tight rope where a slight slip tends to ruin the entire movie. But fortunately Sanjay balances the fact and the fiction very well and does complete justice to the subject…

“Bajirao Mastani” is based on Marathi novel “Rau” written by N.S. Inamdar, which has been adapted by Prakash Kapadia. Prakash’s screenplay keeps the entertainment quotient alive with the right balance fact and fiction. He blends the then political scenario in Peshwa and the love story beautifully. Each character has been chalked out well and has a purpose in the larger scheme of things. The research gone behind the script is quite obvious right from the first frame. Another plus about the screenplay is though the characters are larger than life but still they have been given humane side to it which makes the story more relatable. Each character has been sketched with their shortcomings and vulnerabilities and that makes it more endearing. The pace of the movie is one of its biggest plus for Prakash Kapadia, who did not slow done the pace even once making it worth 2 and half hour. Though one thing I missed in the writing was the passion in the love story, Prakash could have put some more effort on the love story of the Peshwa and Mastani….

One of the biggest highlight of the movie is its dialogues and Prakash has taken special care of making the dialogues sound more relatable though it has heavy duty drama to it. The dialect has been given special emphasis, the characters from the Peshwa, right from Bajirao, to Kashibai, to Bajirao’s mother Radhabai has been given a maharashtrian dialect even when they are mouthing hindi dialogues, and Mastani has been given Urdu dialogues with a Hindustani dialect.

Now the ensemble cast which makes the movie grow above the grandeur and scale. Starting with Ranveer Singh who epitomizes Peshwa Bajirao to the hilt, the body language to his dialect, everything is just apt. It shows that Ranveer has actually lived the character throughout, and off course is one of his best performances till date, and as far as the movie is concerned it is the best. He not only portrays the larger than life Peshwa well but the vulnerabilities of the character has been grasped and performed well by Ranveer, especially the climax sequence. Deepika Padukone as Mastani complements the energy of the Peshwa with a much more restrained and surreal performance, she talks more through her eyes than through words. But where the hit pair of Ranveer and Deepika missed the plot is the chemistry, it was not the same as it was in “Ram Leela”. Priyanka Chopra as Kashibai steals the show and hearts as well; her portrayal of a strong yet shy, vulnerable yet commanding wife of Peshwa just took away all the sympathy. Priyanka acted and looked like Peshwa’s wife and stole our hearts. Radhabai, Bajirao’s mother, a role which was tailor made for Tanvi Azmi, she comes on her own in this movie or rather I must say her true potential has been exploited in this movie. Rest of the cast like Milind Soman,  Aditya Pancholi, Mahesh Manjrekar, Vaibhav Tatwawdi all do a splendid job…

One thing that makes “Bajirao Mastani” a masterpiece is its cinematography by Sudeep Chatterjee, every frame is like a painting, there is not a single frame which looks ordinary, every frame is opulent and enhances the visual quotient of the movie. Sudeep has done an excellent bringing Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s vision to life on celluloid.

To make the visuals opulent the production design by Salomi Dhatrak, Sriram Iyengar & Sujeet Sawant has played a key role. Re-creating an era gone by was no mean task but sets looks so real as if it has been shot on location.

Another big contributor to create the magic in the movie are its costumes by Maxima Basu and Anju Modi. Every costume is a detailed work on the period the movie is based on and the jewellery just enhances the costumes more, every piece of jewellery shows the research and study that has gone behind it.

The music by Sanjay Leela Bhansali himself brings back the melody in Bollywood, from the classical “Mohe Rang Do Lal” & “Albela Sajan” to the foot tapping “Pinga” & “Malhari” to soft “Deewani Mastani” to “Aayat” which is a sufi song, every track ahs a different flavor and character which complements the era and re-discovers the folk flavor of Maharashtra. Definitely one of the best albums of Bollywood for 2015…

To complement the music the choreography just lifts the songs to a different level, “Mohe Rang De Lal” choreographed by Pt. Birju Maharaj is pure Kathak, “Pinga” choreographed by Remo is in lavani style, “Deewani Mastani” is mujra…in short every song has been shot as a classic….

Sanjay Leela Bhansali has definitely outdid himself with “Bajirao Mastani” as far as the grandeur and scale goes, but he has been successful in keeping the humane touch to the otherwise opulent presentation, definitely a classic which will grow with time….definitely a “MUST WATCH”….I will go with 4 stars….

Movie Rating: (4 / 5)