Bajirao Mastani

I went to see this film while my wife was at the ballet. I don't watch many Bollywood films, and usually the lighter kind, so I was coming to this film with almost no context. Also, to me, this was a foreign language, subtitled film so I missed any subtleties of language.

I really liked it. It was a true epic, wonderfully staged with seamless CGI and a consistent mellow look and feel to it. The leads (and lots of others) were really handsome/beautiful, and excellent actors. The dancing and singing was great and the story was well told. The costumes were sumptuous - Mughal miniatures come to life.

To an Australian this was of course an exotic film, so although it was slow there was always something to be looking at and wondering about. On the con side, the Hindu / Moslem theme was hammered home rather obviously, the Brahmin priests were one-dimensionally nasty, and (apart from one boatman) everything took place in a idyllic palace bubble - punctuated by a few battles.

However I would recommend this to anyone who wants to enjoy an epic cinematic experience Indian-style.

Watched Bajirao Mastani. Must say I was disappointed. Not because the movie was bad. By any standard of cinematography and direction, it was tremendously beautiful, but then which SLB's movie isn't? Perhaps I had raised the bar for it in my mind too high?

Here's my gripe with the movie: 1. Editing: very shoddy. Scenes just jumped around with little to no transition. There seem to be two stories told in the movie, the triangle love story and the battles. There was no fluidity in the editing between the two. 2. Bajirao and Mastani: in terms of acting, everyone did a good job. However, I felt like I have seen Deepika as Mastani in other movies as well. She was really good but I wanted to see a phenomenal performance (high expectations). Ranvir's acting is probably his career best but it still falls short in a few scenes. Some of it looks forced and tedious. Coming to the characters of these two, it's hard to like a movie and connect with it when you don't feel empathy for the leading characters. The two love struck characters are clearly shown in grey. It is difficult to feel sorrow for the ailing couple when you know that their affair has caused pain to a loving wife. This made me most uncomfortable. When the narrator proclaimed their love as eternal, it didn't resonate with me as their love was infidelity on Bajirao's part. 3. Unnecessary songs: SLB has a knack for incorporating beautiful, visually stimulating songs into his movies. This one is no exception. However, there are a couple of songs like Pinga and Bajirao and boys' celebratory song which stuck out like a sore thumb in terms of placement in the movie. 4. Rushed ending: don't want to get into details and spoil the ending but it looked like SLB was tired of 12 years of thinking and making the movie and he just ended it. 5. Striking similarity to Devdas and a little bit of Jodhaa Akbar: this one may just be me, partly because Devdas is one of my favorite movies of all time and also because I have watched it more than a dozen times. BM has so many similar themes as Devdas. Take the premise of two women longing for love of their man (I agree this is a pretty common theme), the ethereal dialogues, the widowed mother who seems to be a thorn in B and M's love saga, the choreographed duet song-dance spectacle with Mastani and Kashibai, the eventual fall into intoxication of Bajirao (there's even a scene with him in water very much like Devdas towards the end), war strategy inspired by Jodhaa Akbar, the mirror hall song reminds me of maar dala and kaahe ched, etc.

Having said all the above, I still think it is a good movie, just not SLB's best.

Watch it for Priyanka's brilliant acting as the forgotten Kashibai in a small but significant role. She delivers her lines in full flow, tugs at your heartstrings and makes you feel her pain. Watch it for a beautiful coming together of spectacular costumes and set design, grand music and choreography, larger than life dialogues and theme. Watch it for the movie it is, just don't believe the hype or you're bound to be disappointed. 3/5.

Ranveer acting was great direction and music was superb Deepika looking beautiful location screen great a must watch a movie for everyone in your life everything is great go watch... Priyanka Chopra, on the other hand, is the better performer of the two in this film. Priyanka's Kashibai loves her husband to death. Each time Priyanka looks at Ranveer Singh her face lights up like a brightly-lit skyline. When Bajirao falls in love with another woman Kashibai doesn't surrender to destiny. She is no walkover. She protests. She sneers. She is angry. But finally for the sake of her husband's happiness and the larger good, she accepts the situation. Kashibai teaches us the most important lesson of this film. Acceptance of injustice is sometimes the opposite of cowardice. Priyanka conveys all these emotions with near-flawless comprehension of her character's inner world. This is her best to date.

Bollywood reached its cinematic greatness in Bajirao. The sequence, the camera work and story telling at its best. All the actors' performance were notable. Very well put together. Bajirao Mastani just set new standards in Bollywood industry. Nothing recent comes close.

Seriously, I was expecting more from Deepika Padukone in Bajirao Mastani since she is one of the eponymous character in this movie and she can be called this generation's female Bollywood superstar no doubt after her brilliant outing in Piku and Tamasha. Sadly, Deepika failed to live up to my expectations. Her dialogue delivery is so weak in some scenes and her dance in the "rang do mohe lal" song just lacks the charm and grace. She seems like a complete misfit for the role of Mastani and looks too tall and modern to be able to carry off the royal look. Deepika just made me feel the need of the supremely talented Aishwarya Rai in many scenes. She just doesn't have varied expressions. Her last scene with her son where she tells him to go with the guards was supposed to melt our hearts. But sadly, it does not. Deepika just seems to be struggling with her emoting abilities. Also, her face when she gets out of a palanquin induces a laugh from audience. Wooden expression at its best! Surprisingly, it's Priyanka Chopra who stole the show from under Deepika's nose despite being a supporting (or is it?) character. Her confusion, anger and jealousy after learning of her husband and Mastani's (Deepika) love is really well etched. Priyanka seems to have developed a knack for stealing the show in every single movie of hers. With this movie, the stage is all set for Ranveer Singh to claim the throne of this generation's super star from the Khan trio. This guy is just something else. The way he masters the Marathi accent and the fight scenes is just wow! No one can be Bajirao other than Ranveer! He nails it like a pro. The only sore thumb of this movie is sadly Deepika Padukone! It's really sad how she ends up being overshadowed despite being the central character. Even Tanvi Azmi as Bajirao's mother gives a strong account of herself but Deepika simply fails to do so!