ashdoc
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Two points are to be made about the film .
For one thing , the film is like a fairy tale because many events in the film seem unlikely to have happened in real life . From the king of Mewar to have gone all the way to Singala in search of pearls demanded by his first wife only to fall in love with the princess ( who seems to be buddhist ) of that country , to him banishing a brahmin who goes all the way to Delhi to tell the sultan about the princess' beauty , and the sultan taking the king of Mewar prisoner in a lone meeting and taking him away to Delhi , to the princess going to Delhi to fetch the king back and conveniently being helped by the wife of the sultan---it all seems to be fantasy and legend . Of course , the story is based on a real invasion of sultan Allauddin Khilji on the great fortress of Chittor . The jauhar shown at the end may be real too ; after all , many times the rajput women committed jauhar when about to be captured . But the way the story has been built , it has seems to have many not too real happenings .
The other thing is that the film has been made clearly to make to right wing happy . The movie eulogises the rajput code of chivalry to a huge extent . The rajputs shown to be noble warriors who never go against their principles and never back stab their enemies . Their bravery is shown to be exemplary even in face of incredible odds . Above all , the courage of their women is the stuff that legends are made of . When the rajput men are getting killed in battlefield , the women wear red dresses and leap into fire to be charred to ashes in order to prevent capture and violation of honour by enemy .
In contrast , the movie hardly shows the invading turks in a good light . Above all , their sultan Allauddin Khilji is shown having an evil gleam in his penetrating kohl lined eyes . He has been acted brilliantly by Ranveer Singh . His roar of laughter is full of fiendish cruelty and his dance is full of mad gusto . He is shown to be mean and treacherous and as crafty as hell . He chomps into pieces of meat like a barbarian and lusts for women like a debauchee . He is bisexual and has a gay lover---Malik Kafur played by Jim Sarbh .
On the other hand Maharaja Ratan Singh of Mewar is a gentleman . This gives less scope and range for acting to the person playing the role---Shahid Kapoor . Compared to Ranveer , his acting seems to be bland . Deepika Padukone pays the princess of Singala , who quickly upstages the first wife of Maharaja Ratan Singh to become chief queen of Mewar . Her acting becomes better with each passing frame and her last speech before committing jauhar did give me a small lump in my throat . Her beauty is mesmerising too , well worth an invasion or two on her kingdom for capturing her---for Allauddin invades Chittor again for her after she brings her husband back home .
Just like director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's earlier films , the distinguishing mark of the film is great cinematography and rich colours . Great attention seems to have been paid to the clothes of each and every person , from the plain clothes worn by soldiers to the bejewelled and embroidered clothes worn by the noble ladies and the queen . Fire plays an important role in the film ; fire in both hands of the queen of Mewar as she dances on the song 'ghoomar' , fire being drunk by the insulted brahmin as he is banished from Mewar , torches of fire lighting the walls of the fort of chittor , and the great fire into which the women are led by their queen when all is lost....
The battle scenes are decent without being too spectacular , with the one to one combat scene between the two kings being good . The stomp of the horses as they gallop on the battlefield pounds the ears in dolby atmos sound . Songs and background music is okay but not memorable . 3D effects are pretty good and add to the depth and clarity of the scenes . The film does drag towards the interval because it is almost three hours long , but post interval it again holds your attention .
Verdict---Good .
Three and a half stars out of five .
For one thing , the film is like a fairy tale because many events in the film seem unlikely to have happened in real life . From the king of Mewar to have gone all the way to Singala in search of pearls demanded by his first wife only to fall in love with the princess ( who seems to be buddhist ) of that country , to him banishing a brahmin who goes all the way to Delhi to tell the sultan about the princess' beauty , and the sultan taking the king of Mewar prisoner in a lone meeting and taking him away to Delhi , to the princess going to Delhi to fetch the king back and conveniently being helped by the wife of the sultan---it all seems to be fantasy and legend . Of course , the story is based on a real invasion of sultan Allauddin Khilji on the great fortress of Chittor . The jauhar shown at the end may be real too ; after all , many times the rajput women committed jauhar when about to be captured . But the way the story has been built , it has seems to have many not too real happenings .
The other thing is that the film has been made clearly to make to right wing happy . The movie eulogises the rajput code of chivalry to a huge extent . The rajputs shown to be noble warriors who never go against their principles and never back stab their enemies . Their bravery is shown to be exemplary even in face of incredible odds . Above all , the courage of their women is the stuff that legends are made of . When the rajput men are getting killed in battlefield , the women wear red dresses and leap into fire to be charred to ashes in order to prevent capture and violation of honour by enemy .
In contrast , the movie hardly shows the invading turks in a good light . Above all , their sultan Allauddin Khilji is shown having an evil gleam in his penetrating kohl lined eyes . He has been acted brilliantly by Ranveer Singh . His roar of laughter is full of fiendish cruelty and his dance is full of mad gusto . He is shown to be mean and treacherous and as crafty as hell . He chomps into pieces of meat like a barbarian and lusts for women like a debauchee . He is bisexual and has a gay lover---Malik Kafur played by Jim Sarbh .
On the other hand Maharaja Ratan Singh of Mewar is a gentleman . This gives less scope and range for acting to the person playing the role---Shahid Kapoor . Compared to Ranveer , his acting seems to be bland . Deepika Padukone pays the princess of Singala , who quickly upstages the first wife of Maharaja Ratan Singh to become chief queen of Mewar . Her acting becomes better with each passing frame and her last speech before committing jauhar did give me a small lump in my throat . Her beauty is mesmerising too , well worth an invasion or two on her kingdom for capturing her---for Allauddin invades Chittor again for her after she brings her husband back home .
Just like director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's earlier films , the distinguishing mark of the film is great cinematography and rich colours . Great attention seems to have been paid to the clothes of each and every person , from the plain clothes worn by soldiers to the bejewelled and embroidered clothes worn by the noble ladies and the queen . Fire plays an important role in the film ; fire in both hands of the queen of Mewar as she dances on the song 'ghoomar' , fire being drunk by the insulted brahmin as he is banished from Mewar , torches of fire lighting the walls of the fort of chittor , and the great fire into which the women are led by their queen when all is lost....
The battle scenes are decent without being too spectacular , with the one to one combat scene between the two kings being good . The stomp of the horses as they gallop on the battlefield pounds the ears in dolby atmos sound . Songs and background music is okay but not memorable . 3D effects are pretty good and add to the depth and clarity of the scenes . The film does drag towards the interval because it is almost three hours long , but post interval it again holds your attention .
Verdict---Good .
Three and a half stars out of five .
