Padmaavat Review: Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s directorial is a masterpiece, maintains Rajputana ‘Aan Baan aur Shaan’

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Cast: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Aditi Rao Hydari, Jim Sarbh, and Raza Murad

Ratings: 4/5

After being mired in controversies, Padmaavat is finally here and if you too are worried about if the movie is hurting any communities’ sentiments, then you can relax.

The movie, which happens to be Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus, stars Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh, Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, and Ranveer Singh as Allauddin Khilji.

Padmaavat is based on the poem by Malik Mohammad Jayasi about the Rajput queen who committed ‘johar’ to protect the Rajputi aan, baan and shaan.

The story of Padmaavat is about a Rajput king and his fierce battle with Muslim invader over possessing the most beautiful thing in the world, Padmavati’s flawless beauty. The Rajput princess is the dream come true for every person alive. But, she ends up committing johar to make Khilji face the worst defeat of his life as he had this enticing princess on his Bucket List.

Talking about the performances, Deepika looks stunning as the Rajput queen and did manage to steal the show. She did complete justice to her character with her elegance, persona, and onscreen presence making every shot of her worth a watch. Deepika not just displayed her bubbly, elegant stuff in the first half, but flaunted her fearless avatar in the second half.

On the other hand, Shahid Kapoor looks as his royal best as the Rajput king. He looks like an epitome of calmness and bravery with eyes narrating the saga of Rajput honour.

But what took me by surprise was Ranveer’s performance as Allauddin Khilji. His cruel and bold avatar would give a major glimpse of the hard work Ranveer has put in for the role. You can hate him but you can’t ignore him in any frame.

Everything about Padmaavat made me laud the effort of the crew as SLB has left no stone unturned to make this period drama a big hit.

Bhansali has given special attention to costumes, location, and the dialect of the characters. Besides, the cinematography added creative wonders to the movie. And one cannot miss the memorable dialogues by Prakash R Kapadia who had shown the magic of his words in Devdas and Saawariya.

Interestingly, Padmaavat had been facing violent protests from Rajput fringe groups who had demanded a ban on the release of the movie. It was alleged that Bhansali has distorted historical facts and tarnished the image of the Rajput queen.

A lot was said and written about this controversy. But contrary to the reports by Karni Sena, Padmaavat holds no sign of hurting anyone’s religious or cultural sentiments.

In fact, given the uproar over the release of the movie, Padmaavat didn’t feature a single shot of Padmavati and Khilji in a single frame.

Overall, this Bhansali extravaganza is a royal treat for the period movie lovers and is indeed a masterpiece carved by SLB’s magnificent intelligence.