The Story:
Set in 1303 AD medieval India, Padmaavat is the story of honor, valor and obsession. Queen Padmavati is known for her exceptional beauty along with a strong sense of justice and is the wife of Maharawal Ratan Singh and pride of the Kingdom of Chittor, a prosperous kingdom in the north west of India. The legend of her beauty reaches the reigning sultan of Hindustan – Allaudin Khilji. The sultan who is a tyrant, is fixated with wanting anything that is of exceptional beauty for himself. He lays siege on the impregnable fortress of Chittorgarh. After a grueling 6 months, he returns empty handed. He becomes obsessed and now wants to capture Chittor and its Queen at any cost. He returns with a bigger army and ranging fury. He attacks Chittor with brutal force and a bloody and fearsome battle takes places between the righteous Maharawal Ratan Singh defending his kingdom and the honor of his queen and Sultan Allaudin Khilji. Khilji manages to breach the fortress but in vain as the Queen chooses to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect her dignity.
What I liked:
- the sets were awesome. From the forts, to the travelling army, to the cave temples, everything was epic, immense and detailed. A visual treat
- the star cast was flawless, and all of them did a wonderful job together and separately and brought the story to life
- the premise of the story made sense. It was about narcissism and obsession, and I can believe that a ruler would be thus
- the ghoomer dance made me want to dance...like I used to :)
- the one-on-one sword fight between Rana and Khilji à la Troy (Achilles and Hector)
- the shades of Alexander (movie and historical figure)
What I'm perplexed about:
- Deepika Padukone's caterpillar unibrow. Made no sense and I kept missing her dialogue because I was so diverted by it
- why the women couldn't first discuss escape instead of straight jumping into the Jauhar conversation. At least try and escape first, which considering the bold and strategic thinker they've shown Padmavati as, should've occurred to her through Mr. Bhansali
- Khilji could've been a little less mad and we'd still have believed his obsession and narcissism
- where were the little baby boys and toddlers when their mothers were committing Jauhar and their fathers were dying on the battlefield? Did they leave those poor boys to be captured and tortured?
Conclusion:
An afternoon well spent, foibles and all.
