Bajirao Mastani-Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Imaginary Escapade...

The history of Indians distorting culture to provide for themselves is nothing new. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is no exception. He, on the the contrary goes one step further to make sure that his projections(in the most well-mannered way possible)are entrenched in peoples' minds, not only diverting them further away from the truth but also catastrophically giving them an unrealistically larger than life scenario of how things work.Well,let's not blame him solely for the latter,that's what Bollywood does anyway.

Let's start from the beginning shall we?

Cast-
Bajirao Ballal- Ranveer Singh
Kashibai - Priyanka Chopra
Mastani - Deepika Padukone
Radhabai - Tanvi Azmi

Let's just start by talking about the casting of this movie. What is this obsession with placing hugely famous movie stars in roles that don't even match their personalities let alone their physical appearances? This immense need of Bollywood to beautify everything way out of proportion makes me completely speechless.

For Ex-:

The Left-Bajirao Ballal(Original)
The Right-The Buffed Up Bajirao(Bhansali Version)
Is it not blatantly obvious?Bhansali's aim to blow things out of the water has been truly successful with this one,Bajirao(in his version) has a perfectly toned 6 pack whereas originally Bajirao though very athletic,was known for his strategy formation and attack plans.






The Left - Mastani(Original)
The Right -The overtly gorgeous Mastani (Bhansali Version)
This one is just plain embarrassing.They could have atleast tried to make Deepika look like the real Mastani! Mastani in real life was a sword wielding,hot tempered woman who was great at war and horse riding and held her pride on top of everything else,here,Deepika literally leaves her father who she apparently loves immensely to follow the Peshwa like a disease!She shows     practically no self respect..aahh..such is love!

The Left - Kashibai (Original)
The Right -The Glammed Up Kashibai
(Bhansali Version)
The first thing that comes to mind when I see these 2 pictures together is how simple the Original Kashibai was,and Priyanka on the other hand looks like she's just stepped down from a Marathi fashion show.Again,the light of glamour completely outshines this character's importance.A descendant of Kashibai claimed that Kashibai suffered from an arthritis-like ailment from a very young age and was bed-ridden most of her life,whereas,Priyanka has absolutely no problem in swinging with the beats of Pinga (the song performed by both Priyanka and Deepika).

The only character that seemed to be played beautifully well was that of Radhaibai Ballal (Bajirao's mother).This is no surprise as this character is played by the talented Tanvi Azmi.

As she is has a very strong personality in real life it's no shocker that she played Radhabai so well.Throughout the movie Radhabai is shown as a dominant and very clever mother who would go to any lengths to protect her son from all kinds of peril.From helping him in wars to preventing him from breaking his Brahmin traditions to marry Mastani, she has everything in her mind's eye,Though Radhabai has been shown as a ruthless woman trying to squish the peshwa's love for Mastani,I believe that her character could be seen in a much more complex light,something Bhansali has again,ruefully missed. Though Azmi did a well enough job of portraying Radhabai as intended,she could have had a lot more to do with the story.

That's all for now folks,this is Part 1 of my review and also my first post..so please be kind.Part 2 comes with loopholes in the story line..which(believe me)is going to be long and lots of other near and monumental misses by Bhansali bhai,so keep reading to know how this film turned out!

With this,I take your leave.

Camera...Rolling...Action!!

Opening Credits!!

Like in the very beginning of every single movie..my blog starts with a black screen..the name of the director rolling in from the very top.

In this case,that would be me. Akanksha..an avid film buff..a true blue lover of Gore and all things grotesque,a nocturnal being(as most of my movie viewings take place at night)and an amateur film reviewer.My sole purpose of releasing this film blog is to portray my own perspective of the films I've had the privilege to see and also of the ones that have imprinted on me...in both positive and negative aspects.I believe that films not unlike words leave shadows within our minds that affect us long after we have left that theater or our laptops.While some leave fond renditions of picturesque societies and people..others point out the brutalities of everything around us.Some introduce us to things we never knew existed and some make us feel non-existent...and then there are those lying in the in-between.

My blog shall consist of the films that I found thoughtful to write about and maybe even ones I couldn't go through.Some weird,some pleasant,some downright disturbing!..and some,well,warm and mushy.Maybe this would give you an insight to my taste.Now,while some of you may feel that my taste borders on the absurd as we go forward..I assure you that all the explicit content written in this blog about any of the films..if any(there will be)will come with a definite warning,so that you know exactly what you're getting into.Maybe it will save you from wasting your time and help to warn you about some disasters people call films or maybe it would lead to complete viewing elation.

Finally,I would love it if you guys can suggest some movies that you love..so I can check those out too!!(for me..more the better!).I thank all of you reading my previous blog..Nothing But Ordinary Glances At Extraordinary Things and encouraging me to start this little "experiment".I hope I can live up to your expectations and expectantly give you guys an honest picture of the movies I watch.

So here's to a new literary journey...

Camera...Rolling....Action!