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And then we tear our gaze away from the lush sets and the gorgeously attired actors \u2013 Priyanka Chopra playing Kashibai, Bajirao\u2019s wife, Deepika Padukone as the film\u2019s eponymous Mastani ( lover, concubine, second wife?)and the equally beauteous Singh, and demand the very thing we come to the movies for: a story. (Read Review of Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol\u2019s \u2018Dilwale\u2019)<\/p>\n
And we don\u2019t find it, or chance upon it only sporadically, in between all the song-and-dances, and the set-pieces in the battle-fields and the palaces. Oh look, there\u2019s a lovely chandelier, and gasp, what a beautiful glass palace ( `Mughal-e-Azam\u2019 has a lot to answer for when it comes to our fascination with glass studded walls and ceilings), but excuse us, where\u2019s the plot point? See Pics: Bajirao Mastani releases, Here\u2019s why Deepika Padukone\u2019s movie can be on your watch list.<\/p>\n
All you enraged historians, breathe easy. With a disclaimer in place, the film doesn\u2019t even pretend to be a faithful document of the events that took place in the early 1700s, when the Maratha empire in its ascendency. The facts, such as they are recorded, are not allowed to weigh heavy upon this pretty edifice. There is some chatter of the \u2018debauched Dilli darbar\u2019 and ambitions for \u2018poora Hindustan\u2019; a couple of kohled, bearded Mughal invaders show up with their armies, as well as scenes featuring a crafty \u2018Dakkhani Nizam\u2019. But these are stray mentions, and mere diversions : the real action in \u2018Bajirao Mastani\u2019 is in the bedrooms and boudoirs and hallways, between Bajirao and brave \u2018Bundalkhandi\u2019 lass Mastani, with Kashibai valiantly fighting a rearguard action. Also read: Dilwale or Bajirao Mastani: Who will win the box office battle on Friday?<\/p>\n
It is hard to imagine anyone else as Bajirao after Singh finishes chewing up the part ( and, to my untrained ears, cracking the Marathi accent), and owning the film \u2013 he swaggers, struts and ruts, an actor fully enjoying himself. Priyanka Chopra\u2019s hurt wife has a couple of strong moments ( in fact, the only remotely felt sequence in the film belongs to Chopra and Tanvi Azmi, who plays Bajirao\u2019s widowed, ambitious mother, as they ponder over the meaning of love and betrayal, and the man they are tied to). Deepika Padukone is lovely as usual, and creates sizzle with Ranveer Singh, but hasn\u2019t melded with the part. Her Mastani is all dressed up, and acting away. And of course, we get an item number with the two lovelies\u2014aiming for total \u2018paisa-vasool\u2019 two-for-the-price-of-one,\u2014but \u2018Pinga\u2019 felt such a tired \u2018Dola Re\u2019 rip-off, only spectacle, not spectacular. <\/p>\n
But too quickly you tire of all the showiness. The grandiosity wears off. You long for a genuinely moving, exciting story, featuring all these beautiful people, all actors able to pull off characters, but buried under their mounds of clothes, mouthing dialogue. \u2018Bajirao Mastani\u2019 had the potential to be a terrific historical. You want to be transported. What it ends up being is a costume drama : too many costumes, too much revved-up, empty drama, and too little plot.\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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