Padmaavat

Padmaavat is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language epic historical drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Based on the epic poem of the same name by Malik Muhammad Jayasi, it stars Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, a Sinhalese-born Rajput queen known for her beauty, wife of Maharawal Ratan Singh, played by Shahid Kapoor. Sultan Alauddin Khilji, played by Ranveer Singh, hears of her beauty and attacks her kingdom to enslave her. Aditi Rao Hydari, Jim Sarbh, Raza Murad, and Anupriya Goenka are featured in supporting roles.

With a production budget of ₹180 crore (US$26.32 million)–₹190 crore (US$27.78 million), Padmaavat is one of the most expensive Indian films ever made. Initially scheduled for release on 1 December 2017, the film faced numerous controversies. Amid violent protests, its release was indefinitely delayed. The Central Board of Film Certification later approved the film with few changes, which includes the addition of multiple disclaimers and a change from its original title Padmavati. It was rescheduled for release on 25 January 2018 in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D formats, making it the first Indian film to be released in IMAX 3D.

Upon release, Padmaavat received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with praise for the visuals, costume design, cinematography, screenplay, soundtrack, and performances, but criticism for its pacing, runtime, and adherence to regressive patriarchal mores. Critics also disliked the portrayal of Khilji as a stereotypical evil Muslim king and Ratan Singh as the righteous Hindu king, which led to protests by the respective religious communities. Despite not being released in some states of India, it grossed over ₹571.98 crore (US$68 million) at the box office, becoming a major commercial success and the third highest-grossing Indian film of 2018.

At the 64th Filmfare Awards, Padmaavat received a leading 18 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (both for Bhansali), Best Actress (Padukone) and Best Actor (Singh), and won 4, including Best Actor (Critics) (Singh) and Best Music Director (Bhansali). It also won 3 National Film Awards, including Best Music Direction (Bhansali).

Plot

In 13th-century Afghanistan, Khilji ruler, Jalal-ud-din Khilji plans to take over the throne of Delhi. His nephew Alauddin Khilji asks for Jalaluddin's daughter Mehrunisa's hand in marriage. Their wedding is organised, but on the night of the event, Alauddin engages in adultery with another woman. A senior courtier witnesses the act, Shareef Pasha, and is promptly killed by Alauddin. Mehrunisa is informed of this during the wedding, leaving her horrified. The wedding occurs, and Alauddin is appointed as a lead general in Jalalauddin's army.

In Singhal, princess Padmavati accidentally wounds the Rajputi ruler of Mewar, Maharawal Ratan Singh, while hunting in a forest. As she treats him, he reveals that he has traveled to Sinhala to acquire rare pearls for his only wife Nagmati. Eventually, the two bond and fall in love. Ratan Singh asks for Padmavati's hand in marriage, she agrees, and with permission from her father, they are married.

Jalaluddin takes over the throne of Delhi and sends Alauddin to repel a Mongol invasion. Alauddin is successful in doing so, but undertakes an unsanctioned raid on Devagiri. He captures the princess there, and makes her his concubine. Jalaluddin's wife and nephew, Itaat Khan, warns him against Alauddin's ambition to take over the throne. However, he journeys to Kara to meet Alauddin and gifts him the slave Malik Kafur. Alauddin has Jalalauddin's ministers assassinated by Malik Kafur, and Jalalauddin is killed by one of Alauddin's generals. Alauddin then returned to Delhi and declared himself the new Sultan. Over time, Alauddin and Kafur become very close, and Kafur rises to become a general in Alauddin's army.

Padmavati journeys to Mewar with Ratan Singh and is blessed by his royal priest, Raghav Chetan. Chetan later intrudes into the palace secretly and spies upon an intimate moment between Ratan and Padmavati, and is subsequently banished. He then travels to Delhi and informs Alauddin of Padmavati's beauty. Alauddin, who is fixated with having anything that is exceptional, invites the Rajputs to Delhi, but his invitation is rejected. Enraged, he lays siege to Ratan Singh's capital Chittor. After six months of an unsuccessful siege, Alauddin feigns peace on account of Holi and is allowed to enter Chittor, where he meets Ratan Singh. He asks to see Padmavati; Ratan Singh grants this request, but only momentarily while preventing Alauddin from seeing her face. Ratan Singh is tricked by Khilji and is taken to Delhi as a prisoner.

Upon Queen Nagmati's insistence, Padmavati agrees to see Alauddin under some conditions: she will meet Ratan first, there would be no male guardians during their meet and Chetan will be executed for his earlier treachery. Alauddin agrees; Padmavati then travels to Delhi to meet him. Meanwhile, Alauddin survives an assassination plot by his nephew, though he is wounded. When his nephew visits him recovering in bed to finish him off, Alauddin awakens and kills him. The Rajputs, disguised in women's dress, plan to ambush the Khilji soldiers in the morning, at the time for morning namāz. Padmavati, along with Chittor's generals, Gora and Badal, frees Ratan Singh, and escapes with Mehrunisa's help. Ratan confronts Alauddin, who urges Ratan to take this opportunity to kill him in his weakened state. However, Ratan refuses as this is against the Rajput creed of not attacking the wounded. The Rajput ambush goes ahead as planned, but the Khilji soldiers are alerted to it and repulse the attack, killing the Rajputs who allow the King and Queen to escape.

Alauddin imprisons Mehrunisa for helping the Rajputs and marches to Chittor. He and Ratan Singh engage in a single duel; Alauddin is wounded and drops his sword, Ratan is about to kill him when Kafur takes the opportunity to mortally wound Ratan while his back is turned with arrows. While dying, he berates Alauddin and his forces for fighting dishonorably. As Alauddin's army conquers Chittor, the Rajput women, led by Padmavati, commit Jauhar (mass suicide by immolation) to protect their honor and dignity from the invading army. The film concludes with Padmavati entering the fire with a faint smile, indicating her collective bravery, indomitable spirit and defiance against Alauddin, leaving him furious. Although Alauddin wins the battle, he is ultimately defeated in his pursuit of Padmavati.

Cast

Production

Development

An adaptation of Malik Muhammad Jayasi's epic Padmavat (1540), Sanjay Leela Bhansali had been planning a film adaptation for a decade. He first worked on a television adaptation as an assistant editor for Shyam Benegal's television series Bharat Ek Khoj (1988), based on Jawaharlal Nehru's The Discovery of India (1946), featuring an episode about Padmaavat starring Om Puri as Alauddin Khilji. In 2008, Bhansali produced an opera version in Paris, inspiring him to begin work on a film version. Padmaavat also took inspiration from other earlier adaptations of the epic, including Bengali literary adaptations from Kshirode Prasad Vidyavinode in 1906 and Abanindranath Tagore in 1909, the Tamil film Chittoor Rani Padmini (1963), and the Hindi film Maharani Padmini (1964).

Pre-production on the film began in July 2016. That same month, playback singer Shreya Ghoshal tweeted about performing a song composed by Bhansali for the film. Many media outlets speculated that Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, who played the leads in Bhansali's Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013) and Bajirao Mastani (2015), were finalised to play Rani Padmavati and Alauddin Khilji in the film. In October 2016, it was announced that Bhansali would team up with Viacom 18 Motion Pictures to produce the film with Singh and Padukone along with Shahid Kapoor as Rawal Ratan Singh, playing the lead roles.

Casting

Padmaavat is the third collaboration between Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The trio had worked before in Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013) and Bajirao Mastani (2015), while it is Kapoor's first film with the three. Their co-star from the previous films, Priyanka Chopra was also in consideration to play the title role.

Shah Rukh Khan was offered the role of Rawal Ratan Singh but felt it was not "meaty" enough and declined; failure to agree on his fee may have been a factor. Bhansali offered the role to Sushant Singh Rajput, but he had to turn down the role over scheduling issues. Shahid Kapoor was finally cast with an assurance of a good enough part and a hefty fee. For his role, Kapoor undertook rigorous training under trainer Samir Jaura and followed a strict diet for 40 days. He also learnt sword fighting and the basics of Mardani khel, a weapon-based martial art, and admitted that it had been one of the most physically and emotionally challenging roles of his career.