Before Padmaavat even came out in Indian theaters, it was controversial. Groups of Rajputs, a warrior caste in India, objected to the portrayal of the famous Hindu queen in the movie, arguing that the film diminished her honor by having her dance and showing her in a relationship with a muslim ruler. Many groups staged violent protests in the streets, put a literal bounty on the actors’ heads, called for the nose to be cut off the actress who played Padmavati, etc. As a result of this, the movie was banned in several Indian states.
This controversy was dramatic, but the movie itself? It was just ok. The movie, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali , centers around the legendary Queen Padmavati (Deepika Padukone), and Sultan Alauddin’s (Ranveer Singh) efforts to siege the fort of King Ratan Singh (Shahid Kapoor) in order to take her. Being set in Indian medieval times, the sets and costumes were gorgeous, full of color and glitter. It was a pleasure to see gold laden outfits and grand castles. The CGI on the other hand was atrocious (try to look at the ostrich in the beginning of the movie and not laugh) but I can forgive that. The storyline was interesting enough to keep me engaged throughout the movie. The fight and battle scenes were entertaining to watch. The songs were nice blend of classical yet still catchy (my favorite is the one where Alauddin dances in celebration of an upcoming victory). The only element that was hit or miss (except for the CGI) was the characters, whose motivations and development had a major role in the film.
The best character by far is Alauddin, and I think that’s because he’s the villain. As a villain, he is charming when he wants something from someone, ruthless in his power-play, and irreverent to everyone but himself. I enjoyed the way the film handled his relationship with his first wife, Mehru (Aditi Rao Hydari). She is at first happy to be marrying him until she discovers his true self, then has to put up with humiliations and Alauddin getting obsessed with a woman he’s never seen before. The abusive, one-sided relationship was well portrayed and it fit exactly the kind of character Alauddin is. He conquers other kingdoms, goes into battles, thirsts for power and “everything precious.” His arrogance and greed was fun to watch.
His foil, King Ratan Singh of Singhal, is noble, honorable, and principled. Those qualities are what make him vanilla instead of very interesting, however, especially compared to Alauddin. The movie portrays Ratan Singh as just in most every situation, which is ok most of the time, since he is actually just in most situations. His unbreakable principals, however, sometimes stretch credulity. Your enemy is sitting right there, and the only reason you don’t defeat him is because of your honour?
These are just quibbles, because really the most underwhelming character is Padmavati herself. She is supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the universe, so beautiful that Brahmin prophecies bend to her, that people immediately admire her once they see her, and that King Ratan Singh has to prevent Sultan Alauddin from even seeing her lest he become obsessed at that instant. The problem is that she doesn’t seem more intrinsically more beautiful than any other young woman in the movie. Don’t get me wrong, Deepika Padukone is a very pretty actress, but it’s hard to say that she’s that different from the others. For most of the movie, my mother and I had trouble differentiating between Padmavati and Mehru, Alauddin’s first wife, especially when they’re both in similar jewelry and dress.
It works in the 16th century poem because it’s possible to simply say that so and so is the most beautiful in the whole world (maybe use a metaphor or two), but in a movie it’s a little more difficult, since real-life beauty is more subjective than literary beauty. The creators must have foreseen this problem, because they added abilities and personality traits to her, many of which were only partially successful. At her introduction, Padmavati is alone in the forest hunting CGI deer with a lot of extraordinary athleticism and skill at the bow and arrow, presumably to set her apart from the average girl. She doesn’t use this skill again for the rest of the movie. This special skill attracts Ratan Singh whom she shoots while noticing someone/thing following her. When the arrow goes into Ratan Singh’s chest, he stares at her then says “you’re arrow hit it’s mark” before falling on top of her, then insta-love ensues in the days after. A little later comes a confusing trivia scene with the Brahmin priest about beauty to prove she’s intelligent (I think?).
However, even Padmavati is enjoyable to watch after one gets past the cliche parts of her character in the beginning of the movie. As an established couple, King Ratan Singh and Queen Padmavati work. Padmavati argues with her husband about showing her face to Alauddin and being free to make her own decisions, and Ratan Singh struggles between protecting her and treating her like an equal. There’s also a little bit of conflict with Ratan Singh’s first wife which I feel could’ve been explored more, but it did serve its purpose for the movie.
Padmavaat is the type of movie that’s hard to put down once one has started watching, but in the end doesn’t have as much depth or nuance as I’d have hoped, at least on the protagonist side. The gorgeous setting, the choreography, and the character Alauddin himself made it worth it for me. As for the controversy, I have no idea where it comes from, because I couldn’t find anything in the movie that was offensive, especially not to Hindu nationalists. There wasn’t even a romance between a Muslim ruler and a Hindu Queen. If anything, it would’ve been more interesting to me if it went to more controversial or morally grey areas.
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