Recently Seen Movies - 9 - Page 25

Bajirao Mastani (minor spoilers)

To put it in one sentence, BM is a combination of mythological shows & Kekta serials. The result is majorly cringeworthy. 150cr of cringe.

In an age where people all over the world are watching The Hobbit & Game Of Thrones level quality in battle/war/fight sequences...SLB made this trash. The fight scenes were so, so, so ridiculous and just clownish that I have to crown them as the worst part of the movie...even worse than the "story" that SLB shamelessly put forth. So unrealistic and not only amateur with the sequences themselves and the CGI, but even over the top acting...signalling some serious mythological show inspiration and execution. HOW can you claim to do a historical "epic" movie which is about kingdoms & warriors and you can't get the very basic thing decent? How!

The next worst thing: the point of this entire story...SLB actually tried to make the movie about how love has no religion or barriers...and the amount of harm and destruction he showed (involving family, children, an entire community) while still proceeding to GLORIFY and poeticize the thoughtless actions of two extremely selfish and one-dimensional characters...just plain unbelievable. Of course, people are allowed their creative freedom so he can do it...but giving this kind of message that respects no morals, no principles, no rights of others to people at large, whether that's adults, the youth, or children...is not responsible. You do not tell people that it is okay to ruin everything - not only for yourself but for numerous others - in the name of love and that this is something noble or aspirational. Irfan Khan's narration at the end of the movie almost infuriated me because of the way it painted the entire situation and the "message" it was trying to send in light of all the garbage SLB showed for more than 2 hours.

Acting & Characters:

SLB should be grateful to Ranveer that he was able to hold this whole film together by acting well in a character that exponentially loses your sympathy as time goes on. Bajirao starts out as a decent, very slightly appealing guy, but suddenly turns into a massive jerk who is selfish and cowardly. His character started picking fights, being antagonistic and just plain inconsiderate about anyone other than his instant-noodle love. Ranveer played it all with a lot of life and passion. I wouldn't give him a 100%, because there were some parts that felt slightly too melodramatic (drunk scene or two) and he still needs to improve on his expression of "vulnerability" which comes across puppy-like. Other than that, he was great. Unfortunately not a "Best Actor" role even though he acted as best as possible with the material provided.

Priyanka - 100%. Her scenes are a breath of fresh air, from the way she looks to the way she acts...all on point. Hated that SLB made her character "agree" and "side" with the love story, increasingly so near the end. This and Bajiao's mom were the two reasons why the movie was KEKTA all over. Sacrificial lamb and scheming MIL. Why go watch 2+ hours of this when we've been watching it for the past 15 years on TV!

The dark horse of the movie for me was Milind Sonam. He was solid throughout of course, but ONE scene and just one scene (where he looks Bajirao in the eyes and tells him that he cannot just give up on their army and its sacrifices as and when he pleases)...and boy did he steal it. So impactful. That is probably one of the Top 3 scenes in the movie. The rest of the best scenes were the ones between Bajirao and Kashi, both in terms of writing & performance. You could actually see why they made for a good match...they laughed & joked together, shared a lot of mutual respect & concern, and were even very sexually attracted to each other.

Deepika was sorely miscast. Forget that there is nothing regal about her looks or body language...but she was speaking like she's in some contemporary and urban town, not the daughter of royalty, raised in court and taught all the arts. She should have taken a cue from Ranveer who was sublime in the way he moulded his voice and delivery to the demands of the role and "time period" they were playing, while she stood in contrast to him and everyone else, speaking in her normal voice. Why didn't anyone tell her this was not okay? There was no thehraav or strength in her delivery and she mostly used this breathy, whispery voice to go along with the ghosty/obsessed look. Apart from that, she had deer-in-the-headlights expressions in bits that required her to talk up to someone (resulting in her getting SORELY outplayed by Kashi in one scene & Bajirao's brother in another scene where they basically insult the crap out of her in the most choice words)...but the worst of Deepika's parts in the movie were two: (1) the dance sequences - especially the first one where she dances in front of Bajirao & her parents - no difference between her and a tree and (2) this random, almost out of character "smile" she'd suddenly break into, ex. when Bajirao marries her/proceeds to hug her & then during her labour scene.

Coming to the character of Mastani - I would wish this on no one, not even Sonakshi, although she would have danced much better. This woman was essentially a selfish & obsessed stalker/fangirl hybrid, who was hellbent on getting accepted by the object of her affection...so much so that she ruined his life, that of those around him and even herself and her child's (and she was very proud of this!?!?!!?? " numerous hollow dialogues about ishq yeh toh isqh woh - in fact, that's all her dialogues in the movie.)

A lot of the supporting cast (special exception for the dude who played Bajirao's brother) was so bad...the visuals aren't gonna salvage robots and amateurs on screen, SLB!!!! Shoutout to the most artificial and cringeworthy actors such as Mastani's mother or Kashi's friend who appears in the beginning.

The love story is best summarized as "stalker convinces man that he is in love with her: proceeds to act like a virus and destroy everything around him." SLB wants us to believe this is very poetic.

Rating: 1.5/5 where 0.5 is for each of Ranveer, Priyanka, and Milind Sonam. Only people worth watching this messy and drag of a movie for. Unless you're a hardcore fan of anyone in the cast, might as well see it on TV because of how long it is and how much it reminds one of TV shows.

Its only the second day of release and I am already done with watching both BM and Dilwale😆... Couldn't wait. Here is my dilwale review. Will post BM's review later.😊

Dilwale:

Firstly I would like to say, I went to watch Dilwale with a friend and the theatre was literally PACKED...I checked bookings in other London cinemas and most of them were housefull. This is the first time I am watching any SRK film in theatre and I finally realize why he is called the KING of overseas market👏. I have not seen this level of excitement here for any other star's film

Now finally moving onto the review:

To summarize, I would say I loved certain things and thought other portions were meh!! I feel Rohit tried to fit way too many things into one movie. First there was the brother-brother and sister-sister bond thing, then there was Srk-Kajol love story and their history, then there were other stupid tracks like the one involving the car thief and also the one with the don called "King"...All these tracks just made the film confusing and I couldn't really understand what the film was about. Some of the solutions come too easily and the climax is just silly and underwhelming. And why is the film even called "Dilwale"?🤔...I don't really expect Rohit Shetty to make masterpieces but I have immensely enjoyed some of his works.. Golmaal 1 is one of my favorite BW comedies, and I have mentioned it atleast 10 times on this forum how much I adore CE. I feel Dilwale is a downgrade from them.😔 Nevertheless I still managed to enjoy 75% of the movie. I just think if only Rohit could take out some of the unnecessary subplot, and kept the story focused on the four main characters Dilwale would have been a much better film with greater repeat value.

Now coming to the performances:

The performances are nothing to write home about. But to give credit, I did enjoy some aspects of each of the 4 main performaces.

Shahrukh for example, I thought he was average in the normal comedy portion. But boy, how intense is he in the romantic passionate scenes with Kajol? 😳

Similarly Kajol, she seemed a bit out of depth in the comedy and lighthearted scenes.. But no one can do badass roles like Kajol.😆...I was blown away by her hotness and swagger in that scene were she comes out of the car and does that strut... Gosh how I wish the film was more focused on SRK and Kajol playing rival dons😆...I need more badass villainess Kajol.😈

Varun and Kriti served their purpose in the film. They were vibrant and fresh, that's all I can say. Varun, although hammy in some of the comedy scenes, was very on point in some of the emotional scenes. Kriti was pretty and she has an affable screen presence, and that's all she needed to be so I am alright with it.

The side characters I found annoying who only distracted from the core storyline. The only worthwhile scene was the "do you have a chintu" scene involving Kajol and Johnny Lever.😆

Other aspects

Nothing to really rave about here...It's the usual stuff you see in rohit shetty movies...

Rating

2.75/5 (a little above average, a decent entertainer)