like the movie. Otherwise, you may feel it a bit boring — too much talk about Rajput valour, war scenes are ordinary, picks up pace in the second half. Overall, the movie doesn’t grip you.
Here are more reviews from other critics.
Ratings:1.5/5 Review By:Raja Sen Site:NDTV
The problem lies not in Padmaavat being a costume drama, but in the fact that there is too much costume, too little drama. In the film’s opening scene, we see a king chewing roughly on a piece of poultry. This is a surprisingly small, tandoori-sized handful of bird, nothing compared to the way we have, in international film and television, watched vikings gnaw at giant animal legs the size of motorcycles. Therein lies the problem. There’s not nearly enough meat.
Ratings:2.5/5 Review By:Shubhra Gupta Site:Indianexpress
Of course, Padmaavat is spectacular: no one can do spectacle like Bhansali. This was what he was born to do. You can easily delight in it while the going is good. But nearly three hours of it, and looping rhetoric around what constitutes Rajput valour can and does become tiresome. And that compulsion to make ‘sati’ so good-looking, when the singeing of flesh can be so gruesome, is troubling.
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Ratings:3.5/5 Review By:Rajeev Masand Site:News18
But the film belongs to Ranveer Singh whose delicious performance is its biggest strength. The actor keeps you invested in the film even when it plods on for over two-and-a-half hours. I’m going with three out of five for the film and another half for his extraordinary performance, making it three-and-a-half out of five for Padmaavat.
Ratings:4.5/5 Review By:Taran Adarsh Site:Bollywood Hungama
One more thing: The Hindi film industry has badly used and abused 3D, turning it into a gimmicky tool, but Bhansali is one of those rare storytellers who knows how to utilize the technology to his advantage and how it can enhance the overall theatrical experience. Having watched PADMAAVAT on IMAX 3D, I can only state that the results were simply stunning.On the whole, PADMAAVAT is a remarkable motion picture experience that’s backed by proficient direction, spellbinding screenwriting and superlative acting. For Sanjay Leela Bhansali, it’s the best title on an impressive filmography. A sure-shot winner at the box-office!
Ratings:4/5 Review By:Saibal Chatterjee Site:TOI
If there’s one thing that keeps us from brooding too much through the film, it is Ranveer Singh. Not once does he try to make us like him, and that makes us like him even more. As a performer, he has always been unpredictable, in a good way. As Bhansali’s Khilji, he is electric. And try as anyone might, so is the attraction between the outsider and the queen: it is their doomed love story, whose embers rain on the screen, that we take away with us.Take that, senas.
Padmaavat Story
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Cast: Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor
Run Time: 2 hours and 40 Minutes
Producer: Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Sudhanshu Vats, Ajit Andhare
Padmaavat Release Date: Jan 25, 2018 ( India)
A low he film is based on the legend of Rani Padmavati, a legendary Hindu Rajput queen, mentioned in Padmavat, an Awadhi language epic poem written by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi in 1540.According to Padmavat, she was the wife of Ratan Sen (called Rawal Ratan Singh in later legends), the Rajput ruler of Mewar. In 1303, Alauddin Khilji, the Turko-Afghan ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, laid siege to the Chittor Fort in Rajputana. According to Padmavat, Khilji led the invasion motivated by his desire to capture Padmavati. The men of the city stormed out in a final mortal sally to kill as many of the enemy before falling. Padmavati is said to have committed jauhar (self-immolation) along with all the other women of the city to protect their honour and to avoid being captured by Khilji.
Besides Hindi, Padmaavat was released in Tamil and Telugu as well.
Ghoomar Song from ‘Padmaavat’ a Rage Around the World
Watch figure-skater champion Mayuri Bhandari twirl to the Ghoomar song from’Padmaavat’ on ice. The video, posted on Youtube has gone viral. “In honour of the film Padmaavat’s release, here is my ice skating tribute to the beautiful song Ghoomar! As a Rajasthani, I skate to this song with pride!” she captioned the the video.
Ice skater performs on Ghoomar.
Karni sena made a big fuss because Deepika’s midriff was revealed in the Ghoomar song, which was eventually covered using VFX. Wonder what they would do on seeing her red costume? How dare she depicts Rani Padmavati in those skimpy clothes? Glad she is not in India.
Aparna Yadav, daughter in law of Mulayam Singh Yadav performed on the ‘Ghoomar’ song of Padmavati at a function in Lucknow. Aparna’s father Arvind Singh Bisht, Uttar Pradesh’s information commissioner told NDTV, “We have no interest in any film or any scandal around it. At these private wedding functions, people often dance to folk songs and film songs. That was the spirit in which she danced.”
#WATCH Aparna Yadav,daughter in law of Mulayam Singh Yadav performs on the ‘Ghoomar’ song of #Padmavati at a function in Lucknow pic.twitter.com/3BkCcprJsm
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 29, 2017
Deepika Padukone’s Ghoomar Performed at NBA Match to Loud Cheers.
Watch Ghoomar performed by the dancers at an NBA match here: (This will definitely make your day)
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Karni Sena takes u-turn, ‘Padmaavat’ protests politically motivated?
All of a sudden, Karni Sena has decided to withdraw its protest against the film Padmaavat, and now say that film glorifies the Rajput community (which they realized after watching the movie) and will now help the film get a release in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
“I never understood what the protest was all about. I still don’t understand. I am just happy that the film has been released and appreciated widely. Of course we’d like our film to release in the states where it has been so far not been released. Isn’t that the least we can expect after all we’ve gone through?”, Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Malaysia bans controversial Bollywood movie Padmaavat
Malaysia has banned Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bollywood movie Padmaavat. According to The Film Censorship Board of Malaysia (LPF), the movie has elements that touch on Muslim sensitivities. The local distributor’s appeal to lift the ban on the movie was rejected.
Bollywood fans in Malaysia are disappointed, with many saying that had it been an SRK film, they would have allowed the film to release. Few of them said they would travel to Singapore to see the movie.
You can now see the Khalibali song from Padmaavat on television, as part of the movies promotion. The song has been sung by Shivam Pathak, music is by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Lyrics by A M Turaz.
Director Shankar watches Padmaavat, impressed by Ghoomar Song
One of India’s top directors, Shankar, watched Padmaavat recently and tweeted good things about the movie.
Director Shankar, whose 2.0 movie (with Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar) will be releasing soon took time off work to watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat.
Shankar, impressed by the historical, tweeted “Padmavati- Engaging with Amazing visuals. Good to see fantastic work of Sudeep,Prod.designer,Costume designer, Deepika, Ranveer and ofcourse Sanjay. Ghoomar…wah what a song.”
Well, he forgot to mention Shahid?
Padmavati- Engaging with Amazing visuals. Good to see fantastic work of Sudeep,Prod.designer,Costume designer,Deepika,Ranveer and ofcourse Sanjay. Ghoomar…wah what a song
— Shankar Shanmugham (@shankarshanmugh) January 29, 2018
Meanwhile, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor came together to celebrate the success of Padmaavat. The lead actors had a success party after the movie crossed Rs 100 crore (the movie has now crossed 150cr).
This is the first time the three actors have come together to promote Padmaavat. Because of the protests, it was suggested the three actors don’t come together to promote the film, but now that people have watched the film and appreciating it, the three actors thought it was safe to pose together to celebrate the success of the film.
While Rs.150 crore may not be much for a big budget film like Padmavat, the fact that the movie was banned in four states in India and many cinema owners across India refused to screen it, makes it an achievement of sorts, and of-course a tight slap on the face of the protesters.
The movie is doing very well in the overseas market as well and the collections are only going to increase.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says ‘Padmaavat’ honours Rajput warriors and pays tribute to Rani Padmini
Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar recently watched Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Padmaavat’ during a special screening at his ashram in Bangalore and says there’s nothing objectionable in the film. In fact, Sri Sri loved the film and said the film honours Rajput warriors and pays tribute to Rani Padmini.
Sri Sri said the magnum opus will make us feel proud and everyone should go and watch it.
I’m sure after the movie is released, many will wonder why there was so much fuss around the movie.
Supreme Court Won’t Ban the Film
The Supreme court of India sides with the producers of Padmaavat, says if bandit queen can be released, why not this movie? The producers had challenged the ban by four states- Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.
“A film may bomb at the box office or people may choose to not watch it, but states cannot use their machinery to prohibit its exhibition citing risk to public order,” said the judges.
The producers had referred to a past Supreme Court order that a film cannot be banned based on anticipated law and order trouble. “If states are banning a film, then it destroys the federal structure. States can’t touch the content of a film. If anybody has a problem, they can approach the appellate tribunal,” argued senior lawyer Harish Salve on behalf of Padmaavat’s producers.
Rajput groups in India (especially the Rajput Karni Sena) have strongly opposed the release of the 190-crore film ‘Padmavat’ because they feel that their legendary queen has been falsely depicted in the movie. Several states in India including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, have decided not to screen the Deepika Padukone starring film, until the objections are resolved. The film’s main lead Deepika Padukone and director Bhansali were given extra police security after threats of against them (a BJP leader from Haryana has offered 10 crores for their beheading).
Padmavati trailer looks superb, expectations rise
Trailer of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Padmavati’ took the internet by storm, everybody loved it. Overwhelmed by the response to the trailer, Ranveer Singh (looks awesome in the villainous character) took to his social media accounts to thank everyone.
In the trailer, Ranveer Singh is outstanding, Deepika looks beautiful, and Shahid Kapoor is calm and his dialogue delivery superb.
“Senior peers, friends in the media and the trade, and most of all our BELOVED AUDIENCE…Thank you, from the bottom of my heart to each and every one of you who have been so generous in effusively showering love and appreciation for our trailer. To witness this avalanche of praise across the board is unprecedented and overwhelming. It’s very rare ..and very, very humbling,” wrote Ranveer.
Padmavati Trivia
While the film seems to have the perfect cast…Deepika Padukone as Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as Rana Rawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khilji, Sanjay Leela Bhansali was turned down by several Bollywood A-listers (male actors) when he was in the process of casting for the film.
SLB approached several top actors, but all the big stars rejected the film as they felt it was a female oriented film movie with Deepika in the lead. Some of them were willing to work provided SLB was willing to change the title to make it sound less like a woman-centric film, but the director did not budge.
No mobile phones allowed on Padmavati film set
After a film fan club managed to get a picture of the lavish set erected in Film City, lead actor Shahid Kapoor is ensuring that the film set turns into a no-phone zone.
“Shahid Kapoor is trying to set an example by depositing his phone with the security guard as soon as he arrives for shoot. Usually, actors are accompanied by their managers, who take calls on their behalf. But Shahid doesn’t believe in that practice. Moreover, he doesn’t want any distractions,” says unit hand says.
Padmavati Controversies
Describing as “mischievous” a report in a Mumbai tabloid stating that Sanjay Leela Bhansali intends to hold reconciliatory meetings with the Chief Ministers of the States which have banned Padmavati, a source close to the filmmaker completely denied the truth of the report. No doubt, SLB went to Delhi to meet the Parliamentary Committee for an amicable discussion. However, that was done out of respect for the Parliament. Otherwise, the director has no intentions of meeting anyone to convince him/her to release his film.
Despite all the controversies, the filming of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s (SLB) Padmavati was completed more or less as planned.
Padmavati’s film set in Kolhapur was attacked, losses estimated to be around Rs 4 crore. Besides the set, lavish costumes of the actors (Shahid Kapoor and Deepika Padukone) were gutted in the fire. Valuable antiques and vehicles were also burnt. A large number of camels, elephants and horses were also present at the venue in Kolhapur (to shoot a battle scene). Luckily for the filmmakers, only one horse was grievously injured. Kolhapur police registered an offence under Section 436 of IPC (mischief by fire or explosive with intent to damage house), rioting and arson.
30-odd hooligans carried out a midnight attack (hurled petrol bombs) on the lavish set of Padmavati near Kolhapur (Maharashtra), forcing the makers of the film file a police complaint. This is the second such attack on the sets of Padmavati. Earlier the Jaipur set was also attacked.
Update: #Padmavati set in Kolhapur burnt by 50-60 men, #SanjayLeelaBhansali currently on set; see pictures here: https://t.co/OzRPDK6o1I pic.twitter.com/OAGU44wBgx
— Firstpost (@firstpost) March 15, 2017
Activists stormed Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati film set in Jaigarh Fort (Jaipur), vandalized the set and even slapped the director Bhansali.
Activists of the Rajput Karni Sena (RKS) beat up Bhansali because they were outraged that the film had love scenes between Padmavati and Alauddin Khilji, played by actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, respectively. They demanded that Bhansali delete any such scenes.
Rajput Karni Sena had also protested during the shooting of Jodha Akbar.
“Kya Sanjay Leela Bhansali ki haisiyat hai Germany jaake Hitler ke khilaf film banane ki?”. (Does Sanjay Leela Bhansali have the courage to make a movie in Germany portraying Hitler in poor light) – Lokendra Singh Kalvi of Rajput Karni Sena
The Padmavati tale has never been proven or recorded in history. It was an allegorical poem (and not a retelling of history) written by 16th century Sufi poet Malik Muhamad Jayasi. The poem is about a Rajput queen who decided to immolate herself instead of becoming the wife of the Delhi sultan, Alauddin Khilji.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Akhilesh Khandelwal from Madhya Pradesh, has offered a reward of Rs 10,000 to anyone who slaps ‘Padmavati’ director Sanjay Leela Bhansali with a shoe…for trying to “distort history”. He said that it was his “responsibility to rein in such forces”. Akhilesh, put the offer on Facebook where he has over 10,000 odd Facebook followers.
UK censor board cleared Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film “Padmavati” however the producers say that they will not release the movie in UK before it is cleared in India.
The British Board of Film Classification cleared the movie for December 1 release. The movie is listed on its official website, with the comments: “moderate violence, injury detail.”
PADMAVATI (12A) moderate violence, injury detail https://t.co/2S1pF33WVN
— BBFC (@BBFC) November 22, 2017
Meanwhile, twitterati cheered the BBFC for their “impartial” judgment. Some hit back at the state of affairs in India by drawing references to web series ‘The Crown’ that is based on Britain’s reigning Queen Elizabeth II and there were no protests against the movie.
The Crown on Netflix has been filmed while the Queen is alive, with some unflattering, very private details scripted into it and no Briton has reacted. #Padmavati’s existence is itself fictional and death threats have been issued to filmmaker’s. Well done India 👏👏
— Jai Singh (@JaiHe) November 23, 2017
No one knew about #KarniSena until #Padmavati controversy and now its leader, Lokendra Singh appeals to NRI’s in Britain to boycott the movie after it passes British censor board!!😂 pic.twitter.com/9YwXZ56Ofb
— Abraham Eliazer (@nautankwadi) November 23, 2017
Padmavati is based on Queen Padmini, who first featured in the 16th century epic poem “Padmavat”. While historians are divided on whether Queen Padmini actually existed, the legend is that after her husband was killed in battle, Padmini chose to jump into a pyre to avoid being taken captive by Khilji, who was obsessed with her beauty.
Ranveer Singh answers media from atop his car on Padmavati
Ranveer Singh is one of the three lead actors of Padmavati, which is in the midst of a raging controversy in India.
The actor had gone for the launch of a sports merchandise store in Santacruz recently. But because of the controversy, a huge crowd of media people had gathered outside waiting to talk to the star.
Ranveer Singh obliged by answering their questions by standing on top of his car. He took police protection while addressing the media.
Despite the threats, Ranveer Singh said he was 200 percent with his director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
“Given that it is very sensitive time right now, I have been specifically asked not to say anything. Whatever official communication with regards to the film needs to be made, you will receive it from the producers,” said Ranveer Singh.
Earlier, Ranveer Singh shared a wrap-up picture of his character, Alauddin Khilji with his fans. The picture shows Ranveer as Khilji in a black and white portrait image. He captioned the image, “And it’s a wrap! Goodbye Alauddin. 1 year and a few weeks later, I bid thee farewell. May your restless soul find its peace… #Khilji”.
And it’s a wrap!
Goodbye Alauddin. 1 year and a few weeks later, I bid thee farewell. May your restless soul find its peace… #Khilji pic.twitter.com/Q958NazuJC— Ranveer Singh (@RanveerOfficial) November 4, 2017
Bollywood voices their angst against this incident…
Initially, lot of people were concerned that top Bollywood actors & celebrities had not voiced their concern over the incident.
When the film industry stays silent during such controversies and even hobnob with the leaders of these political parties (Kalvi and Rajput Karni Sena, Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Nirman Sena, Bajrang Dal), instead of coming out against absurd demands by them, more such incidents are likely to emerge in future.
Many also feel that there was no need for Deepika Padukone to clarify, “As Padmavati I can assure you that there is absolutely no distortion of history”. Because these small political parties latch on to such things, and get an opportunity to tell the filmmakers what to shoot.
“If you Bollywood ppl will just talk on Twitter without taking proper action then today SLB has got slapped n tomorrow you all will get slapped,” Kamaal R. Khan.
However, several celebrities did speak up against the incident.
Actor Sushant Singh Rajput dropped his surname on social media platform Twitter as a mark of protest against activists of Rajput organisation Shree Rajput Karni Sena, who misbehaved with the crew of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming film “Padmavati” and vandalised the set.
Karan Johar, “Having been through many instances of turmoil during a film shoot or release…i understand Sanjay’s emotion at this point…I stand by him…Am appaled at what has happened with Sanjay Bhansali…this is the time for all of us as an industry to stand by our people and fraternity!!”
Anurag Kashyap, “Hindu extremists have stepped out of twitter into the real world now…and Hindu terrorism is not a myth anymore.”
Anurag’s comment on Hindu terrorism wasn’t taken well by many. And thats when one tweeted, “@anuragkashyap72 hey buddy let me give you free advice “stop sleeping with @karanjohar”. Karan (who usually doesn’t lose his cool) didn’t like it and replied with, “Let me give you some better advice!! Start sleeping with someone!!! You frustated F*ck!!!”
Shabana Azmi: “I condemn the reprehensible attack on Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Is it a mere coincidence that the attack on the film Water many years ago was also in a BJP ruled state? The guilty must be punished and the film industry should stand firmly together and do whatever it takes to ensure that such an incident is never repeated. This has reached flash point.”
Prasoon Joshi: “I condemn what happened with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He is a stalwart and a gentle soul. Violence can never be the solution. The idea of democracy is not to feed the animal in us but to nurture human values.”
Sudhir Mishra: “It’s about time the film industry stands up together and demand justice. When you slap Sanjay, you slap all of us and we should not take it lying down.”
Rakesh Roshan: “Very very shocking and uncalled for behaviour. If anyone had a grievance things could have settled in a dignified way. I am with Sanjay all the way.”
Shekhar Suman strongly condemned the attack on the set of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati, saying “These heroes should be put behind the bars at least for 10 years. They think they are thekedar (contractors) of our society and trying to make history. A film is made with a lot of research work. If there was any disagreement that could be sorted out in a proper discussion.”
Shah Rukh Khan also reacted to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati row, but he was politically correct. Check out this video which shows SRK’s response to the SLB incident. Post your thoughts in the comments below and stay hooked with us for more.
India is really a poor country when it comes to wrong beliefs. The people here are low in mentality. Padmavati movie lost too much money because of people of Rajasthan.
Movie Budget with Advertising & Marketing is 200 Crores. Production budget is 170 Crore and Advertising/Marketing/Promotion budget is 30 Crore.
Usually 50 % goes to the theatre and 50 % to the producer. Movie has to do 400 Crores at the world wide box office to recover its cost of 200 Crore. It will NOT reach there even if we include USA, Canada, UK , Australia , New Zealand, Middle East, India and few other countries.
But with digital rights , TV Cable rights, musical rights, DVD rights it might just break even. No profit and No loss.
But just from Box Office it will not make a profit as the cost of production is too huge. It will have to depend on other revenues as mentioned above.
Ranveer will enter the elite 200 cr club with padmavat. Akshay still to achieve that feat.
SRK jab chalta tha tab khudko aisa dikhata tha jaisa woh kisiko respect nahi karta. Salman to uska dushman tha, aur bhi actors ko woh hamesa nicha dikhata tha. King khan sunke usko maza aata tha. Aaj uska result dekho. JHMS 62cr..Fan 83cr…Raees super flop.
Salman, Akki and Amir kabhi aisa nahi karte, aaj bhi woh chal rahe hai… hahaha
Its a useless, meaningless, energy-less movie. Even if it crosses 150 crore, big deal. The war scenes look as if you are watching a television serial. Bhansali only knows how to make good songs.
Her acting skills are nothing special, I don’t want to go in details just this much that any heroine can act as good as her easily. She’s not Kangana Ranaut, now her acting skills are exceptional along with her priceless expressions, she is epitome of what a superb actress suppose to portray her skills.. Wait for manikarnika and you’ll see for yourself and only then you’ll realize how ordinary Deepika acting ability is.