Not being an expert or fan of Indian films, I was shocked — shocked, do you hear?— to discover the work of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the Cecil B. DeMille/David Lean and possibly Steven Spielberg of Indian films.
Maine International Film Festival audiences this year are about to be blown out of their seats when his “Bajirao Mastani” screens Monday.
Watch the trailer
"Bajirao Mastani"
2015
Drama, history, romance
A historical account of the romance between the Maratha general Bajirao I and Mastani, a Muslim princess.
Length: 158 minutes
MPAA rating: NR
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Writers: Nagnath S. Inamdar (novel), Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Stars: Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan.
Screens: Monday, 6:30 p.m., Waterville Opera House
Sanjay, as most of the world’s filmmakers know, is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and music director of great repute. I assume that someone else applies makeup and sells popcorn.
His work is legendary, and it extends back to 1989, but that’s not what’s important to you in the seats. Here’s what you need to know.
His magnificent film “Bajirao Mastani” is a masterpiece of epic proportions. If only DeMille had had Sanjay’s warehouse of special effects, “The Ten Commandments” would have had a parting of the Red Sea that would have wowed Moses.
Sanjay’s “Bajirao” is a grand imaging of Indian history with a few dramatic changes and lots of very sexy players.
FYI: It’s all about events that took place in the early 1700s, when the Maratha empire was in its ascendancy.
It’s the story of the Maratha Peshwa Bajirao Ballad (1700-1740) and his second wife, Mastani.
(It took this reviewer longer to seek out the historical background than it did to write the review.)
Sanjay’s computer generated imagery is George Lucas sharp, and his music is sweeping and mesmerizing.
Luckily for us it will be seen and heard on the big screen at Waterville’s Opera House. Breathtaking is too small a word to describe the battle scenes, the costumes, the color and sets, lighting, music. To employ the cliche, it’s breathtaking, as simple as that.
The cast is afire with great and small Indian film industry names, none of which the average Maine Film Festival audience will recognize with the exception of the three central players: Ranveer Singh as Bajirao, the stopper of feminine hearts, a buffed up magnificent warrior; Deepika Padukone as the heart stopping, haunting Mastani; and the fabulous Priyanka Chopra as Kashibai, the smokey third part of the hot trio. They’re in almost every great Indian film. The supporting cast is larger than a Donald Trump rally, but each one a professional, a gem.
This is a film that will grab you by your eyes and hold you. It’s full of intrigue. There are massacres, battles, murder plots, rescues, betrayals, revenge, sickness, death, seduction and as Cecil would put it, “unbridled passions,” some of which are artfully played out behind softly blowing curtains, red lights and hot desert winds.
“Bajirao” is a long film, more than two hours, but I guarantee the ride of your movie-going life. Wait until you see this warrior woman smash through a window, rip the curtains with her sword, and in the grand tradition of Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” float and soar through the air, slashing and separating her enemies from existence.
Ang Lee fans will be thrilled.
I would add that if you’re in the mood for colossal, magnificent, breathtaking, splendiferous and some hot marital moments, see it now before it’s gone. You won’t want to see it on your laptop.
Fasten your saris and lehengas. It’s gonna be a bumpy camel ride.
J.P. Devine is a former stage and screen actor.
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