BAJIRAO MASTANI is an epic-length Bollywood historical romance guaranteed to test the patience of any viewer. It tells of a sappy and long-winded romance between two rival characters: the hero of the hour is tough-guy Bajirao, the heroine a similarly tough warrior princess called Mastani. They do hook up but not before a lot of songs have been sung and cheesy CGI-augmented battle scenes have played out. I found the whole film to be completely underwhelming, made in a flashy and superficial style that prevented me from getting close to any of the characters. The leads in this film dress gaudily and have bizarre facial decorations which I also found more than a little off-putting. With a running time in excess of two and a half hours I found this extremely tiresome.

Bajirao Mastani review ----------------------Bajirao Mastani is an Indian Epic Historical Romance, based on the novel "Rau" by Marathi novelist N. S. Inamdar. It showcases the story of a brave warrior Bajira, played by Ranveer Singh, who was chosen as Peshwa, the equivalent of Prime-Minister, at a young age. His skills in battlefield and lovelife with Mastani, a Muslim princess, played by Deepika Padukone, forms the centerpiece of the story. Priyanka Chopra played the role of Kashibai, Bajirao's wife. The film starts with a happily married Bajirao who loves his kingdom a lot. He met Mastani, when the later sneaked in his camp to seek help to save her kingdom, Bundelkhand.Right from the beginning, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, has portrayed it grand. Army, battlefields, costumes, everything shows grandeur. Grand and majestic sets have been used to shoot the film. Aaina Mahal has been majestically designed and the wonderful composition "Nazar jo teri laagi" has been presented there. All the rituals and celebrations demonstrate their royalty.Actors have done justice to their roles. Acting of Tanvi Azmi, who played Bajirao's mother is commendable and impactful. The music is really heart-touching. At the 63rd National Film Awards, Bajirao Mastani received seven awards, including Best Direction and Best Supporting Actress for Azmi.It is extremely difficult to do justice to such a grand story as Bajirao's in just under 160 minutes, which is clearly reflected in the movie's uneven pace. The movie starts off at a good pace but as the end approaches, the story becomes more symbolic and far fetched from reality. However the marvellous performance of actors make it worthwhile to watch this movie.

It is heartening to see that regional cultures and languages are being integrated to create a unified body of literature.The most commendable aspect about this movie the linguistic detailing . It was impressive to watch Ranvir Singh delivering dialogue with a appropriate demeanour. However, as always , bollywood reverts to the browbeaten track of glorifying "Love" or as we can safely say " Filmy Love" .Given the solid introduction depicting Baji Rao as a resolute leader and patriot , it seems strange that the director allows weakly developed love angle to hijack the story , abruptly. The individual performances are quite alright , but the story line is rather weak . I am not sure regarding the historical accuracy of the plot and hence would not comment upon it. The movie could have been much better had it been been focused. Still, It is a one time watch . Not a bad effort but then not a stupendous one either.

The DVD of Bajirao Mastani released last week and we watched it last night expecting to be in for a treat after all the awards this film has garnered.45 minutes into the movie and I was wondering what all the hype was about!The story is weak and picks up only after the interval. Except for Priyanka Chopra who was excellent in her role, there is nothing brilliant about the acting as far as the remaining cast is concerned. Both Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh sizzled in Bhansali's Ram Leela but there was nothing exceptional about their acting in Bajirao Mastani. One cant help the comparison with Ram Leela which had a much more interesting script, better acting and overall was a better film than Bajirao Mastani.The music and dance are of course very good, no doubt about that.What I can not figure out is how Bajirao Mastani picked up so many awards? I can think of at least 5 movies released in the same year which were definitely better. Ranveer Singh did a far better job in Dil Dhadakne Do, as did Deepika in Piku. Bajrangi Bhaijaan was far superior overall.Bajirao Mastani is certainly watchable as "time pass" but it is not a brilliant movie by any stretch of the imagination.