Padmaavat - Melodrama sans depth
It takes one arrow that she unknowingly pierces into Shahid Kapoor’s chest for Deepika Padukone to fall in love with him and become his second wife. Sadly, even after unending moments of staring into each other’s eyes post marriage, one fails to see any chemistry between Rani Padmavati and the prince of Chittod. Blame it on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s half-baked characters, underdeveloped roles or just the wrong casting. Padmaavat has been in the eye of a storm ever since the film was announced and more so after the trailer was out. The story of the queen committing jauhar (jumping into a fire) along with several other women rather than surrendering to Sultan Allauddin Khilji (essayed by Ranveer Singh) has been written about extensively. The film, therefore, hinged more on the depiction of the tale, rather than the story itself. Bhansali fails on both counts. It takes almost an hour for him to introduce us to the characters and come to the actual plot. By the time comes the ...