It had us at its trailer. Here’s what we are looking forward to in the 158 minutes of Bajirao Mastani — the love story between 18th century Maratha warrior Peshwa Bajirao I and his second wife Mastani — on the basis of its three-minute wow trailer…
THE RANPIKA II CHEMISTRY:
Real-life couple Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone promise to continue their on-screen chemistry from where they left off in Ram-Leela. Bajirao and Mastani will have the sizzle of Ram and Leela, but what the trailer also promises is a beautiful romance — he looking only at her in a roomful of people… she taking only his name as life ebbs out of her. That first shot of the trailer — Bajirao galloping on horseback and Mastani inching up to him and slowly edging past — promises a love story of equals.
RANVEER AS BAJIRAO:
Ranveer seems to inhabit Bajirao completely, gait to get-up, emotion to intensity. The moments we loved? Bajirao the warrior — epic battle cry to skilfully shooting an arrow right on target to expertly wielding a sword — and Bajirao the lover — Mastani melting into Bajirao’s arms, a smile on her lips; first wife Kashibai (Priyanka Chopra) looking seductively into his eyes as he pours water on her and then kisses her.
DEEPIKA AS MASTANI:
From the carriage to her costumes, Deepika is Mastani, a woman who loves and hates with equal passion. Mastani dancing to Deewani mastani… taking on the might of 10 men single-handedly… an eyeball-grabbing shot of a captive Mastani, sitting with her hair cascading down her shoulders, even as soldiers surround her brandishing swords… that last scene where a blood-soaked Mastani is led away on horseback… we could go on and on and on….
PRIYANKA AS KASHIBAI:
Though she has relatively lesser screen time, Priyanka Chopra promises to be the surprise package. Her scenes with Bajirao — she’s so madly in love with him and yet won’t think twice about standing up to him — will definitely pack a punch (no, not Mary Kom). The Kashibai moment we loved in the trailer? When she tells Bajirao: “Aap humse hamaari zindagi maang lete, hum khushi khushi de dete… lekin aap ne toh humse hamara guroor chheen liya.” Also, that steely stare as she slips a crown on her head.
BHANSALI THE STORYTELLER:
Sanjay Leela Bhansali— the man who marries spectacle with storytelling — has been living and breathing Bajirao Mastani for 12 years. If the trailer is any indication, then Bajirao… — with its sweeping style and larger-than-life look and feel — promises to be a quintessential SLB production… opulent and grand, but with a heart.
POETRY IN MOTION:
The trailer boasts some beautiful lines. Sample: “Ishq… jo toofani dariya se bagaawat kar jaaye… woh ishq. Bhare darbaar mein jo duniya se lad jaaye… woh ishq. Jo mehboob ko dekh ke khuda ko bhool jaaye… woh ishq. Kiski talwaar pe sar rakhoon yeh bataa do mujhe… ishq karna agar khataa hai toh sazaa do mujhe.” #Wow.
THE FRAMES:
Cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee’s lens weaves magic. Mastani polishing her sword for battle, her face aglow in the sheen reflected by it…. Kashibai dancing with glee surrounded by thousands of lamps (in picture)…. Bajirao staring at the tip of an arrow as it races towards him, and grabbing it with his bare hand just a breath away from his forehead. #Pictureperfect
THE MUSIC:
Bhansali has scored the music himself and we especially like the romantic Deewani mastani and the soulful Aayat. What we can’t wait to watch? Whether Priyanka-Deepika manage to bring the same magic to Pinga
(in picture) that Madhuri-Aishwarya did to Devdas’s Dola re.
THE EPIC WAR SCENES: Horses speeding on the dusty desert. Bajirao surveying his war-ravaged land. Mastani taking on Bajirao, hit for hit, on the battlefield. Bhansali knows larger-than-life like the back of his hand and the battle scenes promise to be memorable.
THE COSTUMES & SETS:
Kashibai’s intricate nosepin to Mastani’s shimmery golden lehnga… if a film could be judged just on the basis of its clothes, then Bajirao Mastani is a winner already. And did you see those sets… especially the one made on a bed of water in which Bajirao and Mastani are locked in a lingering embrace? Can’t wait!
TEAM BAJIRAO TO t2 on why their film needs to be watched
DEEPIKA PADUKONE (Mastani)
Everything that I have done so far has been a film… but Bajirao Mastani has been an experience. This film is poetry… every song and every scene… there is rhythm and beat and sur and taal in everything he (Sanjay Leela Bhansali) does. The passion, the chemistry and the sacrifice of the Bajirao-Mastani romance holds true in relationships even today. This is a very relatable story, I feel, and even if anyone feels it’s not relatable, then it is inspiring for sure..... Chemistry is something very layered and intangible… you can’t create it… it’s just there. Ranveer and I are very lucky that we have great chemistry between us.
PRIYANKA CHOPRA (Kashibai)
Bajirao Mastani, for me, is poetry in motion... it’s about the beauty and brilliance of Sanjay Sir’s mind and imagination and the culmination of the wonderful pictures he can paint on the canvas called celluloid. It is the love story of Bajirao and Mastani and I am happy I (as Kashibai) got to be an instrument in it. The film felt like a fairy tale and I look at it as a beautiful rendition... an epic saga told from the vision of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The most challenging part of the film for me? Wearing and carrying the Nauvari (Maharashtrian nine-yard sari).
RANVEER SINGH (Bajirao)
Bajirao Mastani was the one single thing I devoted myself to for the whole year. Every single day was a challenge, if not physical then mental or emotional. I think the beauty of Sanjay Sir’s films is that each character is very distinctive and has his or her own sets of beliefs and values and no one’s right or wrong. We had a starting point on paper, but as we went along, we discovered newer aspects to our characters and their love stories. We just went with the flow, without knowing how we were doing it. All of Sanjay Sir’s films have grandeur and style and
mounting, but the core is pure emotion.
All his characters are complex and layered and that’s the beauty of his films.
SANJAY LEELA BHANSALI (director)
I wanted to tell the story of Bajirao Mastani because it’s a love story. A love story that has all the dead-ends… all kinds of challenges… seems impossible to achieve. I was intrigued about going back 200 years into our history and telling the story of two people who defied everything, just to be in love with each other.
It’s been 12 years since I first decided to make Bajirao Mastani and I enjoyed making the film so many years later in exactly the same way as I thought I would when I first heard the story. I have worked damn hard on this film. I took all my feelings of awe and shoved them out of the window. I was prepared to push myself to places I hadn’t been to before. We’ve spent a lot of money (Rs 150 crore) on this one… and yet it’s not about the money. I enjoyed being lost in the world of Bajirao Mastani. Bajirao… is a love story that goes beyond the physical.
BAJIRAO IN NUMBERS
- Years Bajirao Mastani has been on Bhansali’s mind: 12
- Heroes approached to play Bajirao: 4 (Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, Hrithik Roshan)
- Heroines almost signed on for Mastani:2 (Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor)
- Sets built: 21
- Money spent: Rs 150 crore
DID YOU KNOW?
• Salman Khan almost convinced Bhansali to cast his then-girlfriend Katrina Kaif as Mastani. But things didn’t work out.
• Salman also recommended Bhumika Chawla for the role of Kashibai. But his Tere Naamco-star had a disastrous audition and was promptly rejected.
• Besides Ranveer, even Tanvi Azmi — who plays his mother — shaved her head for the film.
