Padmaavat Movie Review

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.

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.

I'm an admirer of Sanjay's passion and rigour, of his operatic sensibility and his commitment to creating epics. He isn't subtle but he always plays for broke.

‘Padmaavat’ is an entertaining, large canvas experience, brought to life by strong performances combined with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s stroke of visual brilliance.

The story of a beautiful, faithful queen and a lustful invader who will stop at nothing is told in three very long hours. The costume drama is beautiful and Rajasthan is a great setting for this tale of Rajput valor.

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.