Bajirao Mastani
- Director
- Sanjay Leela Bhansali
- Studio
- Eros InternationalBhansali Productions
- Release Date
- 17 December 2015
- Language
- Hindi
- Budget
- ₹145.00 Cr
- Box Office
- ₹356.20 Cr
Review
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Bajirao Mastani" is a visual spectacle that mistakes grandeur for storytelling. The man knows how to dress a frame—the production design is immaculate, the cinematography sumptuous, and yes, the costumes are drool-worthy. But beneath all that silk and marble lies a deeply conventional love story that plays it safe when it should be dangerous. Deepika Padukone brings fierce physicality to Mastani, and Ranveer Singh has moments of genuine charisma, but their chemistry feels more performative than electric. The film wants to be a tragedy about forbidden love and social prejudice, yet it sidesteps the real bite of those themes, choosing instead to wallow in slow-motion glances and lavish dance numbers. Priyanka Chopra as Kashibai deserves better material—her pain is genuine, but the script treats her as a supporting player in her own heartbreak.
The storytelling collapses under its own weight in the second half. Bhansali becomes so enamored with his own aesthetic that he loses the plot entirely—literally. The political intrigue of Bajirao's reign gets sacrificed for domestic melodrama, and the promised "explosive family tragedy" feels more like a whimper than a bang. The climax wants desperately to devastate you, but it's manipulative rather than earned. What could have been a nuanced exploration of duty versus desire instead becomes a bloated period romance for people who prioritize how things look over whether they actually matter. It's a film made by
Storyline
A young warrior rises to power when he's appointed Peshwa of the Maratha empire, commanding respect and admiration across the land! Ten years into his reign, his life gets turned upside down when he meets Mastani, a fierce half-Hindu, half-Muslim princess, while defending her father's kingdom from invaders. The two fall head over heels during Holi celebrations, and when Bajirao gifts her his dagger—a move that unknowingly seals a Rajput marriage—he's already bound himself to her forever.
Back home in Pune, things get absolutely messy when Mastani shows up at Shaniwar Wada determined to be with Bajirao, but his mother Radhabai is having none of it and treats her brutally because of her mixed heritage! Despite the humiliation—getting housed with courtesans and facing constant rejection—Mastani refuses to back down and asks to be Bajirao's consort, so he secretly marries her. Meanwhile, his first wife Kashibai is devastated when she witnesses them together in the mirror hall of their palace and leaves to have their baby elsewhere.
Both women give birth to sons, and when Brahmin priests refuse to perform a naming ceremony for Mastani's child due to her Muslim blood, Bajirao makes a bold declaration that the boy will be raised as a Muslim named Shamsher Bahadur! Years later, Bajirao brings his second family into the household, but his eldest son from Kashibai returns home absolutely furious about Mastani's presence, setting the stage for an explosive family tragedy that'll shake their entire world to its core.
