Bollywood seems to have gripped in the fever of Saffron and the legacy of Maratha warriors. First Panipat and now Tanhaji .. two epic stories of glory of Marathas are some of the big-budget Bollywood movies of 2019.
As I watched both the trailers there were three things that stood out from them.
- Unconvincing Lead actor
- Impressive VillianÂ
- Doubtful Directors
Unconvincing lead actor
A lead actor playing the role of a Maratha warrior is definitely supposed to have a Marathi accent while speaking Hindi. This particular thing was done exceptionally well by Ranvir Singh in Bajiao Mastani.
But in Panipat, Arjun Kapoor speaks just like an average Delhi guy with no scent of any accent whatsoever. Even in the trailer, his body language looked more confused than like a warrior.
Ajay Devgan as Tanhaji looks and sounds nothing like the legendary warrior ( Except the dressing ). It felt like Singham was stripped off his uniform and made to wear the Maratha uniform.
Looking at these trailers it made me realize how good Ranveer is as an actor. Ranveer Singh in past perfected the body language as well as the accent of a Maratha warrior Bajirao in his blockbuster movie BAJIRAO MASTANI
Impressive Villian
While the Protagonist lacked the necessary body language and accent, the antagonist in both these movies looks spectacular.
Sanjay Dutt as Ahmad Shah looks menacing. His huge posture along with beard and afghani outfit makes look like a monster. You can see some shades of Alaudin Khilji in Ahmad Shah with the familiar-looking feather crown and the overpowering ferocity during battle.
Similarly, Saif Ali Khan looks cunning and deadly as Uday Bhan with those ferocious eyes, and the smug smile.
Doubtful Directors
Here lies the biggest fear. Ashutosh Gowarikar who has directed Panipat has a long string of colossal flops under his belt. His last successful movie was Jodha Akbar, after which he directed 3 movies that failed in the box office miserably. Out of the 3 movies, two of them had historic premises that were once a genre Ashutosh excelled ( Lagaan, Jodha Akbar) but they failed to make any impact.
Om Raut who is the director of Tanhaji has an experience directing only one historic movie which was in Marathi language LOKMANYA: EK YUGPURUSH. Apart from this, he has produced one movie CITY OF GOLD and the upcoming HAUNTED 3D. So Om Raut’s direction too is something that is not proven and could go any way.
CONCLUSION
So taking into consideration the movie trailers and the factors mentioned above, I am not sure if any of these two movies based on Maratha warriors would make any impact whatsoever and the chances of any of these movies becoming a roaring success look bleak.
Looks like Bajirao Mastani would remain the best Maratha warrior movie at least for now.
If you liked this blog, you should read my other blogs mentioned below
http://www.gurushetty.com/padmavaat-movie-review/
References :Â
