Samrat Prithviraj review: Akshay Kumar’s film is colorful but brilliant

Emperor Prithviraj: A still from the movie. (courtesy yashrajfilms)

Throw: Akshay Kumar, Manushi Chillar, Sanjay Dutt, Ashutosh Rana and Sonu Sood

the director: Chandraprakash Dwivedi

Rating: two stars (out of 5)

A film that makes no bones about its purpose, Emperor Prithviraj It’s exactly what you’d expect: a collector of fictional histories wrapped in some of Bollywood’s shiniest things. But for all its desperate distortions, with film largely considered a prevalent medium of entertainment, it was not completely useless. It’s colorful, action-packed, and full of music, but it’s wonderfully gentle.

Leading actor Akshay Kumar, who was transported to the 12th century, wears elaborate period costumes and rattles with the aim of creating a picture of immaculate purity in holy-to-thou homes. But, unable to overcome his starry mannerisms, he falls far short of convincing as a nominal historical figure.

Apart from the fact that Emperor PrithvirajWritten and directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi, plays fast and loose with facts, reducing its lead characters into convenient caricatures riddled with unnecessary grandeur.

The awe-inspiring pomp of the lines they utter, none more so than the blindfolded Kaka Kanha of Sanjay Dutt, who is forever itching to jump into the fight, the bloated narrative from any semblance of relativity and takes away too.

Produced by Yash Raj Films, Emperor Prithviraj is a painstaking, monotonous period drama that can only be described as Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s extravaganza of a poor man. The empty pomp and spectacle and shallow drama that aims to advance an expedient narrative about India’s past add up to a crashing bore.

The film begins in 1192 in a dusty gladiatorial arena in Ghazni, where Sultan Mohammad Ghori (Manav Vij) and his soldiers see a blind Prithviraj Chauhan fighting hungry lions. The brave prisoner, playing the role of his court poet Chand Vardai (Sonu Sood, on whose epic poem Prithviraj-Raso the film is purportedly based) from the gallery, not only stands his ground, but also slays the feline assailants. Is.

In the next scene, as he lies almost lifeless, Prithviraj names his wife Sanyogita, an allusion to a few years’ travel to medieval Ajmer and Kannauj for the film. This timeline is a long account of the sudden marital union of the Raja of Ajmer with Ashutosh Rana’s (Ashutosh Rana) daughter (budding actress Manushi Chhillar).

But before we get to this point of the saga, Prithviraj Chauhan’s army encounters Mohammad Ghori’s men on the battlefield. The fight is triggered by Prithviraj’s decision to shelter Ghori’s brother, who has eloped with the Sultan’s mistress. It is a battle between right and wrong.

the main objective of Emperor Prithviraj to highlight the qualities of a Hindu warrior-king who is committed to Religion (religion) and homeland (Country). In one scene a gentleman asks Raja if he is ready to hear the truth. His response is: He who is afraid to hear the truth is not a true king. Well, wouldn’t this really be a perfect world? One wonders whether it exists now if it was in the time of Prithviraj Chauhan.

Emperor Prithviraj Celebrates a fair ruler who displays great valor and perseverance in the face of the devious ways of an invading sultan who, in his own words, thinks nothing of resorting to deceit.”fereb and makari (fraud and deceit). is a person of unreachable morality; The other is a mere robber. This history has been reduced to a simple, selective binary, as Bollywood often does these days.

The Good Samrat-Bad Sultan production constitutes the core of the film, when it is not devolving into a chronological debate over the rights of women to decide their own destiny. Not that there are many female characters in the film – apart from Sanyogita, the only other woman who is allowed to get a word or two is the mother of the princess (played by Sakshi Tanwar). Nevertheless, gender equality is a topic that Emperor Prithviraj addressed with great enthusiasm.

The falsification of history reaches new heights when the screenplay weaves a long, action sequence that follows the decision of Prithviraj who shares power equally with Sanyogita. The move sparks an animated discussion with an elderly courtier as to whether it is right for a woman to speak in matters of state. Sanyogita wins the argument.

His joy is short-lived. All big things soon go awry. Women of Prithviraj’s kingdom committed jeweler When Ghori’s army reaches the gate and is about to capture Delhi. The film tries hard to present mass suicide as an act of bravery.

Led by Sanyogita, who sings I became a warrior (I have become a warrior), ‘immovable’ women jump into the pit of fire. Like the 135-minute film, Vijaywaad doesn’t hold much water. All this makes fun of the truth.

To be fair to the film, it never shows any inclination to shy away from anything resembling truth. It conforms to its epic narrative, twists it according to its specific needs, and then spins around it until it feels necessary before moving on to the next bit of history. ripe for.

While there is no denying that Emperor Prithviraj With a barely disguised agenda, it is also a film that should be appraised for its technical achievements. In this regard, there is not much that can be blamed. Production designers Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray have left no stone unturned to give the film grandeur, director of photography Manush Nandan is in top form, and editor Arif Shaikh has given the film some momentum.

it is the writing and characterization that let Emperor Prithviraj Below The script is filled with bombastic blanks and the historical figures filling it are cardboard cut-outs that walk and talk and make no impact. Among the actors, only Manav Vij and Sonu Sood leave a lasting impression, but they too are struck by the hollow shell of a film.

A historical drama of this magnitude needed more than just a big budget. It requires a sharp eye, a great vision, and greater integrity, none of which are in its grasp.