Bajirao Mastani

Bajirao Mastani
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Screenplay by	Prakash R. Kapadia
Produced by	Sanjay Leela Bhansali Kishore Lulla
Starring	Ranveer Singh Priyanka Chopra Deepika Padukone Tanvi Azmi
Narrated by	Irrfan Khan
Cinematography	Sudeep Chatterjee
Edited by	Rajesh G. Pandey
Music by	Songs: Sanjay Leela Bhansali Background score: Sanchit Balhara
Production companies	Bhansali Productions Eros International
Distributed by	Eros International
Release date	18 December 2015 (2015-12-18)
Running time	158 minutes
Country	India
Languages	Hindi Marathi
Budget	₹1.45 billion
Box office	est. ₹1.45 billion

Bajirao Mastani is a 2015 Indian epic historical romance film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who also composed the soundtrack of the film. It is jointly produced by Bhansali and Eros International's Kishore Lulla. The film stars Ranveer Singh as Bajirao I and Deepika Padukone as Mastani, with Priyanka Chopra playing Bajirao's first wife Kashibai. The supporting cast includes Tanvi Azmi, Vaibbhav Tatwawdi and Milind Soman. Based on the Marathi novel Raau by Nagnath S. Inamdar, the film narrates the story of the Maratha Peshwa Bajirao (1700-1740 AD) and his second wife Mastani.

Conceived as early as in the 1990s, Bhansali had announced the film in 2003 but the production was delayed several times due to its changing cast. A passion project for Bhansali, Bajirao Mastani spent the next twelve years in development hell before being revived in 2014. Extensive research was done before moving into pre-production, which required creation of twenty two highly detailed sets, numerous costumes and props to strengthen its opulent and high production value. Principal photography was done on the sets constructed in Film City, with some portion being filmed on the actual locations. Visual effects and CGI were also used to enhance a number of scenes in post-production.

The film was released on 18 December 2015 to critical acclaim, with praise directed towards Bhansali's direction, various technical achievements and acting, particularly by Chopra and Singh. However, Padukone's performance as Mastani was highly criticized. Bajirao Mastani has also been noted for its scale, grandeur and attention to details. With a budget of ₹1.45 billion, including marketing and advertisements, it is one of the most expensive Hindi films. The film has grossed over ₹3.56 billion at the box office, becoming a major commercial success and one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.

Recipient of several accolades, Bajirao Mastani has won seven National Film Awards, including Best Direction and Best Supporting Actress for Azmi. The film received a leading fourteen nominations at the 61st Filmfare Awards and won nine awards including Best Film, Best Director for Bhansali, Best Actor for Singh and Best Supporting Actress for Chopra.

Plot

In the early 18th century, the court of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shahu (Mahesh Manjrekar) needs a new Peshwa, the equivalent of a modern-day prime minister. In spite of Shripad Rao's (Aditya Pancholi) self-nomination as the Peshwa, Ambaji Pant (Milind Soman) chooses to nominate a young Bajirao (Ranveer Singh). To test his spiritual wisdom and knowledge of weaponry, Shripad challenges Bajirao to split a peacock feather with an arrow. Bajirao succeeds and is given the title of Peshwa. Ten years later, his wife Kashibai (Priyanka Chopra) is visited by her widowed friend Bhanu (Snehlata Girish Vasaikar), whose husband was accused of spying and hence was ordered to be executed by Bajirao. She bitterly forebodes that just like she longs for her husband, Kashibai, too, will yearn for Bajirao.

While traveling to Sironja, an emissary from Bundelkhand infiltrates Bajirao's tent and demands his help in fighting invaders. She reveals herself to be Mastani (Deepika Padukone), the daughter of the Hindu Rajput king Chhatrasal (Benjamin Gilani) and his Persian Muslim consort, Ruhani Bai. Impressed by her skills as a warrior, Bajirao assists her with his army and defeats the invaders. Chhatrasal is overjoyed and insists that Bajirao spend Holi with them in Bundelkhand. Mastani and Bajirao develop feelings for each other and he gifts her his dagger, not knowing that it is a symbol of marriage amongst the Bundelkhand Rajputs. Bajirao then departs for Pune, where Kashibai greets him with a tour of their newly-built Shaniwar Wada and shows him the Aaina Mahal (hall of mirrors) which allows her to see him from her room.

Determined to pursue her love, Mastani arrives in Pune but is treated harshly by Bajirao's mother Radhabai (Tanvi Azmi) and accommodated in the palace for courtesans. She tolerates this insult and appears to dance before Bajirao on the occasion of Parava. Radhabai scornfully offers her the occupation of a royal dancer, but refuses to accept her as a daughter-in-law. Mastani travels to the Chhatrapati Shahu and expresses her desire to be with Bajirao before leaving to wait for him at a ruin across the river. Bajirao crosses the river in the midst of a storm and chides her persistence, reminding her that he is already married and that his court will never respect her if she is with him. She agrees despite his warning and he declares her as his second wife.

The Marathas prepare to attack Delhi, the capital of the Mughal Empire, but first must ensure that the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Muslim ruler of Hyderabad State, will not attack them during their assault. Thus Bajirao leaves to confront the Nizam, Qamar ud-Din Khan (Raza Murad), and although his odds of victory are slim, he returns successful. A pregnant Kashibai witnesses Bajirao embracing Mastani, who is also expecting, in the Aaina Mahal and leaves for her mother's home. She returns months later with her newborn son, who is named Raghunath in joyous celebration. Mastani also gives birth to a son, whom Mastani and Bajirao name Krishna Rao. However, when Krishna Bhatt (Yatin Karyekar), the head Brahmin priest, refuses to conduct the naamkaran (the Hindu christening ceremony) on the grounds that Krishna Rao is deemed illegitimate, Bajirao renames him Shamsher Bahadur. A few years later, Kashibai and Bajirao's eldest son Balaji Baji Rao, also known as Nana Saheb (Ayush Tandon), returns from Satara and expresses hatred towards Mastani for disrupting his mother's marriage.

Kashibai is informed by Shiva Bhatt, a Brahmin priest, of a treacherous plan to murder Mastani and her son during a festival. Kashibai reluctantly relays this news to Bajirao, who rescues both of them from certain death. Following the murder of Shiva Bhatt by Krishna Bhatt, Bajirao is enraged. For Mastani's safety and to grant her a royal abode, Bajirao builds the Mastani Mahal for her. Bajirao, however, is brokenhearted due to the betrayal of his mother Radhabai and his brother Chimaji Appa (Vaibbhav Tatwawdi). Meanwhile, Pant informs him that he must defeat Nasir Jung, the vengeful son of the Nizam. Bajirao proclaims that even if he loves Mastani, his life and allegiance is always to his cause, so he decides to leave for the battlefield. Before leaving, he meets Kashibai, as tradition held that the wife sent off the husband into battle. Kashibai reveals to him that he has broken her heart and compares their love with that of Krishna and Rukmini. She orders him never to enter her chamber again, and Bajirao accepts and leaves.

However, after Bajirao leaves for battle, Radhabai and Nana Saheb imprison Mastani and Shamsher Bahadur. After Bajirao receives the news, he single-handedly defeats Nasir Jung's army in his rage, but later collapses from his injuries. At his deathbed, Kashibai sends a letter pleading with Radhabai to release Mastani so that Bajirao can recover, but her attempt is futile as Nana Saheb burns the letter and refuses to release Mastani. Bajirao, delirious due to his sickness, dies from the trauma of his hallucinations, just as Mastani passes away in captivity. The two fated lovers are shown to be united in death.

Cast

The cast has been listed below:

2

Production

Development

Sanjay Leela Bhansali had conceived the historical romance about Maratha Peshwa Bajirao and his second wife Mastani even before he had directed his first feature Khamoshi: The Musical in the year 1996. Several other directors such as Muzaffar Ali, Manmohan Desai and Kamal Amrohi had also tried in the past to make a film on the two historical figures but those films were never made. Bhansali had intended to make Bajirao Mastani after the release of Devdas (2002) and had officially announced it in 2003, with filming scheduled to begin in May 2004. However, the film was later pushed indefinitely. The reports about a possible revival had made the headlines ever since; it has been known that Bhansali had planned to revive it every other year but the result never came to fruitation. In an interview The Telegraph, Bhansali spoke about his intention to make the film post finishing every film he made in between, saying "I kept trying to revive it over and over again, but if there is one thing that filmmaking has taught me, it's that every film has its own destiny. And I strongly believe that the souls of [...] Bajirao, Mastani and Kashibai wanted us to make this film only now." In the process, the film became a passion project or a dream project for him.

File:Sanjay Leela Bhansali2.jpg

Sanjay Leela Bhansali had been longing to make the film for twelve years.

After spending twelve years in "development hell", Bhansali finally revived the project in 2014 and the film was reported to be an adaptation of the Marathi novel Raau (1976) by Nagnath S. Inamdar. In those twelve years, Bhansali has said that he struggled to put the film together, revealing that several thoughts had occurred in his mind about how the project was impossible to made. Nevertheless, he would then again make up his mind to never let go of his ambition to make the film someday, saying "there is magic to it". Even the Industry professionals believed that the film was never going to be made, calling it "jinxed" because of the film being shelved multiple times. However, he always believed in the project assuring himself that the script was so powerful that he had to make it one day. He told The Telegraph: "Honestly, I want very few things in life... so I know that I am resilient enough to get them all! Deep down, I kept asking for the universe to let me make this film. When you dream very genuinely, then I believe you also get the power to fulfill it. In pursuing Bajirao Mastani, I have been resilient and very focused. I have sacrificed a lot of things"

Primarily known for making romantic dramas, Bhansali was intrigued about the romance between "two people who defied everything, just to be in love with each other" and was excited to tell a historical story as old as 200 years. Although the romance between Bajirao and Mastani has not been much depicted in history books, Bhansali has noted it as the very reason to depict it through a feature film, recalling "the fact that so little was known about these people is what intrigued me". He had long admired the Maratha backdrop and the different religion of the protagonists—Bajirao was Hindu and Mastani was Muslim—further drove his interest towards knowing more and telling the story. He saw it as a chance to comment on religion and love, saying "In those times, people were offended by the same things that offend them today. Through this film, I want to show that love is the greatest religion."

Prakash R. Kapadia wrote the screenplay. The makers acquired the rights of the novel and worked with historian Ninad Bedekar. Kapadia said that writing the screenplay was a difficult task and a huge responsibility considering the historical context. Kapadia and Bhansali consistently worked on the script between all these years, refining and tweaking several aspects of the film. Considering the script was written twelve years ago, Several changes were made in the script such as the decreasing the length and increasing the pace to suit the modern audiences. Although adapting from the novel, the romance between the film's protagonists has not been well documented in the history books or archives and several versions of the same story exits in throughout the history books, many cinematic liberties were taken to build drama and highlight incidents.

Casting

Bhansali originally wanted to repeat his Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam(1999) pair Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai for the eponymous roles, but could not cast them together after their highly publicised break-up. Khan then tried to suggest his then girlfriend Katrina Kaif, new at that time, for the role of Mastani but things did not materialise. When the film was finally announced in 2003, Bhansali had cast Khan and Kareena Kapoor in the titular roles with Rani Mukerji playing Baji Rao's first wife Kashibai. However, the idea was scrapped when both Khan and Kapoor signed other films together. Bhansali wanted to be the first director to showcase their pairing. Hence, the film was shelved and Bhansali went on to direct other films.

Ranveer Singh (left) and Deepika Padukone (right) were cast to play the titular roles.

Over the following ten years, media speculation continued about the production and casting of Bajirao Mastani. After the film was revived in 2014, the reports of Ajay Devgn and Deepika Padukone being approached for the film made headlines in February. However, Devgn dropped out of the film due differences with Bhansali about several "terms and conditions" such as dates and remuneration. The next month, it was reported that Ranveer Singh was in early talks to play Bajirao. The same month, reports suggested Priyanka Chopra was cast to play Kashibai, Bajirao's first wife in the film. In July 2014, it was officially confirmed that Singh, Padukone and Chopra were finalised to play the three principal roles in the film. Later, Milind Soman joined the cast. In late September 2014, it was confirmed that Tanvi Azmi was cast for the role of Bajirao's mother Radhabai. Other actresses reportedly considered for this role were Shabana Azmi, Dimple Kapadia, and Supriya Pathak. The following month, Aditya Pancholi joined the cast as an antagonist. In November 2014, the actresses for the roles of Bajirao's sisters were finalised with Sukhada Khandkekar cast as Anubai and Anuja Gokhale as Bhiubai. The following month, Mahesh Manjrekar was cast to play Maratha Emperor Chhattrapati Shahu in the film. It was announced in January 2015 that actor Vaibhav Tatwawadi was chosen to play Bajirao's younger brother, Chimaji Appa.

All the actors had to undergo certain kind of training before the filming. Both Singh and Padukone learned sword-fighting, horse-riding as well as the ancient Indian martial art Kalaripayattu. Singh was also required to learn Marathi and shave his head for the part whereas Padukone had to take Kathak dance lessons. In preparation for her role of Kashibai, Chopra underwent a language training for 15 days in Peshwai Marathi dialect spoken during the time of the ascension of the Peshwas to perfect the accent. Azmi shave her head and went completely bald for her role. Irrfan Khan was cast as the narrator of the film.

Pre-production

The set for Shaniwar Wada was the biggest set created for the film.

Considering the scale, the film required detailed and extravagant pre-production work, which required extensive research and planning. Saloni Dhatrak, Sriram Iyengar and Sujeet Sawant worked as production designer on the film. Iyengar and Sawant had heard about the film while working on another film, when it was first announced. Having never met Bhansali, they started their research on their own by visiting Pune and Satara and learnt about the Maratha architecture. Later when the film was shelved, they continued to research and formed a portfolia in hope to approach different filmmakers for work. Several years later, when they heard about the revival, they got themselves an appointment with Bhansali, who was impresses by their research and presentation. However, he wanted more research on Mughals. That is when Dhatrak was roped in, joining Iyengar and Sawant. Bhansali then shared the script with the art directors and described his vision and the scale of the production he was aiming. The pre-production work started as early as February 2014, continued as the shoot progressed and lasted until the filming was complete in October 2015; it lasted nineteen months. Before the pre-production work started, the art directors had a discussion with Bhansali about how much the film was required to be filmed on set and the actual location, thus giving them a idea to how many sets were needed to be created. Once extent of sets required and on location shoots was decided, the production moved forward.

Along with the three art directors, nineteen art assistant directors were involved, which included architects, designers, sketch artists and props artists. Twenty two sets were created in Film City following a flow chart which included around 960 sketches and countless layouts. Among those twenty sets, the two biggest were the exact replica of Shaniwar Wada and the Aaina Mahal, both of which were "high on grandeur and intricacy". Shaniwar Wada set was the biggest set they had constructed. It took forty five thousand planks and six hundred workers a day to erect the set. It was constructed on Sunil Maidan, one of the biggest open space in Film City and took forty five days to build. Kashibai's room was the first set to be constructed, which was approved after navigating through twenty five designs. The art directors did architectural research from Pune, Nasik and Satara, studying fortifications, baston walls and city gates to understand the interior ans exterior designs of the ancient period and incorporated those ideas into building Kashibai's villa. Lotus motifs on mud clad walls and handmade textures were used to give the set a real appearance.

Aina Mahal took forty five hundred planks, with a hundred workers working per day. The set was given a lotus-like design, with walls, ceiling and floor made out of handmade mud textured with sparkling mirror designs embedded into it. The replica of Aina Mahal was constructed in forty days, with more than 30,000 square feet of mirrors, and more than 700 design stencils were used to decorate the hall. Although the mirror hall was a Mughal concept, the art directors designed it to look like Maratha architecture. Mastani Mahal was built as an amalgamation of Rajput and Maratha architecture. The exterior of Mastani Mahal was built as a part of Shaniwar Wada, whereas the interiors of were built on separate sets, consisting of a courtyard and bedroom. Mastani's room in Bundelkhand was crafted using a mix of Persian, Mughal and Rajput motif and architecture. All the sets were furnished with opulent objects and props to give the interiors a feel of the ancient Maratha empire. Only earthen Diyas and torches were used to light the sets. For the interiors, silk sarees were used, with bedsheets and hand-painted walls with 18th century motifs added. Craftsmen were hired to recreate 18th century textures, fabrics, weaponry, jewelery and furniture. Almost 30,000 oil lamps were made for the film and five hundred suits of armour were designed for the war scenes. There were also headgear and boots worn in that period. The armours and headgears weighed between 10-20 kilos and two kilos, respectively. The team also designed props for the war sequences such different types of tents, lighting props, elephant and horse decors. The props were made in Mumbai and had to be carried all the way to Rajasthan, the outdoor location.

The paintings of Raja Ravi Varma was used as an inspiration for creating Kashibai's look

The film's costumes were designed by Anju Modi and Maxima Basu. While Modi designed clothes for the three lead characters, Basu did costumes for the supporting cast. The costumes for extras and war extras were done by Ajay and Chandrakant, respectively. Bhansali had detailed script reading session with the designers to help them understand the characters, their emotions and personalities, which would mirror the costumes and the grandeur of that the 18th century. Basu then started her research by visiting several ancient monuments such as the Chowmahalla Palace, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Salar Jung Museum and Ajanta-Ellora caves, which gave her some perspective of ancient Maharastrian culture. She also travelled to cities such as Indore, Chanderi, Paithan and Maheshwar to gather more knowledge about the clothing and textile history. A total of around three hundred costumes were designed for the three leads alone. Real zari and goldwires were used to weave the costumes. Since no pictures of Kashibai exited, so the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma were used as reference for designing her looks and costumes. Modi had designed eighty navvari saris or otherwise known as nine yard saris for Chopra, with bright colours such as yellows, hot pink, emerald green and purple, inspired from the Raja Ravi Varma paintings. The custom-made nine yard saris were weaved by craftsmen from Maheshwar, Chander and Varanasi but were made a little lighter than usual to avoid making Chopra Priyanka look huge on screen. For making the saris, fabrics such as mul-mul, silk, muslin, khadi and chanderis worn in that period were designed. For one song sequence featuring Chopra, Modi had created six sets of the same sari.

Peshwas used to wear dhotis, jaamas and angarkhas with a large flare in that period, so it was eminent for Bajirao's character. A wide palette of solid colours such as white and cream were used for the sombre and emotional scenes whereas Red, orange, blue and deep purple were used for the celebratory scenes. For designing the Bajirao's armours chain mail armour, Khaki and Steel grey were employed. A dandpatta (sword) was also made for him. For Mastani, Modi used a mix of Persian and Muslim clothing of muslin, khadi and thin Chanderi fabrics, with mukaish and zardosi hand embroidery to depict her half-Muslim heritage. So Padukone was predominantly given shararas and its derivatives such trailing shararas, shararas with less flare and crinkled shararas made of chiffon ans was given a lehenga for just one scene. She was also given Odhnis, dupattas, veils, floor-skimming anarkalis and angrakhas paired with Farshi pajamas. Softer colours with Persian influences such as shades of powder blue, mint green, pale yellow, aqua blue, powder pink and other typical porcelain were used for her clothes. A turban embellished with jewellery such as uncut diamonds and pearls was designed. For one of the Mastani costumes, Modu designed a five layered outfit consisting of an angrakha jacket, a woven leheria dupatta, sharara and inner kurti.

Expensive and real jewellery were used in the film. The designers also the jewellery as per the character. Modi revealed that they did not want to compromise on any level so the best materials such as real Basra pearls, antique stones and uncut diamonds were used while making the jewellery to give the royal look needed for the characters. To style Kashibai's character, more traditional Marathi style jewellery was used while for Mastani Nizami and polki Jewellery was used. Several jewellery designers in the country such as PN Gadgil from Pune and Shri Hari Jewellers from Delhi were hired. The costume and production designers also researched in museums, art galleries, history books, paintings, palaces, temples and forts to study the textiles, colour palettes and artwork of the ancient Maratha Empire.

Principal photography

Cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee shot the film with the Arri Alexa XT lenses. Chatterjee had done extensive research before starting the film. Principal photography began on 9 October 2014 with Chopra on the set constructed in Film City, Mumbai. Later that month, Singh also joined the shoot. Most of the film has been shot on the highly detailed sets created in Film City. In late November, Chopra fainted on the set due to exhaustion while filming a scene, which required to be filmed ten times continuously. A doctor had to be called in and filming was stalled for some time but she later resumed the shoot. Padukone joined the cast for scene for two days during in late December 2014 and resumed shooting in April 2015, after completing work for her other projects. The outdoor shoot began in February 2015 in Jaipur, where the filming was done at the Amer Fort. The filming continued at the Fort and crowd scenes were also filmed. Singh fell of a horse while filming an action sequence in Jaipur and was rushed to a hospital but did not got any serious injuries. However, in May 2015, he injured himself again, this time a serious, suffering a shoulder injury and had to undergo a surgery and resumed the shooting after two months following his recovery.

Some of the outdoor scenes were filmed at the Amer Fort

Chopra resumed the filming in the first week of April 2015 for a month long schedule. While working on the film, Chopra was also simultaneously filming her American television series Quantico in Montreal, which required her to go back and forth and shoot for both projects. She would shoot for the film on weekend before going back to Montreal on weekdays to film her series. The actress returned to India in the second week of October to complete the final schedule.

Before starting the film, the team discussed about which part of the film required to be shot and which part required to be done by visual effects. Only the un-achieveable parts of the film was decided to be created by visual effects in post production. Such as in one of the battle sequence, Bhansali wanted to shoot with 300 to 400 horses standing in a particular position but it was impossible to control their movements. Thus, the sequence had to be shot with a limited number of horses and was later enhanced in post production.

Sham Kaushal co-ordinated the action sequences for the war scenes in the film. Three war sequences were filmed in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Chatterjee found the war sequences very challenging and faced many difficulties while filming in the deserts of Rajasthan. Since Bhansali wanted a night war sequence as he did not want to repeat the norms, lighting a big open field become very difficult to achieve and visibility issues were inevitable as Bhansali wanted very clear images. Instead, they decided to shoot in the morning and opting for a twilight look. The main war scene featuring 800 extras, 500 horses and 25 elephants, was filmed over twenty days near Jaipur. The extras would begin dressing up, which included beards for the Mughals, moustaches for the Marathas, armours, helmets and uniforms, 4 am in the morning for the 8 am filming. After finishing the shoot, the costumes would go for laundry and would be ready by 4 am the following day. Kaushal has said that before filming the war sequences, extensive research was done and a rough graph was designed nine months prior to the filming. However, the entire sequence could not be shot in one take on location so it was later completed in a studio in Film City and was enhanced in post production.

Ganesh Acharya, Remo D'Souza, Pony Verma Shampa Gopikrishna and Pandit Birju Maharaj were the choreographers for various songs in the film. D'Souza, who had only choreographed modern dance numbers at that time, was chosen by Bhansali to choreograph the song "Pinga", which took weeks to come up with dance steps for it. Chopra and Padukone had to rehearse for several days before the shooting. The filming proved to be challenging for Chopra and Padukone, as they had to shoot for the dance sequences multiple times whenever the Diyas and torches used to light up the background would snuff. The song was shot at night in an open-air set decorated with Diyas and torches and lot of them would snuff out while filming the song. When it was suggested that snuffed Diyas should be corrected in post production, Bhansali outright refused. More than twelve people would run around the set with candles and oil to light up the sunffed lights. The sound recording was done on location. Sound designer Nihar Ranjan Samal stated that they had to take care that sounds of vehicles and honking did not integrate into the recording. For a number of scenes they had to redo the recording multiple times due to some disturbance. Bajirao Mastani was shot within 217 days over a period of a year, from October 2014 to October 2015.

Post-production

The film contains 1400 visual effects shots. The company which worked on the effects was NY VFXWAALA and this was their biggest project ever taken. Prasad Sutar was the visual effects supervisor for the effects, which took eight months and a team of sixty artists to create. Although the film was shot on highly detailed sets, visual effects and CGI was incorporated in post-production to enhance the imagery only for the scenes which were impossible to shoot in live action.

The effects included creating interior architecture, background, set extensions, altering lighting and time of day, weather effects, multiplication of army soldiers and creation of war weapons. The opening night war scene, which had 300 visual effects shots, was filmed in bright daylight and then converted into night.The flying arrows over the battlefield were created using CGI whereas the army, soldiers and horses in the war scenes were multiplied using CGI. The war close ups were shot inside a studio but were later mixed with the war scenes to form a detailed scene. In few shots, the sky was digitally replaced whereas CGI forts were added in others. Similarly, the climax sequence which was shot in live water, was enhanced by using CGI horses, arrows and fireballs. The climax scene took around twenty days to be complete with fine details.

Bhansali wanted a grand opening title design but the team could not figure out what to make before deciding to create it using animation. Due to limited time, they crafted hand drawn storyboards and drew a narration of Bajirao and his kingdom and designed it digitally using animation within a limited timeline. A sequence where Singh crosses the sea in a boat at night was created using visual effects. The splashes of the waves, the rain falling except for the water falling on Singh and the night sky were created in post production. The scenes which were shot on set and featured outside views such as out of windows, were completed in post production. For various dark emotional scenes the a greyish background with dark night was created whereas for the light scenes, a background with bright and shining sun and vibrant colours were created with effects. The film was edited by Rajesh G. Pandey.

Music

Main article: Bajirao Mastani (soundtrack)

The original score of the film was composed by Sanchit Balhara while the soundtrack album was composed by Bhansali & Devrath. The lyrics are written by Siddharth–Garima, A. M. Turaz and Prashant Ingole. The album consists of ten original songs with vocals by Shreya Ghoshal, Arijit Singh, Vishal Dadlani, Shashi Suman, Kunal Pandit, Prithvi Gandharva, Kanika Joshi, Rashi Raagga, Geetikka Manjrekar, Payal Dev, Shreyas Puranik, Vaishali Mhade, Javed Bashir, Ganesh Chandanshive and Sukhwinder Singh. The soundtrack was released by Eros Music on 24 November 2015.

The soundtrack album received acclaim from music critics, who praised the soulful compositons deeming them "melodious and fresh". R.M. Vijayakar of India-West gave the album 4.5 out of 5, calling it "unforgettable" and complimented the use of musical instruments and orchestration, noting as the most significant standout portions of the score. The Firstpost review gave a highly positive review, praising the "elegantly arranged and opulently orchestrated" songs and wrote "exhilarating soundtrack [...] recreates an era gone-by through sounds that are authentic [...] yet operatic, steeped in the classical ethos, yet contemporary". Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama gave a rating of 3.5 out of 5, noting it as "high on classical base" and felt that the half of the compositions were situational and narrative based that can "be expected to make a good impression on screen". The Indian Express also gave it a 3.5 out of 5 noting its distinct sound and its "balance between restraint and exuberance" and wrote, "Bajirao Mastani sounds fresh, like carefully restored music from Bajirao's times."

Marketing and release

Bajirao Mastani was one of the most anticipated releases of 2015. Special care was taken to ensure nothing leaks while during the production and everything was done in secrecy. On 15 July 2015, a day before the teaser release, Eros International, the producers of the film shared the first look images of the three characters as well as a teaser poster of the film. The three minute teaser trailer, with only one line of dialogue, was released on 16 July 2015. The teaser garnered high praise from all quarters and was deemed "grand" and "epic". News18 termed the teaser as "regal, grand and breathtaking" and wrote that it had all the signature Bhansali elements such as "the big sets, larger than life characters, lots of colours and a tragic love story in the midst of all this grandeur." While India Today wrote that "With its royal canvas, Bajirao Mastani teaser is a burst of colours and action reminiscent of the 18th century." In early November 2015, characters posters of the three characters were also unveiled. The trailer was released on 20 November 2015 and it was also well received.

As a part of the promotions, a multi-episode graphic web series, a first ever India, titled Blazing Bajirao was released digitally in November 2015. Featuring the animated avatars of Bajirao, Kashiabi and Mastani, the graphic series narrates the tales of Bajirao's heroism and his relationship with his two wives. This was followed by a video game titled Blazing Bajirao - The Game the next month. Released on the App Store and Google Play, the interactive game requires its players to fight enemies as Peshwa Bajirao. A multi-city press tour was designed for the film, which saw Singh and Padukone visiting several cities to promote the film.

One of the most expensive Hindi films ever made, Bajirao Mastani took ₹1.25 billion to be made, with an additional ₹200 million for marketing and advertisements for a total budget of ₹1.45 billion. Even before its release, the film recovered almost all of its production cost that is ₹1.20 billion, which included satellite rights, and music rights and overseas rights being sold for ₹500 million and ₹700 million, respectively. The film was released on 18 December 2015 on 2700 screens worldwide. Although the makers of the had booked the date a year in advance, the makers of Dilwale decided to release the film on the same date, thus causing a highly publicised clash between the two films. Bajirao Mastani had to share the 5000 domestic screens with Dilwale in a 40:60 ratio. While Chopra, who could not be in India for the promotions as she was filming for Quantico, promoted the film in the United States at a press conference in New York City.

Distributed by Eros Home Video, the film was released on DVDs and Blu-rays on 18 March 2016. The DVD version was released in regions in a two-disc pack in NTSC widescreen format, with bonus content such as Behind the Scenes making of the film, sets, costumes, music, movie images and deleted Scenes. A VCD version was released at the same time. The film was also released digitally on platforms such as iTunes. It is also available for stream on the company's streaming service Eros Now. Bajirao Mastani had its World television premiere on 23 April 2016 on Colors.

Reception

Critical reception

The film has received critical acclaim. Subhash K. Jha gave the film five stars out of five calling it a "masterpiece", and compared it favorably with Mughal-e-Azam. Anupama Chopra from Hindustan Times gave four stars out of five, terming it "soaring, searing and visually sumptuous", and wrote "Bajirao Mastani plays out a like an operatic, swooning, feverish love poem." She praised the performances by the lead actors and wrote" Ranveer Singh isn’t instantly convincing but slowly, he makes you believe. It’s a complex role that combines towering strength with aching vulnerability and helplessness. Priyanka Chopra might have fewer scenes but she creates maximum impact." The Times of India also gave four stars out of five, pointing out its "outstanding" cinematography and wrote "Every visual resembles a grand painting - courts with shadows and chandeliers, courtiers with tilaks and teers, chambers gleaming with mirrors, skies blushing with passion."

Priyanka Chopra's performance has received widespread critical acclaim.

Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama gave four stars out of five, describing it as "a cinematic gem" and wrote that "fascinating characters and inspirational sub-plots [in the film] advances into a stunning culmination." Zee News also gave four stars out of five and noted "An outright outshining piece of art made unblemished, sprinkled with sincerity and discipline of acting—this love folklore will restore the drama lovers, back in their ‘expectation’ block." Shubha Shetty-Saha of Mid Day gave three and a half out of five stars, and wrote "Sanjay Leela Bhansali in his characteristic style narrates his version of the story in a Mughal-e-azamesque scale of grandiosity, replete with breathtakingly beautiful sets, elaborate and well thought of costumes and accessories and dreamy cinematography" which transports the viewers to an "unique and stunningly beautiful world." Ananya Bhattacharya of India Today also rated the film three and a half out of five stars, calling it "an experience", and Bhansali "a master love-storyteller." She praised the performance "Ranveer, Deepika, Priyanka shine [...] while Tanvi Azmi plays the intimidating matriarch with elan." However, she thought the editing "could have been much crisper."

Koimoi gave three and a half out of five stars praising the Bhansali's direction and score, and wrote "When it comes to direction. Bajirao Mastani is a sheer cinematic brilliance. Bhansali’s clear vision of making it an epic romance finally sees light of the day after years of waiting. Costumes, sets and Sudeep Chaterjee’s cinematography all confluence into a magnificent presentation." She additionally praised the performances, chemistry between the three lead actors calling it "breathtaking", and the cinematography. Writing for NDTV, Saibal Chatterjee gave the film three and a half out of five stars, and said "There isn't a dull moment in this colourful and dramatic film that embraces excess with unabashed abandon." Giving a rating of three stars out of five Rajeev Masand described the film as "artistic but exhausting" and was critical of the film's length. However, he praised the cinematography, production design and performances, particularly Chopra's. He wrote "the film benefits from a nice touch of playfulness and humor in Priyanka Chopra’s Kashibai. Chopra brings grace to the character, and practically steals the film".

Namrata Joshi of The Hindu called the film a “historical leap”, and wrote "Sanjay Leela Bhansali returns with another visual spectacle that wilfully takes liberties with the past that it depicts. But it does manage to engage even as it exhausts." Conversely, Raja Sen of Rediff was unimpressed with the film, rating it two out of five stars. However, he praised performances by Chopra and Singh describing as "terrific". He was critical of Padukone's performance writing that "Padukone look giddily entranced, there are times when she appears completely lost. It doesn't help that she's entirely eaten up by Priyanka Chopra, who, while not in the title, owns Bajirao Mastani." Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express was also disappointed with the film, writing that "Bajirao Mastani’ had the potential to be a terrific historical. You want to be transported. What it ends up being is a costume drama : too many costumes, too much revved-up, empty drama, and too little plot."

Box office

Bajirao Mastani was a major commercial success, grossing over ₹2.55 billion in India and over ₹1.02 billion in the overseas market for a total worldwide box office gross of over ₹3.56 billion. The overseas collections comprised of earnings from five major markets such as United States and Canada, United Kingdom, Middle-east, Australia and the rest of the world with earnings of ₹440 million, ₹138 million, ₹202 million, ₹57 million and ₹185 million, respectively. As of September 2017, it is the fourth highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2015, the third highest-grossing Bollywood film in overseas market in 2015, the ninth highest-grossing Bollywood film and one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.

The film collected ₹128 million nett on its opening day which was the tenth highest of the year. On its second day the film saw growth in its collection as it collected ₹155.2 million nett. The film showed further growth on its third day as it collected ₹184.5 million nett to take its first weekend total to ₹467.7 million nett. In its opening weekend, the film also debuted at no. 10 at the U.S. Box Office and at no. 7 at the U.K. Box office. The film's worldwide opening weekend earning was over ₹915 million.The film had a very strong hold on its first Monday, dropping only 15% earning ₹102.5 million nett. The film maintained its strong box office run on the weekdays. Bajirao Mastani earned ₹843.6 million nett in the first week at the domestic box office while the first week worldwide collections stood at over ₹1.6 billion. It's first week domestic collection was the fourth highest of the year. The film saw growth of nearly 20% in its collection on its second Friday as it collected ₹125 million nett. The film earned over ₹311 billion in its second weekend and collected a further ₹52.5 million on the second Monday for an eleven days domestic total of ₹1.41 billion nett. In the second week, the film earned approximately ₹552 million. The film registered the fourth highest third week collections of all time, earning a ₹270 million. After its fourth week collection of ₹70 million, the film's domestic earnings stood at ₹1.75 billion nett. In its fifth weekend, the film continued to perform well at the domestic box office, with the best fifth weekend collections among all the 2015 releases.

Accolades

Main article: List of accolades received by Bajirao Mastani

Bajirao Mastani received five nominations at the 10th Asian Film Awards, including Best Film and won for Best Special Effects. At the 63rd National Film Awards, Bajirao Mastani received seven awards including Best Director for Bhansali, Best Supporting Actress for Azmi, Best Cinematography for Chatterjee, and Best Art Direction. It received the most nominations at the 61st Filmfare Awards with fourteen. Bajirao Mastani went on to win more awards than any other film at the ceremony with nine including Best Film, Best Director for Bhansali, Best Actor for Singh, and Best Supporting Actress for Chopra. Bajirao Mastani received thirteen nominations at the 22nd Screen Awards including Best Film, and Best Director for Bhansali, and won seven including Best Actor for Singh, and Best Supporting Actress for Chopra. The film also won a leading thirteen awards (from seventeen nominations) at the 17th IIFA Awards including Best Director for Bhansali, Best Actor for Singh, and Best Supporting Actress for Chopra.

Historical accuracy

Although the film was adapted from the novel Raau, whose accuracy has been questioned, the film nevertheless received criticism for several inaccuracies. Even before its release, the descendants of Peshwa and Chhatrasal dynasty protested against the release of film in Pune. The descendants of Bajirao I and Mastani expressed their disapproval on certain scenes, claiming excessive creative liberty was by the director, causing wrongful portrayal of their ancestors. A petition was filed in Bombay High Court seeking stay on the film but the High Court refused to interfere with its release. The dance sequence in the song "Pinga" and the dressing sense of Kashibai and Mastani met criticism from both Kashibai's and Mastani's descendant along with an outcry in social media. Few historians also opined that apart from the inappropriateness of a woman of such stature to dance in public, Kashibai also suffered from a type of arthritis and such dance was not physically possible.

External links

• Bajirao Mastani at IMDb
• Bajirao Mastani at Bollywood Hungama
• Bajirao Mastani at Rotten Tomatoes
• Bajirao Mastani at Box Office Mojo