For Your Consideration: Bajirao Mastani [2015]

HIndie Awards 2016

For Your Consideration: Bajirao Mastani [2015]

With the new year looming large and a possible set month of March for the HIndie Awards 2016; we have to get a good move on.

Today's post is going to be the most non-biased and blank ever as I have yet to see Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Magnum opus.

This means that the awards being contended for are on the basis of well what parts that look good from my hype perspective as well as an accumulation of critical thoughts.

So enjoy this one, it is going to be a different beast altogether;

Best Picture [Comedy/Romantic]: Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Kishore Lulla for Bajirao Mastani [EROS International]

Bajirao Mastani is a partially fictionalized telling of the life of Maratha warrior Bajirao I and his romantic tryst with the Bhundelkhand princess Mastani which threatened his reign as he sought to defy the barriers of religion and despite his first marriage to Kashibai. It is a story of immortal star crossed lovers, right up Bhansali's alley.

EROS International's latest release has come out of nowhere as a strong contender; with critics hailing it as the best of the year and a breath of fresh air, after what has been a slew of disappointments and a tepid cinematic year all round.

Its late sweeping entry has thrown the race wide open in a category that had initial top contenders and a fall from grace. The Comedy and even the Romantic this year in the Comedy/Romantic despite some world class films has seemed shallow in true contenders in comparison to the Drama side of things.  

The romantic angle of the film, places it in the former where it also will cause massive clashes for its actors [see below].

Bajirao Mastani as a film though relies on its bigger nominations at the least being secured and Bhansali's often divisive work like his own uber indulgence can be indulged for what is touted as his magnum opus and features some of the finest not just acting work but all round technical efforts this year.

EROS despite pitting itself against itself, could see the fresh and fabulous response for this film; see it through to the very top.

Best Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Despite his tendency to over indulge far too often in the opulence of his film that it loses its plot and audience. Bhansali has a distinct auteur style that just mesmerizes and encapsulates the idea of what cinema; in its grand visual form is all about.

His latest also carries with it the burden of being his most ambitious project, one that has been painstakingly been in development since the past 12 years.

That my friends, is true dedication to ones craft.

Not only that, but his constant involvement in every aspect of his film makes for a unified product that channels the spirits of some classics such as Mughal-E-Azam while wholly being his own in scale and style of grandeur.

Bhansali is also being praised in all quarters including by his very own actors for bringing out the best from them and delivering career milestones for his three leads.

In a category that is increasingly becoming difficult to predict with divisions of real technical finesses against solid substance based efforts; can Bhansali make a mark?

Best Screenplay [Comedy/Romantic]: Prakash Kapadia

Despite the controversies surrounding its supposed heavy liberties taken of the factual life of Maratha warrior Bajirao; EROS is still vying for a screenplay nod.

The film has supposedly worked in an introductory note forging the idea that this is essentially a work of fiction. It's a big hit to the authenticity of the script but when has cinema not been about taking liberties.

It is also why the film competes in this category rather than acting as a dramatic biography. As with any Bhansali film; what to watch for is how Kapadia enhances the poetry of the setting with the dialogue and whether that factors to a wholesome satisfying script.

Best Cinematography: Sudeep Chatterjee

We have already mentioned Chatterjee's very stylistic and slick work in this year's Baby as an outside chance contender, but it is his Bajirao Mastani efforts that could spell a nomination on the basis of how it captures the grand atmosphere of the film especially in the war sequences and his prior nomination being for another Bhansali film [Guzaarish].

A director is always paired with his cinematographer and in Sudeep Chatterjee, Bhansali has an efficient partner. Despite the fact that portions of the film including multiple sequences seem to rely on VFX work; Chatterjee still dominates through out with some symbolic frames and well intentioned lighting.

He also will end up boosting his director's contention in a year of much more subtle works of visual artistry. Like a showy performance, a showy visual galore can easily attract the eye for a win.

Best Actor [Male] in A Leading Role [Comedy/Romantic]: Ranveer Singh as Bajirao I

Touted as the true coming out party for Ranveer Singh, it is a performance slated to do what Haider [Shahid Kapoor] and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag [Farhan Akhtar] but especially Rockstar [Ranbir Kapoor] did for its respective actors.

The former two haven’t really shone since their award winning sprees while the latter has had a career slump but is still a branded star. Singh reaches into the upper echelon of A-Listers this year. The only thing to consider is if he can make a bid for the win, especially when he has another performance lined up for a nom; his affecting, subtle and hilarious turn in Dil Dhadakne Do.

Still Bajirao is a fearsome character and one that has taken immense efforts from the actor to pull off and the effort cannot go wholly unnoticed.

Best Actor [Female] in A Leading Role [Comedy/Romantic]: Deepika Padukone as Mastani

If 2013 was the year that Deepika Padukone established herself as a superstar, then 2015 was the year where she stamped her stardom with a nod that she is one of the finest actors of her generation.

Three back to back performances that have not only garnered immense praise, but have been highlighted as career bests. Nobody has had a better year.

So it's a bit disheartening to see that Padukone's greatest rival in one sphere is herself, all three of her varied and sublime turns; Piku in Piku, Tara in Tamasha and the above are all being competed for in this category.

While one could make a case for Tamasha in a supporting role instead, though that would be much more directed if Tamasha had competed in the dramatic category. She still has to contend with the new ruling that only performance can be nominated per category.

[This is such to test the strength and dispersion of good female roles and performances to every female actor in Hindi cinema today]

What also could be either her greatest asset or fall is the critical backlash faced at the writing of the film, which gives her the least meatiest role despite being a title role; simply because in reality not much is known about Mastani.

If Deepika's performance scales beyond the writing to be worthy, it stands a chance. If it is just right there, she could bear the brunt of shoddy characterization.

The chances of Deepika being nominated are high, but for what role?

Best Actor [Female] in A Supporting Role [Comedy/Romantic]: Priyanka Chopra as Kashibai

In what has been a massive year for the other female lead of the film; it came as an initial surprise when she decided to take a supporting role to a competing female actor.

When her contemporaries have fallen by the wayside and the fact that she is at the [sadly] normally [or abnormally] wrong side of her career in terms of age, Priyanka Chopra has managed to deconstruct herself and rebuild again.

This year has brought her back into the forefront of awards contention; already a two time winner and three time nominee in the leading categories. Her supporting take is a sign that actors of this generation are willing to participate in lesser roles to contemporaries because they want to do good work, unlike a past generation.

She returns the favor that she was given from Anushka Sharma [Dil Dhadakne Do] to Deepika Padukone, and how.

As soon as reviews came bristling in, the one thing on everyone's mouth was this; Priyanka Chopra stole the show and your hearts in a love story that was never hers.

This is EROS's campaign key in categories that don't adhere to the technical of the film, allowing for a push not just for Best Director but Best Picture.

In a semi-crowded year; Priyanka Chopra has the chance of securing two golden nominations in both Leading and Supporting with a win just inches away.

I have decided not to divulge to deep into the technical aspects of the films contention...it is not out of disrespect to the categories, but rather because of the aesthetics of a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, speak for themselves.

So here it is; Best Picture [Romantic/Comedy], Best Director, Best Screenplay [Romantic/Comedy], Best Cinematography, Best Actor [Male] in A Leading Role [Romantic/Comedy], Best Actor [Female] in A Leading Role [Romantic/Comedy], Best Ensemble, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best VFX, Best Original Song[s]

EROS International's late push for the now massively successful Bajirao Mastani will form the final opinion on whether it is truly an awards powerhouse or an also ran...time to go watch it!

'Nuff Said

Aneesh Raikundalia