~ Kanya

Bajirao Mastani : More fiction than facts

I wanted to say this for a long time, but I was just scared to stir a controversy here. While I understand the attraction of "Bajirao Mastani" due to its aesthetics, I personally find the liberal use of artistic freedom to be jarring, to say the least. Atleast to me, the film takes the artistic freedom to such an extent that it effortlessly crosses the line and becomes a mere fanfiction with little to none historic relevance.

The film shows Nana Saheb (Kashibai's eldest son) snatching Shamsher Bahadur from Mastani, torturing and tying her to numerous chains and leaving her to die in a rotten jail.

THAT IS NOT HOW MASTANI DIED. Marathas were not some salty cowards to jail a woman, torture her to death and snatch her child away from her. The sheer disrespect on the morals of Marathas who never raised a weapon on women, children and old people. Sabhasad Bhakar, a rare and old biography or Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj states how the Marathas were ordered to treat the women during a war :)

"There should be no women, female slaves, or dancing girls in the army. He who would keep them should be beheaded. In enemy territories, women and children should not be captured. Males, if found, should be captured. No one should commit adultery."

Source : Sabhasad Bhakar, written in 1697 in the court of Chhatrapati Rajaram, Shivaji's second son.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali shows a scene where the Peshwa family conspires a secret attack during Ganesh Puja to kill Mastani.

No fucking body tried to kill Shamsher Bahadur or Mastani like that scene of the song Gajanana.The fact that a fake assassination scene was forcibly inserted in a song like Gajanana is insane.

Bajirao's brother Chimaji Appa is potrayed as a psychopath who's only job was to hate Mastani and continously conspire against her and Bajirao because he was shown to be more interested in his family drama than his empire that extended up to Delhi.

FAKE. A 100 TIMES FAKE. Chimaji Appa opposed their marriage but didn't try to conspire against his brother or kill Mastani and Shamsher Bahadur by sending assasins on them. He was infact always busy on the war fronts and loyal to the throne. Chimaji Appa was excellent at warfare and he was the father of Sadashivrao — the real hero of Panipat :)

The film shows the Peshwa family making Mastani stay with the prostitutes and court dancers and Radhabai, Bajirao's mother, not missing one chance to put Mastani down.

You guessed it right, fake again! The truth is Mastani lived in the premise of Shanivar Wada, with respect. Thay place is literally known as Mastani Mahal now. Coming to Radhabai, who's shown to illtreat Mastani at every step in the movie, was the one who conducted Mastani's delivery and let Shamsher Bahadur stay in Pune after his mother's death and become a commander in the Maratha Army during Panipat.

The last ultra sad scene where Mastani breathes her last while watching the sunset from an old, creepy jail, with wounds on her body and iron chains in her hands and feet — well, fake.

Mastani was infact put under house arrest. And that was not because she was a Muslim and everyone else was a religious psychopath, but because Bajirao was turning into a person he never was. During his last days, Bajirao started spending a lot of time with Mastani in her Palace and started neglecting not only Kashibai and his family but also his duties as a Peshwa. He started indulging himself in drinking wine and even consuming meat and refusing to go on wars. This caused an uproar in the kingdom because Peshwas are Brahmins. To end this outbreak of people losing their trust in the Peshwas, Nana Saheb put Mastani under house arrest so that Bajirao couldn't meet her anymore and turn his head towards the enemies marching on the empire instead. Even Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj put his step mother, Soyrabai, under house arrest because she was conspiring against him. Its not a method of torture.

It was shown that Bajirao died due to the grief of separation from Mastani.

No he did not. He was not Devdas. After Mastani's housearrest, Radhabai had reminded Bajirao of his duties and asked him to go on a war. After the war, in his camp, he had caught severe fever and succumbed to the disease. Kashibai, Chimaji Appa and Mastani were all present at the time of his death.

Overall a cinematic and aesthetic banger of a movie, with beautiful sets, costumes and commendable acting but that is all. Nothing more.

~ Kanya