Padmaavat

The dashing king of Chittor (Shahid Kapoor) has come to visit his friend the King of Sinhala when he finds himself on the wrong end of an arrow during the hunt. That came from the host's daughter "Padmavati" (Deepike Padukone) who fancies she has something of the Demeter to her. "Ratan Singh" survives unscathed; falls hook, line and sinker and before leaving offers her a place in his kingdom as his new queen (despite already having one). Life at their court is uneventful until she catches a priest watching them. "Chetan" (Aayam Mehta) had hitherto been a close confident of the king, but now banished he flees to the court of the Sultan "Alauddin" (Ranveer Singh) who has only recently indulged in some regicide to assume the throne and marry the daughter of the previous incumbent. "Chetan" has something of the Rasputin to him, is a shrewd individual and not only does he manage to save his own life but he suggests that the new Sultan attack the impenetrable fortress of Chittor so he can capture the enigmatic and beautiful "Padmavati". His first attack proves woefully inadequate, and a sort of truce ensues, but with the sly "Alauddin" being prompted from all sides to complete his mission, what chance the lovers can survive his persistent onslaughts? Now I watched this without having much of a clue as to the underlying history, or religious sub-texts, but on face value it seems to be a simple story of good versus evil, akin to something you might have been read at night by Shéhérezade. There is a degree of traditional mysticism woven into the plot and the production design is stylish and almost epic in nature as the stories of love, revenge and betrayal unfold. Politically, I suspect this probably was quite controversial not least because the conclusion includes elements of the practice of sati to it that don't travel well inside India let alone elsewhere, but for inexpert eyes seeking a piece of grand-scale entertainment with some combat scenes that wouldn't have looked out of place in something from Sir Ridley Scott, I found this to be an enjoyable and colourful historical culture-clash in the style of a well-funded, perfectly choreographed, period soap opera.