Bajirao mastani---Sanjay Leela bhansali's ambitious venture

[werewolf2]

Sanjay Leela Bhansali ke movies ka matlab give it a miss.

[ashdoc]

bajirao mastani won against dilwale in the indian box office , but dilwale scored outside india . i wonder if the muslim audiences in gulf and pakistan etc helped shah rukh's cause---

http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainmen...battle-2166236

[ashdoc]

a good analysis of the film , but like a typical muslim author he deliberately puts in the angle about treatment of untouchables---

http://www.rediff.com/movies/column/...y/20151222.htm

[PeaceSeeker]

Originally Posted by ashdoc

he was going to be named krishna singh---like a bundela rajput warrior . at least that was the wish of his mother mastani to which bajirao had acceded . but the pune brahmins put a spanner in the works . krishna singh/shamsher bahadur's son ali bahadur was spitting image of his grandfather bajirao . when the peshwai began to collapse in the 19th century because the last peshwa bajirao 2nd proved to be incompetent there was a move to make ali bahadur the peshwa , because he was more of a warrior than bajirao 2nd . but fear that the peshwai would pass to a muslim made the pune brahmins hellbent on destroying all records of mastani and her descendants---so we do not have much information on mastani . shamsher bahadur himself died after the maratha defeat at panipat . he had accompanied the army and fought there , but was heartbroken by the slaughter of his people and had a heart attack .

the maratha ambitions to rule india were stopped at panipat , but they recovered to rule delhi as protectors of the nominal ruler---the mughal emperor . but later they came up against the british . unity among the five main maratha states ( shindes of gwalior , holkars of indore , bhosales of nagpur , gaikwads of baroda , and the peshwa bajirao 2nd ) was lost because of the incompetence of bajirao 2nd . bajirao second incurred an enemity with the holkar family . he and the shindes combined to attack the holkars and kill the holkar chief . but his brother jaswantrao holkar defeated both the peshwas and shinde . jaswantrao ( who was the last great warrior the marathas ever produced ) marched on pune . scared for his life , bajirao 2nd surrendered to the british and accepted their overlordship in order to protect himself from jaswantrao . thus the peshwai was surrendered to the british .

too late the marathas realised what had happened , but as i said it was too late . the peshwa was now a tool of the british , and no unity was possible between jaswantrao holkar and the shindes because of bloodfeud---the shinde chief daulatrao had colluded with bajirao 2nd to kill jaswantrao's bother . so the marathas were all divided at the crucial moment . if all five maratha states had united to stop the british then they could have stopped them . but the british individually defeated them one by one . four of the maratha states were thus defeated . only jaswantrao holkar was victorious over the forces of the british in the battle of mukundra pass . he then marched to the punjab in order to unite the marathas and sikhs . jaswantrao asked maharajah ranjit singh to help him drive the british out of india . but ranjit singh did not want to challenge british power .

as long as jaswantrao holkar was alive the british did not dare attack the marathas again , though the other four maratha states were now their vassals . but the british could afford to play the waiting game---they simply waited for jaswantrao to die . after he died they invaded the marathas again and conquered them .

Originally Posted by ashdoc

note---jaswantrao's real name was yashwantrao holkar . but the north indians called him jaswantrao .

Thanks doc.

I don't know why Marathas didn't leave their symbols wherever they ruled. Mughlas have left those. Through these symbols public knows who ruled where once upon a time. I doubt it that an average northie would be even aware that once Marathas ruled the territory where they stay today. E.g. would residents of Banda of UP know if it was jageer of son of Bajirao Mastani once? I doubt. That's no good.

[ashdoc]

Originally Posted by PeaceSeeker

Thanks doc.

I don't know why Marathas didn't leave their symbols wherever they ruled. Mughlas have left those. Through these symbols public knows who ruled where once upon a time. I doubt it that an average northie would be even aware that once Marathas ruled the territory where they stay today. E.g. would residents of Banda of UP know if it was jageer of son of Bajirao Mastani once? I doubt. That's no good.

the british deliberately destroyed maratha symbols of power after they won . shivaji's capital raigad was utterly destroyed by the british---all it's fine buildings were raised to the ground . today it is nothing but an empty hulk--i have been there twice .

similarly the peshwa's grand palace ( shanivarwada ) at pune was put to fire and burnt to the ground .

in the north too all maratha symbols of power were raised to the ground by the british in order to erase the memory of maratha rule . not only that but for a long time marathas were barred from the armed forces by the british so that their marital spirit would not rekindled . this while the punjabis and rajputs were encouraged to join the armed forces .

[ashdoc]

here are the remaining symbols of maratha power....

jai vilas palace of shindes of gwalior



laxmi vilas palace of gaikwads of baroda

[ashdoc]

holkar rajwada indore

[ashdoc]

palace on the banks of the narmada river at maheshwar---built by maratha queen ahilyabai holkar

[ashdoc]

kashi vishwanath temple of varanasi---rebuilt in varanasi in the 18th century by maratha queen ahilyabai holkar after its destruction by aurangzeb in the 17th century

[ashdoc]

rajwada of kolhapur---old photo

[ashdoc]

palace of thanjavur tamil nadu

[ashdoc]

shaniwarwada pune



statue of bajirao in front of shanivarwada

[PeaceSeeker]

I wondered, without certain deliberate design, why would mughal symbols remain but no Maratha? Tajmahal is considered as "India's identity" by the westerners. That too seems delibetate. There's nothing extraordinary about Taj f you ask me.

On the other hand, a supposedly educated person like me wasn't aware that Bajirao Mastani's son ruled Banda of UP at one time. Thats bad.

[jeetiaf]

Did this movie did justice to history or was it romanticized history?

jeetIAF

[PeaceSeeker]

I think it is a good movie, worth a watch. There is no excessive drama which is typical of Bhansali & absolutely detested by me.