(Starring ; Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Kapoor, Kirti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Mantra, Directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar)
Ashutosh Gowikar belongs to those rare breed of film-makers whose attention to details is impeccable, be it sets, costumes or the research that goes into his films. A film-maker obsessed with storytelling, his are the films that define the concept of intervals in Hindi films. At two hours and fifty-five minutes, Panipat is his shortest. Whatever the critics might say about his films, it’s no denying the fact that his Lagaan and Swades, and to a lesser extent, Jodha Akbar, will go down in the annals of film history as the best.
Panipat deals with the Third Battle of Panipat which took place among the Marathas, led by Sadashiv Rao Bhau and the Sultan of Afghanistan, ahmad Shah Afdali, on 14th January 1761, in which over a lakh of soldiers have reportedly been killed.
Panipat with all its flaws has a lot of merits too. For the first time, it demystifies the Third Battle of Panipat, the intricacies of which were confined till now to the pages of history books. It dissects the principal characters like no other film-maker could have been, and the labour of love shows in many parts of the film. It fails only because of its lousy screen play (and also because of the mis-casting) that fails to arouse of the dramatic emotions so necessary for a period, historical film, though it reels out the details of alliances with textbook perfection. The first half is devoted to the build up of these alliances, but the real drama unfolds in the last hour of the film.
The surprise elements of the film is te female lead, Kirti Sanon, who has ample scope to show her acting prowess, though sometimes, she looks too modern in her attire and stance. Arjun Kapoor gets too weighed down both by his character and costume, though his hrd work shows in many scenes. At the end of it all, Panipat is an honest attempt to showcase one of the most significant events of Indian history, but leaves you battle-scarred at the end of it. I’m going with three out of five for Panipat.