Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior Movie Review – Ajay Devgn’s Film Is A Treat For The Eye, If Not For The Mind

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior Movie Review – Ajay Devgn and Saif Ali Khan are in their elements. Kajol gives a great account of herself.

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, Kajol, Sharad Kelkar

Director: Om Raut

Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

A treat for the eye, if not for the mind, Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, co-produced by lead actor Ajay Devgn, is a 3D period biopic that gives historicity a wide berth and pieces together a dramatic enactment of a 17th century Maratha conquest of a strategic fort under the control of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. The makers of the film do admit as much in an upfront disclaimer upfront to cover their tracks and assuage any outrage that might be caused by the liberties that they have taken.

The two principal stars of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, Devgn and Saif Ali Khan, in the guise of a ferocious Rajput fort-keeper who is unquestioningly trusted by Aurangzeb, are in their elements. It is another matter that the warriors that they play are shorn of authenticity.

Neither the hero Tanaji Malusare, an iconic Maratha military general who served Shivaji before he was coronated as the Chhatrapati, nor Udaybhan Singh (Saif Ali Khan), a brutal warrior, is human. The former is a paragon of rectitude and valour, a man so intrepid that he puts his son’s wedding on hold to lead the assault on the hill fort of Kondhana. The latter is Devil Incarnate, a ruthless taskmaster who grandly declares that in his darbar pardon isn’t an option, only punishment is. As a result, any nuanced portrait of a fierce confrontation is ruled out.

Director Om Raut, making his Hindi-language debut, confuses scale with cinematic finesse. To his credit, however, Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior is not devoid of visual flourishes. Most of them are a result of the work of the CGI technicians and the 3D cinematography by Japan-born, US-trained Keiko Nakahara. Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior is impressively mounted and the climactic sequences are first-rate. But too much artifice and too little authenticity is the film’s bane.

The storyline, derived from a chapter in the annals of the Maratha Empire and run through a blender devised by a blinkered Bollywood, is simple. The proto-nationalist is Hindu, a pious, God-fearing family man who thinks nothing of putting the empire (equated facilely with nation) before self. The antagonist is Hindu, too, but fights on the side of a Muslim emperor, which makes him worse, a traitor beyond redemption. Udaybhan is a Rajput, but the film makes it a point not to show him as a man who has anything to do with worship and prayer. He is Godless and, therefore, beyond salvation.Advertisement

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior starts with a brief mid-17th century prelude. Tanaji is a boy but he is already a skilled swordsman and fighter. His doting father is impressed no end. The old man dies in battle, leaving his prized scimitar behind with his son. Jump to 1664. Under the treaty of Purandar, Shivaji surrenders 23 of his forts to the Mughals. The ruler’s mother, Jijabai (Padmavathi Rao), vows to walk barefoot until Kondhana Fort is wrested back.

Four years on, Shivaji plans an attack on the fort but conceals the information from Tanaji, his most trusted aide, because the latter is preparing for his pre-teen son’s wedding back in the village. It is a child marriage, but this is the 1660s, so let’s refrain from calling anything into question.Advertisement

Another warrior in the Maratha court, Chandraji Pisal (Ajinkya Deo), who envies Tanaji’s clout, spills the beans when latter accompanied by his wife Savitribai (Kajol) travels to Raigad to extend a wedding invitation to Shivaji. Tanaji confronts Shivaji and requests him to let him lead the assault on Fort Kondhana. The fort first, only then my son’s wedding, the general proclaims. Shivaji is forced to acquiesce.

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior Movie Review – Kajol is Savitribai, Tanaji’s wife

Udaybhan Singh, Aurangzeb’s former chief bodyguard, is now in charge of the impregnable fortress that stands atop a steep rocky hill. Here he holds a young widow Kamla (Neha Sharma) captive after dragging her out from her dead husband’s pyre, but he does not force her in any way to surrender to his advances. I will wait until your ‘no’ changes to ‘yes’, he says. Udaybhan is an evil man but here we have him performing two acts of surprising ‘nobility’: not only does he prevent a Rajput woman from committing Sati, he also decides that consent matters.

But that facet of the villain’s personality is drowned out in the portrayal of an evil man who chops off an elephant’s trunk, pushes a cowering guard over a precipice for a minor lapse and slaughters his adversaries without batting an eyelid. Saif’s Udaybhan is Ranveer Singh’s Alauddin Khilji revisited. In one scene, he feasts on a crocodile being slow-roasted on fire, which is meant to underline how perverse the man is.

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior Movie Review – Saif ali Khan has been cast as Udaybhan Singh

The impulse to project Tanaji Malusare as a morally infallible man wedded to the cause of swaraj is easy to understand in the light of the glut of the Hindu-Muslim binary-pushing historical sagas that a segment of Bollywood is so in thrall of these days.Advertisement

The emphasis on the colour bhagwa (saffron), too, is understandable – that was the colour of the Maratha confederacy’s flag – but the constant reference to the adversaries of the Marathas as shaitaan (devil) and darinda (beast of prey) only serves to further a simplistic narrative that ignores the historical realities that obtained in this vast, diverse land of ours 350 years ago.

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, written by long-time Sanjay Leela Bhansali collaborator Prakash Kapadia with Om Raut, foists a terribly dull voice-over on the audience to guide it through a distorted history lesson. The best that it can manage, by way of an introduction, are cliched lines to the effect that in the mid-17th century India was a “sone ki chidiya” grievously wounded by a wave of invasions. Come up with something new, for god’s sake!

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior Movie Review – Ajay Devgn in a still from the movie

On the positive side, for a swords-and-spears costume drama, Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior is pretty crisp. The performances breathe some life into the proceedings when the show threatens to turn overly stuffy. While Devgn and Khan deliver some neat blows on the way to the final face-off, the supporting cast members, notably Sharad Kelkar as Shivaji, Luke Kenny as Aurangzeb and, of course, Kajol, give a great account of themselves.

Rating should be 3 stars out of 5…

And still a family entertainer…

Do like and share this post

Movie Name:Chhapaak. Cast:Deepika Padukone, Vikrant Massey. Director:Meghna Gulzar

It is 2005. Har Ghadi Badal Rahi Hai Roop Zindagi is the latest chartbuster on the radio. Abhijeet Sawant, Amit Sana and Rahul Vaidya are fighting it out to be the first Indian Idol. Inside a two-room servant quarter in one of the bungalows in Delhi’s posh Golf Lawns, a 17-year-old dances to Sonu Nigam crooning har pal yahaan, jee bhar jiyo, jo hai samaa, kal ho na ho.ADVERTISING

It is kal. The next day. The ‘samaa’ is different. Malti’s life has changed forever.

As she falls on the ground, dealing with an unbearable pain, a lone passerby pours water on her head. She screams. He dials 100. A PCR takes Malti to the hospital. Someone has thrown acid on her. The police begin hunting for the attacker.

“Aapki beti toh girls’ school mein padhti hai. Saare phone numbers ladko ke kyu hai uske phone mein?” a policeman throws at her father. The viewer shifts uncomfortably in her chair in the theatre. They zero in on the attacker. And so it begins.

Malti goes from pain to accepting herself, and makes us hope with her. Director Meghna Gulzar doesn’t let you forget her protagonist’s struggle for even one wayward moment though. For an exuberant Malti, Meghna pushes ahead a cynical Amol. “Nirashawadi,” someone teases him.

Chhapaak begins in 2012 when Delhi is crying we want justice for its gangrape victim. You’ve seen those scenes far too many times now. Among this crowd, a man holds up the photo of an acid victim in front of a TV camera. He is asked to move out of the frame. Amol spits at the crew, “Rape ke aage acid ki kya keemat. Uncle ko samajh hi nahi aata.” Meghna Gulzar takes us next to Malti’s story, trying hard to make us understand why, why would anyone do this to someone. The director handholds her viewer through the courtrooms where hope sinks into hopelessness which transforms into hope. Life oscillates between what could have been and what is.ADVERTISEMENT

The win for Chhapaak lies in its crisp narrative, backed by some solid performances by each one of the cast. Leading this talented pack is Deepika Padukone, the Pretty-Face Padukone, who let go of that face for this film. Deepika bites hard into Malti and makes you sit up and squirm with her, scream with her when she first sees her new face. As she looks at the mirror and tries inserting a jhumka through her earlobe, and then realises the acid has taken even that away, you hear her heart breaking. That the director uses ‘har ghadi badal rahi hai roop zindagi’ in the background, on that same radio, is a kick in your gut. You realise what half a Rs-30 bottle of acid does.

Director Meghna Gulzar brings Laxmi Agarwal’s story to film with a stunning clarity. Chhapaak stays brutally honest and close to the story of Laxmi. The religion’ of the attacker included. Bashir Khan’s Joe Goldbergesque eyes pierce through you, making you uncomfortable.

Madhurjeet Sanghi puts ahead a powerful lawyer in her Archana Bajaj. Vikrant Massey, the ever reliable Vikrant Massey, does a spectacular job yet again. Vikrant as Amol is too pained by the plight of the acid attack victims that he heads an NGO for. So much so, that he gets told off by Malti for being a killjoy: Aapka problem pata hai kya hai? Aapko lagta hai aap pe acid phenka gaya hai. In that one sentence, the director gives us Vikrant, gives us Deepika and gives us what their characters are.

The dialogues of the film are simple. They do their job of telling a story without coming down heavy on your ears. Meghna Gulzar lets Deepika’s face do the rest. Every time you see her staring out of the screen, you are reminded of this evil that India is still fighting. Acid is still being sold and bought for ‘prices cheaper than cola’. The last attack, Chhapaak says, was on December 7 last year. The last reported attack, of course.

Chhapaak makes you feel every moment of an acid survivor’s life. It is a shame therefore that Meghna and her team let the songs hamper the pace of the film. Some of the songs are necessary and don’t seem like a hindrance. The title track Chhapaak in Arijit Singh’s voice stays with you. The relationship between Deepika and her brother too is left frustratingly unexplored, to the point that not even a word is exchanged between the siblings. At points, the editing is not smooth.

But these are just minor worries in a beautiful, beautifully made film. Also, kudos to a 34-year-old Deepika for pulling off a 17-year-old’s role. Why should our Khans have all the fun?

Chhapaak is an important film. But be warned: it might make you cry.

*4 stars out of 5*

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton