Tanhaji Review: A Well-crafted Period Drama

Image Credit: Wikipedia.

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior is a well-crafted period drama starring Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, Kajol, Sharad Kelkar, Luke Kenny, and directed by the Bollywood debutant Om Raut. The film is a biography of Subedar Tanhaji Malusare the right-hand man of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The film depicts the heroism of Tanhaji and loosely portrays a picture of the times of the great Maratha ruler Shivaji.

 

Certain things straightway grab the attention while watching the film or even while watching the trailers and teasers:

Ø  The lavishness of the sets and frames of the film, and the fact that it has been prepared for 3-D consumption also.

Ø  The real-life couple Ajay Devgn and Kajol returning to the silver screen together after almost a decade.

Ø  Saif Ali Kahn did look menacing as the foremost villain of the film.

Ø  And finally, the film’s visuals.

 

Watching Ajay Devgn’s self-produced latest effort, one can realize that the actor-filmmaker’s intention was not just to create a largescale action-drama period film seeped in lavish visual delight. The film, directed by Om Raut, tries reimagining the Bollywood historical genre at a far more extravagant scale than what we have seen so far.

 

We first see Tanhaji (aka Ajay Devgn) as a boy learning the intricacies of warfare from his father, a Maratha soldier, who loses his life in one of the many battles fought between the Marathas and the Mughals but not before passing on the baton to his son. From then on, it is Tanhaji, who picks up the fight for Swaraj, Sach and Shivaji Maharaj, in that order.

 

In that period of time in India, while there are the Marathas in the South, there are the Mughals in the North. The feud between them is a long time affair and there had been numerous fights between the two. The Mughals had captured many forts from the Marathas, Kondhana being one among them.

 

Tanhaji, the trusted Lieutenant of Chhatrapati Shivaji (played by Sharad Kelkar), vows to reclaim the Kondhana fort from the Mughals. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (Luke Kelly) has sent one of his most trusted and vicious general Uday Bhan Singh Rathore (a happily-hamming Saif Ali Khan) to strengthen the military resources of Kondhana. There is no contest as to what happened because it is well documented.

 

On the other side is Uday Bhan, aka. Saif, relishing his antihero role. As Uday Bhan, who was Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s trusted general, Saif has delivered a performance that must rank as one of his career’s best.

 

Prakash Kapadia and Om Raut’s writing could perhaps do better while setting up roles that justified Ajay and Kajol’s onscreen reunion after a long time, as Tanhaji and his wife Savitribai. Although it may be justified based on the fact that it is basically a war drama, however, we could do with a little more screen time for Kajol.

 

The screenplay is basically setting up a grand battle between Tanhaji and Uday Bhan. The setting is in the 1600s. While Aurangzeb sends Uday Bhan to strengthen Kondhana, Tanhaji vows to reclaim it.

 

Thus follows a battle that has all the elements that a battle needs. There is treachery as is common in battles. There are deaths. And then there is a winner.

Credit: YouTube and T-series.

While some scenes like the one involving bamboo stems and scaling walls might seem science defying, the creators however have been successful in creating a film that looks realistic. Uday Bhan and his troops succeed to take control over Kondhana. Chhatrapati Maharaj decides to send his trusted general Tanhaji Malusare to re-capture Kondhana. The stage is set for the ensuing Battle of Sinhagad.

 

Overall, the film’s action sequences are outstanding and adeptly choreographed (by Ramazan Bulut), creatively photographed (by Keiko Nakahara), and has smart CGI effects. However, the story might seem to be moving slowly in the beginning, but crisp editing by Dharmendra Sharma picks up its pace as it progresses.

 

The film scores brownie points for Sandeep Shirodkar’s outstanding background music. He and T-series deserve praise for producing one of the finest background albums in the industry.

As with every historical drama, there will always be questions raised about the authenticity of facts. However, the film overall provides a good insight into one of the most important periods of India’s history. It surely is a combination of patriotism, facts, and drama which makes it a well-crafted period drama. Hence, it is a recommendation for all those period drama lovers out there. 

 Click here for more.