I think the story of Laxmibai could have been one that's full of really interesting political intrigue. But in this Bollywoodized production, there was none of that.
This is a heavily sentimental movie with characters declaring their love for their motherland every other sentence and basing all their revolution simply on patriotism with very little focus on their politicking. Like, as if the revolt was purely an emotional response and not a carefully considered one.
There's also this weird emphasis on decisions being made by fate or something rather than careful consideration. Manikarnika is chosen as Gangadhar's bride simply because some important emissary from Jhansi happened to witness her get rid of a lion from a village in a rather cinematic way, and he had this feeling that marrying her to Gangadhar Rao would be very patriotic indeed. (And even though he chose her for the maharaja because she was a warrior, somehow her MIL still managed to tell her that her place is in the kitchen! What happened to choosing a warrior bride out of patriotism?!)
And then the eventual adoption of the heir is decided, not strategically, but because a random kid calls the queen "ma". And this was viewed as sign from God. Seriously?
Manikarnika was also played by a beautiful actress, even though the historical figure was known to be rather plain. Being played by a beautiful actress is fine, but the problem in my view was that they really played up her beauty. They even gave her false eyelashes! So much for building a period aesthetic!
They also played up a romance between Manu and Gangadhar Rao, when such a Bollywood-style romance between the two was very unlikely given that she was very, very young when they got married and he was middle aged. But the movie obscures the age difference and never comments on it. And has montages of the two falling in love.
Even the very boring British production (The Warrior Queen of Jhansi) captured the spirit of Manikarnika better than this (despite also being historically inaccurate and depicting a friendship with Hugh Rose).
I guess I will have to continue to wait for a good adaptation of this story.
This is a heavily sentimental movie with characters declaring their love for their motherland every other sentence and basing all their revolution simply on patriotism with very little focus on their politicking. Like, as if the revolt was purely an emotional response and not a carefully considered one.
There's also this weird emphasis on decisions being made by fate or something rather than careful consideration. Manikarnika is chosen as Gangadhar's bride simply because some important emissary from Jhansi happened to witness her get rid of a lion from a village in a rather cinematic way, and he had this feeling that marrying her to Gangadhar Rao would be very patriotic indeed. (And even though he chose her for the maharaja because she was a warrior, somehow her MIL still managed to tell her that her place is in the kitchen! What happened to choosing a warrior bride out of patriotism?!)
And then the eventual adoption of the heir is decided, not strategically, but because a random kid calls the queen "ma". And this was viewed as sign from God. Seriously?
Manikarnika was also played by a beautiful actress, even though the historical figure was known to be rather plain. Being played by a beautiful actress is fine, but the problem in my view was that they really played up her beauty. They even gave her false eyelashes! So much for building a period aesthetic!
They also played up a romance between Manu and Gangadhar Rao, when such a Bollywood-style romance between the two was very unlikely given that she was very, very young when they got married and he was middle aged. But the movie obscures the age difference and never comments on it. And has montages of the two falling in love.
Even the very boring British production (The Warrior Queen of Jhansi) captured the spirit of Manikarnika better than this (despite also being historically inaccurate and depicting a friendship with Hugh Rose).
I guess I will have to continue to wait for a good adaptation of this story.