Descendants of Peshwa Bajirao and his wife Mastani have publicly criticized the movie "Bajirao Mastani" for inaccuracies in the cinematic portrayal of the couple, bringing Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus under fire yet again. The protests follow after the song "Pinga" caused much furor over its depiction of Maharashtrian women for not being authentic and distorting historical facts.
Mohini Kakarey, a descendant of Maratha warrior Bajirao, wrote an open letter to Bhansali saying that he had not conducted enough research before starting production on the film. "The time has now come to speak out, to speak out against the picturisation in the song and certain scenes from your movie, Bajirao Mastani. The latest song Pinga and the dance sequence which you have promoted have a lot of undesirable elements. This is not fiction, Mr Bhansali. You have portrayed real people who have been recorded in history. The Peshwas ruled for more than 100 years. Did you do any research at all? Did you, for instance, understand the life and times of people in the 1700s? Do you know and understand their behavioural pattern?" she asked in the letter, according to The Times of India.
Now, Bharat Dabholkar has taken Bhansali to task over the historical inaccuracies of the film. "I would rather work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who takes these creative leaps (and damn historical realities). Peshwa's wife dancing with her sauten in an alluring midriff showing dance (so deliciously erotic). Or the peshwa dancing and mouthing words like 'dushman chi wat laavli (so topical and so close to how today's tapori Maharashtrians would talk, and therefore so relatable to the youth.) He could have also said that I can't do this because my film is based on true historical characters and I have to stick to authenticity, but he didn't. More strength to his tribe," Dabholkar wrote in a Facebook post, reported Bollywood Life.
Adding to the furor, descendants of Bajirao and Mastani, namely UdaySinh Peshwa (descendant of Bajirao), Awais Bahadur Nawab Saheb, Nawab Zulfiqar Bahadur IV, Shaheen Bahadur, Nawab Usman Bahadur (ninth generation descendants of Mastani) and Sardar Sathyasheelraje Dabhade (descendant of commander-in-chief Umabaisaheb Dabhade), came together to express their disapproval of the movie and Bhansali's portrayal of their ancestors.
"When my family was invited on sets, we were just shown one set and nothing else. We had requested Bhansali to keep everything according to true history. He had promised that the film would be excellent. But what we have seen in the trailer have left us deeply disappointed. There is a scene where Ranveer Singh is shown pouring water over Priyanka Chopra's head. Those are private moments. How can you show that? We agree with cinematic liberty but the dignity of the person should be kept intact," said a disgusted Uday Sinh Peshwa, according to The Indian Express.
