Padmaavat is a 2018 Bollywood period drama film, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, and Ranveer Singh. It's loosely based on the epic poem Padmavat.
Princess Padmavati mistakes King Ratan Singh for a deer and accidentally shoots him. After she treats his wound the two of them fall in love and get married. Meanwhile Alauddin Khilji has killed his uncle and declared himself Sultan. When he hears of Padmavati's beauty Alauddin decides he wants to have her for himself, so he declares war on Ratan Singh.
Contains examples of:
- Action Girl: Padmavati starts out as one. Her first appearance is when she's hunting in the woods. Later she doesn't physically fight in battles, but when Alauddin kidnaps her husband she goes in person to demand his release.
- Annoying Arrows: Ratan Singh isn't seriously injured after Padmavati's arrow hits him. Subverted later, when arrows are one of the things that keep Alauddin's army out of the city. Subverted even more at the end, when Malik's arrows kill Ratan Singh.
- Arrows on Fire: Ratan Singh's army use burning arrows to set Alauddin's camp on fire.
- Ax-Crazy:
- Alauddin. Early in the film he kills a servant; he murders his uncle and seizes his throne; and he goes to war just because he lusts after Padmavati.
- Malik kills anyone Alauddin wants killed, and his first reaction when Alauddin asks about a musician is to offer to kill the musician.
- Badass Boast: Padmavati answers Ratan Singh's question with one.Ratan Singh: Do you fear that I might not return from this war?Padmavati: Padmavati has never feared anything in her life.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Alauddin knows he's a rapacious, backstabbing son of a bitch and takes full pleasure in it.Alauddin: Not even God trusts Alauddin!
- Costume Porn: Oh, so much. Considering this is medieval India, you can expect to see plenty of gorgeous traditional clothes for both men and women.
- Decapitation Presentation: Alauddin beheads his uncle and the Mongol leader, and displays both their heads afterwards.
- Depraved Bisexual: Alauddin has relationships with his wife, other women, and his male servant Malik.
- Disguised in Drag: Padmavati brings the army with her, disguised as her maidservants, to rescue Ratan Singh.
- The Dog Bites Back: Mehrunisa, Alauddin's abused wife, helps Ratan Singh and Padmavati escape from him.
- Downer Ending: Alauddin wins. Ratan Singh and Padmavati both die.
- Driven to Suicide: Padmavati and the other women in the court burn themselves alive rather than let Alauddin capture them.
- Epic Movie: It's a Bollywood film based on an epic poem, so this is inevitable.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Played with. Alauddin's battle against the Mongols isn't shown, but he is shown carrying the Mongol leader's head afterwards.
- Historical Villain Upgrade:
- Alauddin Khilji is portrayed effectively as a hedonistic barbarian in this film. While the real life Alauddin was a warlord who waged campaigns of conquest, he was also known to be quite sophisticated, borrowing elements from Persian culture, and for enforcing a code of etiquette on his court.
- Similarly, Jalaluddin is depicted as being arrogant and power hungry, when the real Jalaluddin has been documented as being a very polite and humble ruler who stabilized Delhi after taking the throne.
- Kill It with Fire: Padmavati and all the Rajput women commit what is known as jauhar, where they all commit mass self-immolation to avoid enslavement by Alauddin's forces.
- Kissing Cousins: Mehrunisa is both Alauddin's cousin and his first wife.
- Marital Rape License: Alauddin orders Mehrunisa to sleep with him when she clearly doesn't want to.
- Meaningless Villain Victory: Alauddin defeats Ratan Singh's army and captures his capital city, but fails to get what he actually wanted, that being Padmavati.
- Off with His Head!: Appears quite a few times in the film. First with the Mongol leader that Alauddin defeats, then his own uncle Jalauddin. Then there's Raghav Chetan, whose head is cut off off-screen, and then Gora Singh's head gets cut off so fast, his body still swings his blade before finally collapsing.
- The Peeping Tom:
- Raghav Chetan is banished after he was caught spying on Ratan Singh and Padmavati.
- Malik watches Alauddin preparing to rape Mehrunisa.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: All three of the main characters. Ratan Singh refuses Alauddin's demands, withstands his attempt to besiege the city, and nearly kills him in a duel. Padmavati goes in person to free her husband when he's kidnapped. And Alauddin besieges Chittor, abducts Ratan Singh, and ultimately manages to capture Chittor.
- Skewed Priorities: Alauddin doesn't even get out of bed when his tent's on fire, but he tells Malik to rescue his birds.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Hearing of Padmavati's beauty prompts Alauddin to declare war on Ratan Singh. Nagmati blames Padmavati when Ratan Singh is captured.Nagmati: Today our king is in the enemy's clutches, and it's entirely your fault! Your beauty is to be blamed!Padmavati: What about the beholder? And his sinful gaze?
- Villainous Breakdown: Alauddin is reduced to yelling in rage after Padmavati commits suicide before he can take her for himself.
