Panipat is a drag, but may be worth it in the end.

Director Ashutosh Gowariker is a man of erratic appetite. He always create fully realised worlds with great conviction. In certain instances, like Swades, Lagaan and Jodhaa Akbar, this conviction propels his cinema. In others like What’s Your Raashee, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey and the abysmal Mohenjo Daro, the conviction only makes the ideas seem more ridiculous and banal in comparison.

I can’t tell where Panipat fits, to be honest. Because, the last hour, is visually and emotionally sumptuous, that you walk away with a shot of adrenaline, but the two hours that precede the climactic battle are so lifeless and drab, that you’ll be fidgeting before the opening credits roll. The film follows Sadashiv Rao Bhau (Arjun Kapoor), an able Maratha commander who leads the empire to greatness. His wife, Parvati Bai (Kriti Sanon), is a happy-go lucky Maratha wife who has to deal with the politics of Padmini Kohlapure’s scheming Gopika Bai. Their lives are turned upside down when Ahmed Shah Abdali (Sanjay Dutt) wages war against the Marathas to plunder the country.

Now, it’s a smart decision to make such a film in hyper-patriotic times, but Ashu isn’t contempt with the class good-Hindu bad-Muslim trope that lesser filmmakers like Sanjay Leela Bhansali love to peddle. Instead, we get a more responsible resolution. Not all the Muslims here are bad, but it is worth a mention that Abdali does love meat, kohl-rimmed eyes and bloodthirsty murder just as much as Alauddin Khilji. The biggest hurdle here is how strikingly similar Panipat is to Bajirao Mastani. The events of this film are directly related to that one. One of the key characters is Bajirao and Mastani’s son - both of whom get adequately mentioned here.

The sets look similar, but not as grand. And Ashu can’t seem to muster up the same operatic sensibilities that Bhansali does. You’re never convinced you’re watching an epic, so after a point, the broad strokes that he paints his male characters in, becomes contrived and unimpressive. The women here get most of the fun. Padmini Kohlapure is good as Gopika Bai, but too similar to Tanvi Azmi’s character in Bajirao Mastani and Ila Arun from Jodhaa Akbar.

Kriti Sanon is the real spark here. Delivering her career best performance, she matches the effervescence, grace, elegance and even charm of Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone. All the characters around her are so inherently ornate that she’s the only one with spunk and spark. As she watches the climactic battle, Kriti’s expressions and genuine shock move you. The costumes and set design are also top notch - Neeta Lulla makes sure of it. The women are designed wearing exquisite clothes and the men wear nice, era-appropriate clothes.

The songs by Ajay-Atul aren’t as memorable, but Mard Maratha and Mann Mein Shiva are staged well, with grand dances, scenes and scale, so they’re weaved finely into the narrative. But, at over 2 hours and 51 minutes, Panipat is far too long. It’s ironical, because this is one of Ashu’s shortest films. Even his worst - What’s Your Raashee was a good 3 and a half hours long. Still, there’s little impact, but much plot. Ashu tries to tick everything off the historical checklist, we’re told in painstaking detail about each alliance, each betrayal and each rivalry the Marathas had. It’s a good history lesson, but doesn’t make for a riveting experience.

And for a film about scale, the CGI is inept. It’s laughable at the best. At the centre of it are the testosterone-driven Arjun Kapoor and the pseudo-menacing Sanjay Dutt. It’s almost as if Bajirao fought Khilji. Sanjay is unconvincing. Honestly, Abdali has very little to do, but stare drably onto the barren landscape of Panipat and mouth ornate dialogues like, “Kohinoor mashakat se paayi jaati hai, cheen ne se nahi milti.”

So, Sanju has no option, but to play him as dull and lifeless. He rarely musters up the fun there’s to be had with characters that are so terribly evil, like Ranveer Singh did ever so effortlessly. Arjun is a bit better, but he’s still an odd fit. While looking convincing as a towering Maratha warrior, his ornate and banal dialogue delivery doesn’t serve him very well. In the process of looking mighty, he ends up looking rather bored. His expressions are constantly frozen, whether he’s wincing in pain, or saying things like, “Main iss mitti ke ek kand ke liye bhi marne ko taiyaar hoon.”

In the end, Panipat finally springs to life and the legend of the Maratha empire bounces back with all its glory. So, yes. It’s a drag, and will leave you battered, but the last hour is exhilarating. That deserves some applause.