The big Bollywood battle: Why Bajirao Mastani seems a better choice than Dilwale this Christmas

We were so obsessed with the big Christmas clash between Hateful Eight and The Revnant that we completely forgot about an equally big clash building up closer home. Yes, the clash between Bajirao Mastani and Dilwale. In this age of Rs 100-crore weekends, all major releases require to open across as many screens as possible. The logic behind the focus on the first weekend’s earnings seems to be the fear of negative reviews and word of mouth. The filmmakers ideally want to earn back a good chunk of their investment before such potentially harmful news spreads. So, considering this trend, it is a bit surprising that two big production houses did not negotiate between themselves and choose to eat into each other’s initials. Nonetheless, we do have prior examples of big films releasing together and succeeding in the past, such as Lagaan and Gadar. But still, it is a big risk and this makes it interesting to look at both the films and their potentials. [caption id=“attachment_2528356” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Screen grabs from YouTube trailers[/caption] Let us first start with Dilwale. The nostalgic excitement of SRK-Kajol fans is understandable. But for all their status and clout, can’t these stars offer something more interesting? If the trailer is any indication, Dilwale is just another Rohit Shetty film offering nothing new apart from the locations. All we can understand from the trailer is that Shah Rukh and Varun Dhawan play brothers and there are a host of exploding cars. Meanwhile, SRK says “Hum sharif kya hue, saari duniya badmash ho gayi”. This suggests that he was possibly some sort of bad guy, who mended his ways, but may have to go back to his roots, probably to help the younger generation. Since Shetty has a habit of drawing from yesteryear’s hits, it wouldn’t be wrong to predict Mukul Anand’s Hum to be his primary influence. Bajirao Mastani, on the other hand, looks like a much brighter prospect. It is a period film made with a huge budget by a director known for his visual flourish. The teaser as well as the trailer has been impressive and the sweeping visuals and sheer scale of the film is commendable. In fact, there is a clear and conscious attempt on part of Sanjay Leela Bhansali to create a contemporary version of Mughal-e-Azam. However, for all his visual mastery and his newfound ability to compose soulful music, Bhansali films often end up frustrating because of clichéd, masochistic romance and heavy-handed depiction of extreme melodrama. The plot of Bajirao Mastani has enough indication of this. So, despite its historical setting, the focus is on the love triangle rather than politics or warfare of that charismatic warrior. And so, the jury is still out as far as the clash is concerned. Sorry SRK, this writer is a bit biased towards Bajirao Mastani. However, the sheer star power of the top Khans in Bollywood is unmatched and not even the lack of content can discourage their fans. We can only hope that the better film wins.