'Panipat' directed by Ashutosh Gowariker doesn't match the romantic consistencies which made 'Jodha Akbar' a stunning film which infused real emotions and it doesn't carry the research which made 'Lagaan' a great History movie with engrossing and deft-for-the-most-part fiction. But you must remember how much our expectations went downbeat as we watched 'Mohenjodaro'. I recall watching the movie with high expectations, lowering them in the second half and making a bad face exiting from the theatre. This wasn't the case in 'Panipat'. The visual effects are sloppy and the emotions are of soap opera, but the excellent main cast does the job solidly. Parvati Bai is almost the seventy percent match to Bhansali's iconic Kashibai, and Arjun Kapoor is immensely enjoyable as Sadashiv Rao Bhau. Padmini Kolhapuri and Zeenat Amaan are terrific. There's also ibrat music and scintillating war scene which replicates the battle with stringing nationalistic highs. It isn't a befitting jingoistic film, a nationalistic on, or something which is a staunch devotee of its Maratha sanskriti. But as a piece of political resonance in modern times, it mostly does it's job with strong, restrained dramatic strands.
And how can that be a bad thing?