Panipat ultimately is overlong and unwieldly. It may have its heart in the right place but its other organs are all over the place. Gowariker, who kept us engaged and invested through 3 hours and 40 minutes of Lagaan, or even through the genteel romance of Jodhaa Akbar, can’t seem to recreate the magic of his finest films. I’m going with a generous two out of five for Panipat. You come out feeling like you’ve survived war…just about.

Ashutosh Gowariker has the right to creative license, and he has chosen the line which bends both fact and credulity. But did Panipat, which clocks in nearly three hours run time, need to be quite such a drudge?

Panipat, a film about Maratha warrior Sadashiv Rao Bhau who staves off Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali, disappoints only because of a linear screenplay that fails to rouse dramatic emotions so important to historicals.

Rewriting historical defeats with patriotic fervour…

Reckless, lacklustre and shoddy CGI and action choreography result in the climax failing to live up to the expectations and leaves the audience high and dry. 

Ultimately, when the character of Arjun Kapoor meets his valiant end, one can only sigh of relief and pity the fall of a director, who was once considered a flag-bearer of progressive cinema.

I give this film one and a half stars out of five.

The burden on Arjun Kapoor is too heavy for him though he rises manfully to the challenge.

Ashutosh Gowariker may not be able to do grandeur like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, but he can do war. Yet, a lacklustre cinematography and terrible CGI mars this solid attempt. It would have worked 10 years ago.

Panipat is shorn of Padmaavat and Kesari’s insidious intent, but it is not exactly an innocent, truthful chronicler of Indian history. Add to that its lack of polish and spark, and for all its positives, it ends up as just an average affair.

Panipat has clearly taken liberties to gloss over aspects such as travelling heavy and with pilgrims and women that are considered as reasons for the failure of the Maratha attack. It also leaves the reason why Abdali might never have returned to Hindustan out and makes his victory letter a eulogy to the great warrior that Sadashiv was.