Prithviraj trailer Review: Akshay Kumar's upcoming historical biopic is riddled with generic CGI shots

As a fan of Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s 1991 Doordarshan serial Chanakya, I have been waiting since it beamed a brilliant bio-pic aura across the nation, to see the return of that master storyteller who knows his history and puts it to comprehensive cogent and compelling use on screen. Nothing that Dwivedi has done over the years equals the wondrous Chanakya, not even Pinjar the  Partition tale penned by Amrita Pritam where the director came closest to recreating the magic of Chanakaya.

I have been waiting to see what Dwivedi has done to the saga of the valorous and chivalrous Prithiviraj, The trailer is out. And I  feel a deep sense of betrayal. The same  generic  war sequences with  computer-generated  soldiers  in thousands, firing arrows  ad nauseam, the same  battle cries: “Dharm ke liye jiyenge dharm  ke liye marange” We all know that  Prithviraj (please note, the film drops the privileged surname 'Chauhan' to abide by the current climate of political correctness) swept the beauteous  Samyukta off her feet: literally, as he pulled her up on his horse and galloped away into the sunset from her swayamvar, leaving all paperwork to his minions. These privileged warriors, I tell you.

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But what else did  Prithiviraj do?  What were his thoughts on governance, women’s rights and most importantly, on the individual’s belief in his or her righteousness? None of these is a concern in the film, at least not in the trailer which shows generic battle sequences that we have already seen being done in Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani, and far more impressively, I might add. The real problem in the long-awaited trailer of Prithiviraj is Akshay Kumar. He has never done a historical film  before and  it shows.

The gait, the arrogant self-regard, and most importantly the voice and spoken language come out completely insincere.  Akshay Kumar behaves and sounds like the most handsome boy in class being chosen to play Prithiviraj Chauhan in a school play because …well he is the son of the trustee and, well, he is handsome, right? Manushi Chillar as his Samyukta is tonic to the eyes. But she seems to be posing for herbal beauty cosmetics rather than playing Samyukta.  Sanjay Dutt’s villainy is becoming repetitive. I saw no difference between his Adheera in KGF2 and  Kaka Kanha in the trailer of Prithiviraj. No actor here except Sonu Sood seems to have gotten into the skin of his or her character.

I am still hopeful though. Maybe the trailer is just teasing us. Maybe there is more to Akshay’s Prithiviraj that meets the eye.

Watch trailer here:

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