Here’s a fun mashup!
That’s the visuals of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati, with the audio of George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road. Now, the Padmavati trailer is quite stunning, gives us a quick summary of what the film is going to be, and sort of teases us with the visuals and the fights. But as a feminist statement, it falls a bit short. Rani Padmini — Deepika Padukone — does not say anything in the trailer. She is shown as merely the Rajput king’s prop, trophy wife. She sews on his clothes, cooks his food, prays for his victory, and otherwise does what a “good” wife is supposed to do.
Unlike Imperator Furiosa. Charlize Theron played the character of a badass warrior who not only escapes patriarchy herself, but helps the other women — whom Immortan Joe calls “his property” — to escape. In the process, she rescues the Man’s hold over precious natural resource, and delivers a whole lot of people from the oppression.
The mashup, however, gives Rani Padmini a little bit more to say, and a bit more agency.
