'Padmavat' is Good Cinema...

There are some qualities that I associate with good cinema:
- Good cinema should have you lost in it; so spellbound, that you are on the edge of your seat, not wanting to miss even a moment of the action unfolding onscreen.

- Good cinema makes you FEEL- it moves you, it makes you think, it makes you dissociate from your reality and transports you to lands and lives unknown, and you want to go along for the ride- in fact, there's nothing you want more.
- Good cinema stays with you long after the movie has ended; you find yourself thinking about a scene, a character, a dialog or even a visual that has somehow managed to leave a lasting impression on you. It creeps up on you almost out of nowhere and when you least expect it.

- Good cinema evokes pride- in the enormous wealth of talent in our film industry- in our filmmakers, for their superior ability to tell a story well; in the astounding histrionic prowesses of our actors, who evoke in us such powerful emotions when they slip into their characters and become them; in our brilliant film technicians who make unknown worlds, characters and situations come alive in our minds and leave our senses and sensibilities all tingly with excitement.
- Good cinema leaves you a little shook up- in a good way- because it is cathartic.

- Good cinema leaves one of your daughters so moved that she is a sobbing mess at the end of it, and has the other reaching for your phone to google Alauddin Khilji 😊

Padmaavat is good cinema. Don't overthink; don't go with a fact checklist; just go without expectations for the simple joy of watching a stunningly made film that feels much like the Amar Chitra Katha comic of Rani Padmini that you so adored as a child, came alive, and how!