A few days back, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali announced that his next film will be ‘Baiju Bawra’- revenge story of a maverick maestro.
Movie buffs are aware for the fact that SLB will only make a movie if it has a deeper narrative, one that doesn’t appear on the surface. Baiju Bawra is one such tale that goes beyond revenge. For those uninitiated, it is not an original concept.
Bhansali's film will be the remake of a 1952 musical megahit of the same name starring Meena Kumari, Bharat Bhushan, and Surendra. The plot of the original film revolves around the tale of a common man Baiju, who is on a mission to defeat Tansen in a musical duel to avenge the death of his father.
The story escalates with a love triangle and how Baiju’s revenge requires him to learn real music, wherein he needs to feel a great amount of pain to generate a melody that can melt hearts.
An incident in the film shows Baiju on his way to seek revenge, arrives at Tansen’s city singing the whole way. This leads to the locals calling him bawra (insane). He is captured by Akbar’s soldiers and is given only one condition to save his life. A musical duel with Tansen.
Baiju wins the competition but asks Akbar to spare his rival’s life. Post his win, he decides to leave and reunite with his lover, but the Emperor commands Tansen to cause a flood with his singing, strong enough to not let Baiju leave. The river was his only way to leave the city. When the boatmen refuse to take him on the other side, he takes charge in the raging waters and starts rowing. His voice reaches his lover, who sees Baiju struggling, and jumps in to save him. In a sad ending, the two die drowning.
According a source mentioned by Bollywood Hungama, Bhansali's favourite actor Ranveer Singh has been considered to play the titular role. "Baiju Bawra is a pure musical and a dramatized version of the story of the uniquely talented singer Baiju Bawra. It’s to Bhansali’s credit that he is choosing to direct two projects in stark contrast to the other. And the filmmaker has offered the lead and title role of the young Baiju Bawra to Ranveer Singh. Who else can play the passionate, emotional, deeply vengeful and yet intensely romantic Baiju, than Ranveer? SLB and Ranveer have definitely met and the filmmaker has offered the young actor the role of Baiju Bawra. The movie won’t start before next year and by then Ranveer would have completed his other films", said the source.
It seems like Bhansali’s tale will have another lead pair dying, just like Ram Leela and Bajirao Mastani. We wonder if Ranveer will have his wife Deepika Padukone essaying the role of Baiju’s ladylove.
