After teasing fans with posters of the film, the first Panipat trailer featuring Arjun Kapoor, Kriti Sanon and Sanjay Dutt in lead roles has finally landed. Directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar, Panipat is a period film based on the third battle of Panipat.
While Arjun plays Sadashivrao Bhau, who served as the Sardar Senapati (commander-in-chief) of the Maratha forces, Kriti Sanon is his wife Parvati Bai in the film. Sanjay Dutt plays the founder of the Durrani empire, Ahmad Shah Abdali. The trailer shows not just the Marathas taking a stand against Abdali but also Parvati jumping in the battlefield with a sword. True to Ashutosh’s style of filmmaking, the trailer looks grand and convincing. However, one cannot help recalling a few scenes from Ranveer Singh starts Padmaavat.
Panipat also stars Mohnish Bahl, Padmini Kolhapure, Mir Sarwar and Zeenat Aman. The film is scheduled to release on December 6. Earlier, Ashutosh shared a new poster of the film and captioned it, “Biggest Battles Have Greatest Stories!”
Akshay Kumar praised the trailer and hailed the star cast for their performances. He tweeted, “Always been a fan of war movies and @AshGowariker aces this genre! #PanipatTrailer @arjunk26 looks fierce, @kritisanon matches his step well and @duttsanjay makes the perfect villain! Kudos to the team..looking forward!”
Vicky Kaushal cheered for Arjun on Instagram. “Rao Bhau Aale!!!” he wrote. Filmmaker Shashank Khaitan commented, “Too good bro.”
Maniesh Paul also praised the Panipat team and wrote on Twitter, “Its simply brilliant Arjun!! @arjunk26 @kritisanon looking fab … all the best guys!!! @AshGowariker sir u r the king when it comes to this!!”
The third battle of Panipat
The third battle of Panipat was fought between the northern expeditionary force of the Maratha Empire and the invading forces of the King of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Abdali, supported by two Indian allies – the Rohilla Afghans of the Doab and Shuja-Ud-Daula, the Nawab of Awadh.
Talking about working on the film, Arjun had told IANS, “It is my first-period film and also my first film with Ashu (Ashutosh Gowariker) sir. He is one of the finest directors of our country. He has made amazing films like Lagaan, Jodhaa Akbar, and Swades. I really had fun working on Panipat and now I am feeling sad that shooting of the film is over because I learned a lot from him in the process.”
On the casting, Gowariker had earlier said in a press statement: “I have shared screen space with Sanjay in Naam, which was a memorable co-acting experience and now it will be great to direct such a versatile and immensely talented actor as him.”
“What impresses me most about Arjun, apart from his fine performances – is his dynamism. He has played double roles twice, and he has portrayed an action hero as well as a lover boy,” the filmmaker said about Arjun. He added that his female lead is both a good performer and beautiful. “I needed someone really beautiful as well as a good performer, and Kriti is both. The eclectic combination of these three is a first for me, and I look forward to this exciting journey with them called Panipat,” he had said.
