Bajirao Mastani differences between the reel & real life, are too broad to be ignored.

The movie portrays Mastani as a victim of religious bias, by the family & courtiers of Bajirao – a Hindu nationalist – a warrior and an administrator.

I do not deny that Bajirao’s family & courtiers never accepted Mastani as much as they opened arms to Kashibai (Bajirao’s patrani), but it is far from reality to show that Mastani was tortured to death by fundamentalism & orthodox radicalism of the Maratha Hindu Nationalists.

Not getting an equivalent status as that of Kashibai is one thing (this was the reality) but getting tortured to death just because of being a Muslim, is another thing totally (shown in movie).

10 Bajirao Mastani differences Differences between the movie and reality:

Maharaja Chhatrasal of Bundelkhand had given his daughter Mastani to Bajirao in gratitude. Mastani did NOT rebelliously leave Bundelkhand in pursuit of her love for Bajirao.

The movie shows that Mastani was Bajirao’s concubine who never attained the status of Bajirao’s wife but the fact is she was his lawfully wedded wife and Chhatrasal had also gifted a Diamond mine to Bajirao in marriage to Mastani along with handful of villages.

The movie portrays Mastani as a lonely soul who was secluded from the Bajirao’s daily life activities, contrary to which she actually had vivid presence in the court proceedings and in the decision making process of the Peshwa.

Mastani is believed to be a skilled horse-rider and a warrior. Local folklore also has it that she had accompanied Bajirao in many of his military missions, though the sources are pending verification. If true, then this proves that Mastani was NOT as much isolated from Bajirao as it is depicted in the movie.

Yes, Bajirao’s family was intolerant to Mastani, but not to the degree that she wasn’t even allowed entry to Bajirao’s own palace (Shaniwar wada), as shown in the movie. Mastani lived for some time with Bajirao at his palace of Shaniwar Wada in the city of Pune. The palace’s north-east corner held Mastani Mahal. Had she not been a lawfully wedded wife, how could this have happened?

Bajirao’s son Balaji (Nana saheb) had placed Mastani under house arrest for a time, while Bajirao was on military campaign. Mind you, a “House arrest” has a hell lot of difference from an “imprisonment”. That Mastani was tormented by Nanasaheb (son of Bajirao) & Chimmaji Appa (the brother of Bajirao) in a prison; is a blatant exaggeration.

Bajirao did not die of war wounds, nor because of the pangs of separation from Mastani, forced upon him by his family. Bajirao was inspecting his lands at Khargon, he suddenly became ill from fever (possibly heat stroke) and died. Kashibai, Chimnaji Appa, Balaji (Nana saheb), AND Mastani (ALSO) came to Khargon at that time.

Mastani did not die a painful death in chains as shown in the movie. She died within a few days of Bajirao’s death. It is unknown if she committed suicide or died of shock.

In the movie, Chhatrasal (Mastani’s father) is seen citing example of Jodhabai’s marriage with Akbar to justify inter-religion marriage between Hindus & Muslims. However, there’s big difference between the marriage of Jodha-Akbar & that of Bajirao-Mastani:Mastani lived as a Muslim after marriage with a Hindu, she died as a Muslim too, hence she was buried. She was never converted. On the other hand, Jodha couldn’t continue to live as a Hindu after marriage. She died as a Muslim getting buried instead of getting consigned to flames.

Mastan’s son Shamsher Bahadur (also named as Krishna rao) was NEVER snatched away from her forcefully by Nana Saheb. Only after Mastan’s death, Kashibai took Mastani’s six-year-old son into her household and raised him as one of her own son. Isn’t this a HUGE distortion of history? While Kashibai showed motherly sympathy for the Muslim son of the Muslim queen, the movie showed that the Marathas were so cruel that they even snatched away a 6 year old child from her mother.

It’s okay to show a romantic angle by adding elements like “Mastani was the messenger who persuaded Bajirao to come to the aid of Bundelkhand”. But it’s distortion of facts to show that Mastani was tortured to such an extent that she was chained, her son was snatched, she was barred from meeting Bajirao and all these led to her demise.

Being a Muslim was not the sole reason why the courtiers hated Mastani, it may have been the primary reason but not the ONLY reason. It was her growing influence over Bajirao & her involvement in Bajirao’s decision making that irked the jealous courtiers against her too.

To paint the entire society as cruel against Mastani for being a Muslim, in the name of adding “effects necessary for a commercial movie”, is plane distortion of history. Showing the benevolence of Kashibai who raised Shamshe Bahadur as her own son could also have added the “necessary effects” in this movie.

– Nishant Das ( Follow me on Facebook)