PANIPAT is the story of one of the most important chapters of history. The year is 1760. The Marathas under Sadashivrao Bhau (Arjun Kapoor) finally annexe the Udgiri Fort in present-day southern Maharashtra and thereby finish the Nizamshahi rule for good. The Marathas have now occupied most of India. Nana Saheb Peshwa (Mohnish Bahl) is very happy with the developments and especially with Sadashiv.

The first half lays the base of the Third Battle of the Panipat in which we see the fight between Sadashivrao Bhau (Arjun Kapoor) and Ahmad Shah Abdali (Sanjay Dutt). It starts with Sadashivrao proving himself worthy to Nana Peshwa Rao (Mohnish Bahl). After capturing Udgir fort, Sadashiv gets married to Parvati (Kriti Sanon) and gets allotted to manage the finance of the Maratha kingdom.

Shadashivrao Bhau (Arjun Kapoor), is a commander in his cousin Nanasaheb Peshwa's (Mohnish Bahl) army. After he wins a decisive battle down South against the Nizam of Udgir, Sadashiv is appointed as the finance minister by Nanasaheb. Troubled by the news that kings up North aren't prompt in paying taxes due to them, he proposes to send a general to teach them a lesson.

Every school child with a well-thumbed history text knows about the third battle of Panipat in 1761, in which the Marathas and marauding Afghans clashed, and thousands of soldiers perished. The outcome was a turning point: it halted the advance of the Marathas, and the internecine war between the rival principalities paved the way for the British dominion.

Sadashiv Rao Peshwa (Arjun Kapoor) returns home to Pune victorious from the battle at Udgir Fort. But his reward is not the command of a greater army. Instead, Peshwa king Nanasaheb's jealous wife ensures that Sadashiv is put in charge of the treasury and has the unpopular job of collecting taxes.

Ashutosh Gowariker's ambitious magnum opus PANIPAT sees the prolific filmmaker back to his roots in compellingly narrating period sagas that are both entertaining and enlightening. This time Ashutosh Gowariker's visual symphony is in sync with the emotion, passion and the filament is woven with details and embroiled with the rich tapestry of the great Maratha pride and human conflicts - good, evil, pride, prejudice, love, greed, jealousy and sacrifice.

The one interesting aspect about Ashutosh Gowariker's Panipat is the sneaking in of the female perspective and gaze in the thick of the macho arena of a war. In a hark back to Jodhaa Akbar, one of the better period pieces that he made, Gowariker gives some primacy and agency to the woman.

The bar for Hindi film historicals plunged to unprecedented depths last year when Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat brazenly edited the truth to cash in on the anti-Muslim sentiment currently pervading India. Since then, Kesari has rivalled that all-time low, distorting a 19th century battle by a Sikh regiment of the British Army against Pathan forces, demonising the Muslim Pathans and rewriting the episode as a long-term fight by the Sikhs for India's Independence.

At the very outset, I would say that Ashutosh Gowariker's Panipat has a lot of merit. For starters, it takes care to breakdown and demystify the third battle of Panipat fought by the Marathas and their allies against the Afghan invader Ahmad Shah Abdali. Given the director's fascination with history and period dramas, Panipat obviously is a continuum of his labour of love.

One Word Review... Panipat: GRIPPING. Ashutosh Gowariker gets it right... Enthralling film that salutes the bravery of #Marathas... Patchy first half... Brilliant second half... Battle portions terrific... Sanju fiery, Arjun effective, Kriti excels.

Sitting down to watch an Ashutosh Gowarikar period drama, you know what to expect -- lavishly mounted sets, spectacular locations, larger-than-life characters and an extraordinary line-up of supporting cast. Panipat has all this in abundance. Starring Arjun Kapoor and Kriti Sanon in lead roles with Sanjay Dutt as the antagonist, the film is based on the Third Battle of Panipat that was fought in 1761.

In 18th century India, Shadashivrao Bhau, commander-in-chief of the Maratha army, leads his force in the Third Battle of Panipat against Ahmad Shah Abdali, the king of Afghanistan.

A period film about a 18th century Maratha warrior who took on the might of the army of a fierce invader from Afghanistan in an abortive bid to protect his land and people, Panipat - The Great Betrayal is its own worst enemy. Beginning with the tagline and the casting and extending all the way to many of the other artistic choices the director has made, Ashutosh Gowariker's earnest yet erratic recreation of history is crammed with ill-advised incisions that militate against the very purpose of the drama.

Back in 1994, Sanjay Khan directed The Great Maratha for Doordarshan. For most of us, it was the first visual depiction of a battle that could not be won with flying arrows that emit electricity, as we saw in BR Chopra's Mahabharata or Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana. That, and Jhansi Ki Rani, the Varsha Usgaonkar-starrer, which also reigned in the 90s.