It is said that Ravana’s mother walks into a public assembly and berates her son for carrying away another man’s wife. In the Ashok Vatika, Sita’s women guards, specially Trijata, become her admirers and friends. Nevertheless Mandodhari warns Ravana that he will attract ill fortune for abducting the honourable Sita. Ravana’s wife Mandodhari has ambiguous feelings towards Sita-admiration for her integrity, and yet a personal jealousy towards her. In the Ramayana, Sita is abducted by King Ravana of Lanka, and held captive. Our epics and folk narratives show a strange fascination with Sinhala/Lanka.
Was dancing the Ghoomar one way of asserting Padmini’s newly acquired Rajput identity? When Ratan Singh brought Padmini to the Chittor Palace, severe jealousy sparked between the two wives. Would she have acquired dancing and other womanly accomplishments there? Ratan Singh of Chittor, hearing of her beauty from the speaking parrot Hiramani, went in search of her, wooed her and married her, as his second wife. So why this new debate about Rani Padmini’s dancing being a matter of ‘’female honour’’? If Bhansali’s story is garnered from Jayasi’s Padmavat, Padmini was from Sinhala/Lanka where the customary practices would have been different than in Rajasthan. Again, there were no protests on this popular TV series.
Later in the telefilm, Khilji sees the gorgeous Padmini in a mirror and is struck instantly with longings of possession. Along with Rana Ratan Singh, Rani Padmini is watching the women, but she doesn’t dance. The Doordharshan Series, Bharat Ek Khoj (1988 onwards), Episode 26: Delhi Sultanate, Part III, Padmavat & The Tughlak Dynasty, has a lovely Ghoomar dance, outdoors, with potential enemies watching from a distance. Yet, there was no objection raised by the viewers, instead there was great appreciation of Vyjayanthimala’s virtuoso dance. Vyjayanthimala’s costume and the presentation of the body are quite sculpted.
If one compares her to Vyjayanthimala, the Bharatanatyam danseuse in the Tamil film Chittoor Rani Padmini (1963), the vigour of Padmini’s dancing is at a different level altogether. In the film trailer, Deepika Padukone as Padmini does perform a rather graceful number, modestly clothed and eyes downcast. This may vary in terms of precise customary practice, but let us admit that Rajput girls do learn the Ghoomar and other traditional dances even now, and participate in the joyful spirit of festivals from their homes. One objection is to the traditional Ghoomar dance and it is claimed that queens in Rajasthan did not dance, not even among their lady companions. Since none except a few privileged media celebrities have seen Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Padmavati, all comments are in the realm of conjecture, or based on the repetitious viewing of a brief trailer.
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