3 hours 13 minutes! That's what the duration of 'Padmavati' is

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is ready with the first edit of Padmavati starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, and Ranveer Singh, which releases on December 1.

193 minutes 

While Karan Johar’s Ittefaq is a crisp, thriller at 100 minutes, Bhansali’s Padmavati will have almost double the runtime. Says a source, “The runtime of Padmavati is somewhere around three-hours-and-13-minutes. The makers had shot for material of over four-and-a-half hours and the director sat with his editor to chop the film down to somewhere around the almost 200 minute timer.”

No compromise

Bhansali is known for the grandeur that he brings to his subjects. Padmavati is no different. “It might be a long film, but it needs that kind of time. It’s visually spectacular with some stunning warfare scenes. If he had edited it further, he could have ended up diluting the essence of it. Bhansali will never compromise on the quality of his movie, even if that leads to a slightly longer runtime,” our source reasons.

Longest SLB film

This would also mean that Padmavati stands out as Bhansali’s longest film till date. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was his longest till now at three hours and eight minutes. Devdas was a close second, being just three minutes shorter than HDDCS. Padmavati will most likely beat that and top the list now.

Time tales

Runtime of all SLB directorial ventures:
Khamoshi: Two hours 40 minutes
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam: Three hours eight minutes
Devdas: Three hours five minutes
Black: Two hours four minutes
Saawariya: Two hours 22 minutes
Guzaarish: Two hours six minutes
Ram Leela: Two hours 35 minutes
Bajirao Mastani: Two hours 38 minutes