Right from the very first frame that
opens with a beautiful folk song in the background till the very last etched
out frame (that ends with the best track of the album) Bhansali's Ram Leela is
a riot of colours-high on drama and a passionately crafted love-hate epic. You're reminded
of HDDCS, Devdas & even Saawariya to some extent for obvious reasons. Over the
years, Bhansali has created his unique identity, emerging as the master of this
genre and none has matched him since. For instance, consider this 'Aankhon Ki
Gustakhiya' sequence reappearing in many movies, yet none coming any closer
until ‘Lahu muh lag gaya’. The fresh chemistry sparkles much beyond Diwali!
If the movie is predictable, has
endless songs (that’s 7 to be fair), melodrama & an unreal/imaginary world,
you're indeed watching a Bhansali movie and shouldn't be complaining unless
you've never heard of him before. Despite these known and predictable glitches,
Ram Leela works. What else can you expect in a Romeo-Juliet adaptation? It ought
to be a boy meets girl-falls in love-separation-followed by endless tragedy. Ram
Leela is no different in its plot. What works here isn't any extraordinary
story, but the treatment from the most passionate filmmaker of our times. He makes
it with so much love & passion that it’s hard to ignore the apparent effort
that's put in here. From carefully designed sets, detailed colours, witty dialogues,
to those epic-balcony scenes and larger than life portrayal of both evil and
good, love and lust among many. And that’s a welcoming change to Bhansali’s
style. He doesn’t shy away from long since tabooed lip locks anymore and lust
appears graceful for the first time.
Needless to say, he extracts best
performances from all his actors and each might walk away with an award (like those
of his previous movies). Ram Leela comes close enough but just falls short of
his magnum opus Devdas in its intensity. But then, that’s the closest we’ve ever
had.
From the times when we had well distinguished art and commercial cinema, Bhansali has been making commercially appealing art cinema and excels once again with Ram Leela.
From the times when we had well distinguished art and commercial cinema, Bhansali has been making commercially appealing art cinema and excels once again with Ram Leela.
This year, festivities seem to
get extended celebrations. Just go n watch this treat & celebrate love n
lust aka, Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram Leela.
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