Movie Review: Ram-Leela

One does not simply watch a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film with a non-fictional approach. One does not simply watch a SLB movie & expect a clear-simple-story. SLB rather prefers to be a Shakespeare-meets-Vishal Bhardwaj-meets-Farah Khan. Not exactly the kind of beauty-fool mix you look forward to. His usually abstract,oddly-made movies do not strike the chord well with the masses. Be it Saawariya or Guzaarish(or Saraswatichandra for that matter even). To no surprise then, I don't know how some smarties expected this to be a formula any differently applied.

Ram-Leela, was cinematic brilliance in my opinion. I thought it was quite a delightful adaptation of,and a fresh approach to, Romeo & Juliet. So kudos to Ravi Varman(guy behind cinematography of Barfi & many South Indian movies), for the cinematography. While Ranveer Singh was playing himself in the movie, Ms Hotness has made a significant mark in the movie with her performance. Padukone acted remarkably well from portraying the intense emotions with so much ease to dancing with a body so fluid. She has ACTUALLY acted & not just looked hot & made men gaga. That is not to say Ranveer hasn't acted well. He's still been as charming as ever, slipping in & out of characters with so much ease. Now imagine Ranveer Singh, the man who should've stole your hearts at BBB but in case he didn't, he left no hearts flipped out after Lootera, together with that Kingfisher hotness who can give your eyes an orgasm with her amazeballs acting combined, you will get a chemistry hotter than ever. It's like they're a beaker full of 100ml Hydrochloric Acid guys. It really really is.

Now enough with the compliments' ke bridges baandhna, let's get down to what went wrong in the movie & trash it like I always do. So firstly, while I like how a spectrum of themes(love,passion,humour,power,politics & revenge) were explored in the movie, what I couldn't get in my pea-sized brain was howintheworlddoes the love progress soooo fast. Like I knew Gujjus are very fast people, but going this fast is being a little far fetched. There was not much poetic justice being done to show the "epic love saga" of sorts between the Gujju Romeo & Juliet. Love hai, dhokla-khaakra thodi na hai jo fataafat aise khaatey jao. Aise nahin hota..no ji no ji no ji.

Adding to that, the plotline had a few misses here & there as well. Mainly because it was progressing way too fast. Faster than your average punjabi alcoholic in a wedding having 10 patiala pegs(which is equivalent to a blink of an eye mind you). SLB should've spent a little more time setting the stage than progressing towards the crisis stage.

Secondly, when Ranveer Singh said there's a kiss in the movie that's been the "hottest, bestest kiss ever onscreen Bollywood movie", which one exactly was he talking about? I kept looking out for everyyyyy kiss of histhem(not because I'm a psycho-tharki but because he said that) in the movie but after every kiss I was like "okay so it's the next one..okay the next..okay when the douchery is it going to come". However, I believe "hottest" or "sexiest" aren't exactly the most apt words to describe their kisses. Sensual, yes. Full of sweet passion,yes. But hottest? No, leave that to Sunny Leone in her Sunny Paradise Productions.

Thirdly, too many songs. Perhaps the Gujju director was going for the musical approach he always goes for, but he could've cut out one or two redundant ones. Cos I genuinely believe Ram Chahe Leela was in no way required at that particular junction in the movie cos A. The lyrics didn't exactly go well with logic in the story but screw logic,we weren't made for that anyways & B.I *think* and only cos I *think*, it would've been better off as just one of those item numbers they put at the end of the movie alongside credits.

**SPOILER ALERT**
Ang Laga De, as sensual as it was, was a little creepy. Why would anyone try to show Juliet turning desperado to have her bedding night(no typos there nope) in the midst of a war between families while she might just be hunted down before she can scream out of pleasure.

Juliet: Romeo! Romeo! Where art thou Romeo? Come let's make some Gujju love in Chandan Lodge & hopefully produce cute cute Gujju babies while our families hunt us down! **squeaky-voice-eyes turned chinky*

Romeo: Aww..you're too cute Juliet. I love how you always make sense. Come here my Gujju smarty.

**SPOILER OVER**

Apart from the lead protagonists, Supriya Pathak(Hansa Ben from Khichdi) did a spectacular job in the movie. She got it right from from the Gujju accent to delivering witty dialogues with such remarkable finesse that I went like "awwww..yehi meri mummy banegiiii" *tearsofhappiness*. Apart from Padukone, she was the actor who could express solely with her eyes in the movie and my my,the way she did it reminded me of my mummy. Richa Chaddha also delivered a good performance in the parameters of her character. She didn't overdo it,she doesn't go unnoticed. Abhimanyu Singh was another actor that I loved it in the movie given his own scope of character. Sharad Kelkar had too little for me to judge. Either that,or he just couldn't make a mark for himself in the limited role he had.

In a khaandvi-shell, the movie promises a musical romantic drama,set in the rurals of Gujurat where people are brash,loud & powerful with a sense of humour that keeps you maaroing double-seetis. Cinematically, it's very grandeur, magnificent & vibrant. The plot has some falls here & there, but I'm willing to overlook it for three reasons: 1. Oozing chemistry between Ranveer & Deepika. 2.Hilariously witty dialogues that too in a Gujju accent & 3. Supriya Pathak.

My rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Fine Direction(could've been slightly better), Brilliant Cinematography, Great Music & Background Score(love the sounds of folk music!), Good Storyline(with some pitfalls) & Weak Editing.

If you're willing to overlook the ridiculous steps Ganesh Acharya made Ranveer Singh do in Tattad Tattad(took me forever to overlook that given he's it's so painful to the eyes - both acharya and the dandruff-jhaadoing step), some of the storyline slips, I believe it's quite a fabulous adaptation of Romeo & Juliet. I like how SLB has twisted the complications & crisis instead of keeping it the classic way.

It's worth watching in the theatres once. (:

Epilogue

Gujju mummies & pappas are gonna be flippin' after watching the boldness of the Gen Y romance. Gujju boys & girls are going to be inspired by this kind of love & lame sense of humour. Sadly, while Gujju girls will remain hot, no Gujju boy with hair or no hair on his chest is ever going to be as hot as Ranveer Singh. Especially not when they wear full-sleeved shirts sticking to their bodies that are far from being six-packs. If anything at all this movie has done, it has just led to Gujju girls being more & more disappointed with men of their komm.



Comments

  1. Its a very balanced review: some papers have given 4+ and that's clearly exaggeration. 1st half was stupid while 2nd half had good twists/turns... and there were too many kisses, and yes, you are a psycho-tharki.

    "I genuinely believe Ram Chahe Leela was in no way required at that particular junction in the movie" Absolutely: I thought this sing will come in end credits but the music during end credits was even better :)

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    Replies
    1. Hehehe..thanks Nitssss for liking it! I'm still not a psycho-tharki. Noooo. :P

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  2. Haha..okay kill me not but where is Saurashtra on the map? :/
    Thanks for liking my review Jitatman! Keep reading & supporting (:

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  3. Ohhh that's interesting! (:

    Haha..thanks much once again for the appreciation! (:

    Well I'll be sure to share my support if you're there on twitter! I'll be sure to follow you. Follow me on twitter.com/BeryPhunny

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  4. Cool Blog..:)
    The review is very detailed and covered all my questions about the movie..I am not a fan of Sanjay Leela Bhansali but did like "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam"..:) :)
    New follower via email and G+..
    Cheers..

    Nikita @ http://njkinny.blogspot.in

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  5. https://www.blogger.com/profile/08440353228289309056

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