Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela

Extravagant. Lavish. Profuse. Gargantuan. Giant. Excessive. Vivid. Rich. Intense. Passionate. Erotic. Sensual. Sinister. Scheming. Blatant. Luxurious. Romantic. Foolish. Stupid. Tragic. Brilliant. Beautiful. Bright. Radiant. Lustrous. Lambent. Splendour. Flagrant. Bold. Dramatic. Stretched. Exciting. Busy. Sharp. Inspired. Massive. Magical. Emotional. Amazing. Superb.

These are some of the adjectives and emotions that went through my head at various points during my experiential (and that’s what I would call it) journey called Goliyon Ki Raasleela – Ram Leela.  The GKR could have well been avoided but then with SLB there has to be an excess of something.  Never lesser.  It is a style that he has not just stuck to with a stoic determination but apparently mastered.

I have always been an SLB fan for the extravagant pieces of work that he gives us. At no point does he spare any expense and effort whatsoever. And that takes a lot of guts and some great vision to plan and execute a movie like GKRRL.  And yet, the attention to detail hasn’t been compromised with (at least to my amateur eye).

This time around the vision is a multi-coloured treat but the primary choice of colours for costumes and some of the sets seems to be WHITE or shades of BEIGE. Surprise Surprise.  Especially because I had predicted PINK after Guzaarish.  After the colours of the rainbow (except BLACK), it is the turn of the pristine to be ever so conspicuous in a background splatter that is probably the brightest SLB has ever got.

Ram-Leela as the opening credits proclaim is SLB's adaptation of that Shakespearean tragedy between the Montagues & Capulets.  In this case they are the Rajadis – Ram (Ranveer) & Sanera – Leela (Deepika).  The families have been at war for over 500 years. Blood and Gore have been a regular part of even a kid’s life.  Bullets fly all over the place on a regular basis.  And in between this mess, Ram & Leela fall madly in love with each other at first sight.

I will not get into too many details of the story of GKRRL and will leave you to unravel it for yourself.  It is definitely long but you would have come to expect that of SLB.  But what it isn’t short of is a story that keeps moving continuously.  There is something exciting about the movie at all times.

That the performances are great only add more value to it.  Ranveer Singh is slowly stamping his authority into Bollywood as the only person who seemingly can hold a candle to the youngest of the Kapoor clan.  Deepika was great in parts but there are times where you wish SLB had cast Anushka Sharma – The only reason I thought Deepika was cast would  be that the Ranveer-Anushka pair was “been there seen it done that”.

The stellar performance comes from Supriya Pathak as the sinister Baa who rules the Sanera family with an iron fist to put it mildly.  The music is really good as is the case with most SLB movies again.  Were there flaws? I am sure there were but SLB does enough to keep your attention away from them.

So there was a well timed controversy to ensure that there was enough excitement in the air before the release. The reason for the controversy confounds me honestly.  There was nothing offensive in any manner towards any religious sentiment. If it was planned. It was a waste of money.  Ram Leela was anyways Sanjay Leela Bhansali's best work to date. 7.5 on 10.  For once, SLB has moved further ahead from just extravagance. Definitely in my top 10 Bollywood movies for the year – outside chance of a top 5.

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQPfeinXxcA