GOLIYO KI RAASLEELA...RAM-LEELA - MOVIE REVIEW

Sanjay Leela Bhansali creates his own little world on the celluloid when he sits up to tell a story. Set up in some fictional town in RANN, RamLeela is magnificence at its very best.

There is a thing with the kind of films that SLB makes. The audience either loves them or discards them outright. There is no middle path. Ramleela is Bhansali's return to colourful canvas after a heart wrenching Guzaarish and a rather dud Saawariya. 

The story he picks up is based on the romantic epic by Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. The screenplay is where he works up magic as he adapts the basic story into a narrative that has shades of rustiness, glamour, gritty patterns and more so it looks extremely believable despite it being a highly dramatized depiction of a quintessential love story.

Expect visual grandeur while watching Ram-Leela. The film is shot beautifully. It is one of those rare films where the technical aspects play a huge role in the way the movie impacts a viewer.

The set pieces are exquisitely designed and detailed. The lighting and shot angles enhance the already beautifully designed set pieces and what transpires on the screen thereafter did, after a point of time, made the story a secondary element for me to derive entertainment from. RamLeela can boast of some of the finest cinematography seen in Bollywood.

Editing department has done an extremely good job in supporting the efforts of the director. 

Background score is situational and is used so judiciously that whenever it comes up during the scenes, it helps to develop the desired emotion. 

The costumes again are superbly in sync with the location and set up and are wonderfully crafted.

The choreographer deserves awards for sure. I am not sure about the last time I saw such beautifully choreographed songs that made me go WOW!

The screenplay is the primary strength of the film. It contains in itself, vast amount of details to be told to the audiences. Bhansali too, uses the screenplay in a rather smart manner by just using it as a tool to establish situations and leaves the rest on some superb camerawork, lighting, acting, music and dialogues to deliver the desired goods. 

This is primarily the reason why many of the faults in the screenplay get covered. 

As the film moves forward post the interval, it gets stuck into situations that do not add much value to the overall screenplay. But rest assured it is just a minor hiccup. 

Deepika Padukone has had an amazing 2013. With all her films grossing humongous amounts, RamLeela too finds itself sitting pretty in the 100 crore club. She is steadily growing into a seasoned campaigner. But it is when she steps into the position of Supriya Pathak that you realize her growth as an actor. Superbly done. She looks breathtaking in certain scenes and emotes as is desired.

Richa Chaddha is brilliant in her stint. She gets her accent so spot on that it is hard to believe that she isn't a resident of Kutch. So is Abhimanyu Singh. He lends tremendous support to the premise during the 1st half. 

Barkha Bisht, Sharad Kelkar, Raza Murad are all familiar names and play their parts perfectly. Probably the only weak link in the entire support cast is Gulshan Devaiah. That he tries too much to deliver shows in his performance.

Ranveer Singh. Well I have been a fan of this guy ever since he appeared in Band Baaja Baraat, and with every film, he has grown as an actor. He enacts with tremendous energy and flaunts a perfectly chiselled physique. This is one of the most remarkable performances of his career. When he is on the screen it is tough to look elsewhere; such is his screen presence. He cracks up an excellent chemistry with Deepika and when they appear on the 70mm, sparks do fly, pretty frequently.

But to me, Supriya Pathak emerges as the best performer. She is just terrific. Such is her understanding of the character and mannerisms that she makes it hard for the audience to imagine her in any other role; as some say, born to play this role! Those menacing eyes turn tender on seeing her daughter take up the reins of the family. Superbly enacted. CLAP CLAP CLAP. Hats off Mrs. Pathak. 

Sanjay Leela Bhansali has yet again shown that there is no one who comes close when it comes to telling a simple story in the most artistic manner possible. Yes RamLeela is filled with the trademark over the top hysteric sequences, melodrama but it somehow does not irk the viewer at all!

His understanding of aesthetics is without doubt the best in the industry and hence you see some of the most stunning visuals ever shot in the history of Indian cinema coming up from Bhansali's films. Club along with this, an ability to tell a story. He puts up the narrative with superb style and flair on display and never lets gloom set in. (which is one emotion SLB frequents in his films)

In what has always been a rarity with the kind of work SLB puts up on screen, RamLeela is a joyride. It is fun to watch. Mind you these are the terms which are not usually associated with Bhansali's brand of cinema.

RamLeela also succeeds in a fair way because of the superbly written dialogues. From being playful to being thought provoking, the dialogues do bring out whistles as well as awestruck appraisal. 

RamLeela is one of the finest music albums released in 2013. It is a totally different experience altogether to watch the songs on the silver screen. For a more detailed music review kindly visit -http://arpitpokharna.blogspot.in/2013/10/ram-leela-music-review_6.html

There are so many scenes that caught my fancy! Visual Splendour!

RamLeela also suffers from certain shortcomings. Some scenes fail to deliver the desired impact. The 2nd half is long drawn and required some editing. The item number by Priyanka Chopra was a mere addition to the reel and not much to the impact on the film.

Certain portions get too corny with the bosoms being the main focus of attention for a large part of time. Too much is put up in certain frames to be digested at one go. The cop getting bribed with porn DVD's was another sequence that did not go well with me.

Furthermore, the sms chats between Deepika and Ranveer were far from being cute. They were ridiculous. Sample this - "Laal hai seb aur peela hai kela..raam ki hi hai Leela.." ya something like that :/

RamLeela is worth every penny spent on purchasing the ticket. Nagade Sang Dhol alone is enough the price of admission. There is art and yet it is high on commercial value, there is lust but also a very strong emotional undercurrent flows throughout and yes there are visuals that will stay with you long after you have walked out of the cinema house. It was such a fulfilling experience. 

How I wish Laal Ishq and Dhoop had been included as full length tracks in the film! 

**4 STARS**