Now, here is one director who has burnt his blood to reach this far. Right from the days of Paanch (which never released) ,
Black friday (was banned) to Dev D (successfull)- This guy has really proved his mettle. The name is - Anurag Kashyap. His recent picture Gulaal portrays different colours of youth, ambition , politics, love and lust. This movie has a trademark Kashyap signature. That means its abstract and hard hitting. Now the most vital question .. Does Gulaal work ? .
The answer is - YES , but in parts.The movie has a racy first half but it slows down in latter half. The scriptwriter has weaved multiple stories together.This is how the story goes - Its starts with a ragging scene at the University hostel , where Dileep (Raj Singh Chaudhary) is beaten and put in a dark room without clothes along with a girl - Anuja. (Jesse Randhawa). After a torture of two days, both are released.
The villain here is Jadhwal (Pankaj Jha) While Dileep is already brewing in anger , his roomie - Ransa (He is the prince of Jodhpur played by Abhimanyu Singh) forces him take revenge but they are again beaten and face washed in the toilet flush. (Yuck ! ). Dileep and Ransa now take help from local political Bigwig - Dukey Bana (Kay Kay). Bana is a character who is involved in student politics, and is spearheading a movement for seperate Rajputana state.
Bana not only helps them take revenge but he proposes Ramsa as a candidate for G.S. post in the University elections. In between all this , Ransa gets killed by Karan (Aditya Srivastav) who is also Ransa’s step brother. Karan contestes his sister - Kiran(Ayesha Mohan) for the G.S. elections. After Ransa’s death, Dukey forces Dileep as a GS candidate and make him win with his power. Having tasted the bitter fruit of defeat, Kiran now plays a love game with Dileep, only to take him away from Dukey. Increasing diffrences with Dukey see Dileep resign from GS post. Kiran takes over as GS and dumps Dileep straight away. She eventully succeeds in her next plan , i.e. to make Dukey fall for her.
now, What happens to Dileep ? .. What happens to Dukey and his Rajputana State? and Whats the master plan of the brother and sister duo ? .. :) See the movie if you want these answers. Gulaal also has lot of catchy dialogues which you remember even after coming out of the cinema hall.
Here are a few of them -
> Tera bhai pehle se hee bewakoof hai ya usne koi course kiya tha ?
> Angrezo ke zamane mein log gol chashma pehnate the , aur salo ki soch bhi gol hoti thi.
> Arey kahe ka his highness ? Palace mein holiday resort banwake rakha hai aur waha par angrez aurato ko chai peelata hai.
The music by Piyush Mishra suits the film. Especially "Jaise door des ke tower mein ghus jaye aeroplane" :-Now about the performances. Kay Kay menon is the best of them all. He is surely one of the best in the business these days. Just watch him perform as Dukey Bana in the movie. Not only words but his eyes speak a lot. Deepak Dobriyal is perfect as a assistant to Kay Kay.
Abhimanyu singh makes a huge impact on you as Ransa. Pankaj Jha, Aditya Srivastav, Ayesha Mohan get less scope but they are adequate. Raj Singh Chaudhary is ok as Dileep. I didnt like him much. Jesse Randhawa is hardly there. To summarize, Gulaal is dark, abstract and thought provoking. If you have an appetite for melodramatic movies then go for this one. Only recommended for hardcore movie goers !