Gulaal

To be or not to be

That’s the question

It’s good to be Different. But when you are different for the heck of being different, then there’s a problem. Anurag Kashyap takes this genius-hangover a wee bit too seriously. Alright, he is unique in his thought process and execution but when you take things too far away from reason, logic or sense, the movie watching experience becomes a concoction of maddening Utopia. After a brilliant Dev D (it stayed true to its context throughout), Kashyap’s festive offering Gulaal oscillates between classic cinema and a whirlwind tonic of absurdity. Yes it hits you hard and is watchable but as a viewer one tends to lose the grip over a bizarre plot soaked in hallucinatory realism.

The best part about the film is Piyush Mishra. His superb music and lyrics are a big asset. The basic premise of the film is based on poet Sahir Ludhiyanvi’s famous lines Ye duniya agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai from the film Pyasa. Mishra adds his genius by writing the following lines:

Tumhari hai tum hi sambhalon ye duniya

Ye bujhte huye chand baasi charaaghon ki

The film talks in several layers. It juxtaposes between Communist Socialism, abject fatalism, survival-of-the-fittest, might-is-right and also justifies Shakespearean theory...so true a fool is love, that in your will, though you do anything, he thinks no ill. Mishra plays Prithvi Singh, a seemingly mentally retarded (one can surely relate him with Shakesperean fool in his plays who is far more sensible than the ones who pretend to be smart) elder brother of Dukey Bana (Kay Kay Menon).

Dukey Bana is the senapati of Rajputana aan baan aur shaan. He gives lengthy speaches about how he wants a separate identity for Rajputs away from Indian Nation state. He is generating money through student unions in colleges. On the sly he is lattoo over mujre-wali- cum-beauty- parlour-owner Madhuri (Mahie Gill, good). Ranasa (Abhimanyu Shekhar SIngh, excellently uncouth) and then Dilip Singh (Raj Singh Chaudhry, impressive transformation) are a pawn in his hands who fight elections and present the ’student’ face. Karan (Aditya Shrivastava, very fine as expected) and Kiran (Ayesha Mohan, excellent) are Dukey Bana’s biggest opponents and would go to any extent to prove a point. The brother even uses the coquetish-ruthless sister’s sexual charms to clamber up the Chess Board of life.

The revolutionary streak of Gulaal narrated specially through Mishra’s musical lines is brilliant. But revolution for what? If it would have been Punjab, North East, Tamil Nadu, then it would have been plausible but Rajasthan has never displayed inclinations to move away from India. Fine, there’s no precise reference to the time zone this film is based in but it’s clear John Lennon was long dead so obviously it’s based in the last decade or so. Yes, there have been kings and queens in Rajasthan who have and who still represent their royal clans but the suggestion of extreme violence is downright strange.

The screenplay is engaging, witty at times, littered with expletives (another excuse for blatant realism) and the treatment for certain characters is inexplicable. Anuja (Jesse Randhawa, spaced out) is a zombie teacher who was ill treated by rowdies. She comes and stays with Dilip, is high on drugs and finally withers away from the scene. Also, what was the big idea in having that military helmet flagging off revolution of love or power! I don’t wish to make a statment about the Communist streak behind that symbolism but somehow as a viewer I found it absurd and devoid of reason. Also, the Ram Gopal Verma Satya like penchant for multiple murders in the deserts is macabre to say the least.

Acting by the entire starcast is the big highlight of the film. Be it Kay Kay, Aditya Shrivastava, Deepak Dobriyal, Piyush Mishra, Mukesh Bhatt, Mahi Gill...one can literally show this film to film students to understand the fine nuances of fantastic acting. Cinematography by Rajeev Ravi captures the rustic richness of Rajasthan beautifully. Aarti Bajaj’s editing is subtle-n-able but the film drags at many a juncture. It should have been cropped by at least twenty to thirty minutes.

As for Kashyap...he is an intense story teller who has a lot of anger within. He has a good sense of humour even though his films are predominantly dark. He does entertain with his unpredictable mind games but then you just can’t take away the plausibility-factor from a film at any cost. Gulaal is a very fine attempt at story telling if only the story didn’t have its pitfalls. Nevertheless, it’s worth a watch for sure.