A modern take on Shakespeare’s play, set in Gujarat.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, the hotly anticipated new film by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, is a beautifully produced, well-acted, and very satisfying Bollywood romantic epic. It’s a little too long and there are at least two songs too many, but it has all the ingredients of a crowd-pleaser.
Inspired by the immortal William Shakespeare play “Romeo and Juliet,” Ram-Leela takes place in modern-day Gujarat, where two clans – the Rajadis and the Saneras – have fought against each other for over 500 years. Their deep-seated hatred of each other has been passed along from generation to generation, but for Ram Rajadi (played by Ranveer Singh), the violence is a nuisance that he tries to keep himself away from (usually by chasing girls). On the other side, Leela Sanera (played by Deepika Padukone) also prefers to keep out of the family dispute, against the wishes of her war-mongering mother (the leader of the Saneras) and older brother.
When Ram and Leela meet at a Holi event, it’s love at first sight, and the two become determined to get married and run away. But little do they know that their plans will eventually lead to more hatred, more violence, and more death.
Ram-Leela, in typical Bhansali fashion, is as opulent as Hindi films get. The production design and costumes are incredibly lavish, filling the theater screen with all sorts of eye candy. Speaking of eye candy, the lead couple is also beautiful, and both provide the acting chops to pull off their somewhat underwritten roles.
Ranveer Singh, in just his fourth film, proves he’s a superstar in the making. He can do comedy, drama, and dancing all equally well. Ditto for Deepika Padukone, who looks like she’ll have her fourth super-hit of the year with this film.
The film’s songs, composed by the director as well, are almost all very good, making this one of the better Bollywood soundtracks of the year. The songs come at a steady clip, with no more than ten minutes going by without some kind of musical number. It can drag the proceedings down a bit – at least two songs, one with the lead couple dancing around in Ram’s shop and an item number featuring Priyanka Chopra, serve absolutely no narrative purpose whatsoever – but the songs are easy on the ears and well-choreographed, so it’s not a fatal mistake.
The main problem with the film is that Bhansali and his writers never really convince the audience that Ram and Leela are in love. Sure, they’re in lust, constantly grabbing at each other and trying to tear their clothes off (this movie is not appropriate for very young viewers), but the “romance” happens so fast and furious that there’s never really a chance for actual love to develop.
It’s not completely Bhansali’s fault, since Shakespeare’s play itself also had the star-crossed lovers fall in love immediately and just talk non-stop about how much they love each other rather than actually show it. But by not crafting a truly powerful romance between Ram and Leela, it softens the impact of some of their decisions in the film’s second half.
But all said and done, Ram-Leela is worth a trip to the theaters. This is a big-screen film, one which will almost certainly lose some of its impact if seen for the first time at home, regardless of how big your TV is. This is big, brash, Bollywood-style filmmaking, reminiscent of the melodramatic epics of yesteryear. It’s not Bhansali’s best film (that honor will probably always go to his 2002 remake of Devdas), but it’s one of the better Hindi films of 2013.
[A special screening of this film was hosted by Wells Fargo in Washington, DC on Saturday.]
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com
1 Comment
Nonsensical review