Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela Review

One Line Review: A true blue classic take on an intoxicating, passionate love tale in the jungle of blazing bullets.

Positive Points: Finest character performances, Aristocratic shooting locales, Mind-blowing way of depicting Gujarati essence, Spectacular dance numbers.

Negative Points: A bit lengthy second half.

Plot: Set in a fictitious village called Raanjhar located in Gujarat, there exist two wrangling traditional communities, Rajadi and Sanada. Even after five hundred years, their rivalry is honestly followed by their generations. Ram (Ranveer Singh) is a flamboyant younger son of a bigwig in village belonging to Rajadi community. He does the business of stolen cars and also runs video parlour. Wooing village girls along with his group of friends is Ram's favorite pastime. While the two groups are busy in taking their rivalry to greater heights with huge shower of bullets and hostility, Ram does not like all these forms of violence in some corner of his heart.

At a certain juncture, Ram stumbles upon the gorgeous teekhi-meethi Leela (Deepika Padukone) on the eve of Holi celebrations held by Sanada community. Leela is the younger daughter of Sanada major player in the village, Dhankhor (Supriya Pathak). Smitten by the charm of Ram, Leela falls in love with him. No need to say, their families, being loyal enemies of each other, stand in strong opposition of them to deny their tender love bond. Still, the lovebirds keep on lighting the candle of love in their sweet imaginary love nest. One unfortunate day, Kanji (Sharad Kelkar), the elder brother of Leela, falls into verbal dispute with the elder brother of Ram (Abhimanyu Shekhar Singh) and mistakenly fires a bullet on him, making him lose his life. On seeing this, Ram loses his control and on the spot kills Kanji. This shocking incident brings an immense trauma for the two warring families and strengthens the degree of enmity between Rajadi and Sanada communities. Mad in love with Ram, Leela comes to know that his elder brother had been killed at the hands of Ram and the story takes the unexpected turn.

Direction And Other Technical Aspects: The brilliant director Sanjay Leela Bhansali delivered various larger-than-life chronicles like 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam', 'Devdas' and 'Black'. And then, the intelligentsia persona conceptualized the majestic 'Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela'. The movie, being desi adaptation of Shakespeare's classic 'Romeo and Juliet', narrates a heart-melting love story and the aristocratic sets apply Bhansali stamp on the film. The director with his magical touch offers a lot more than just guns and roses to this brainchild of his, by sketching every simple emotion in a passionate way. The first thing to applause about the narrative is mind-blowing depiction of Gujarati way of life, by showcasing their lifestyle, authentic music and dance forms, culture, vibrant costumes, marvelous rangolis, the language et al. These Gujarati colours and flavours apparently paddle the accelerator for making the film outstanding. Putting in simple terms, the movie speaks about a girl and a boy, who fall in love and decide to celebrate their love despite of their warring families. Although the plot does not contain much novelty, the way in which the tale is enlivened on the celluloid is spectacular. Some memorable scenes in the film can be mentioned as Ram and Leela pointing guns at each other at the time of Holi celebrations and the salty discussion between them as the community leaders over the matter of maintaining peace in village and these scenes add layer to the story. In the first half of the film, the director with his excellent direction introduces each character and establishes the story, thereby retaining a strong grip. The quirky, comic punches thrown by the characters in an exclusive Gujarati lingo bring some laughter as well as add some zing to the story. One of the punches to be best remembered is "Goli aur gussa dono sahi waqt pe kharch karna chahiye." The awesome chemistry between Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone ignites the fire and comes as a whiff of fresh air.

The second half takes a bit tragic, intense and blood-filled turn and seems a lengthy one. The other flaw can be noted as no specific reason is given as to why Rajadi and Sanada folks hold so much rivalry since many years. However, as the pros weigh high than the cons in case of this artistically wonderful attempt, the movie is worth to gain claps and whistles. The sensuous item number dance moves by Priyanka Chopra proved a cherry on the cake, whereas the other songs shot with aristocratic sets at their backdrop oozing Gujarati essence, were undoubtedly breathtaking visual delights and take the entire film to a high altitude. The background score comprising of songs was tuneful and also mixed well with the flow of the tale. When it is Bhansali film, the art direction has to be perfect and it is. The editing and cinematography are show stealer.

Performance: Ranveer Singh has pumped a lot of iron to his look for this role and it has actually brought the metal out of him. The energy of the actor provides a depth to the character and gathers a lot of gaze by presenting himself in Kathiyawadi look. Ranveer has performed his part with great aplomb, both as a passionate lover and a fierce community leader. The beauty with electric eyes, Deepika Padukone seems surrounded by an onscreen aura as she plays unbridled Leela. Once again she has proved herself as the queen of all trades and wears the marquee crown owing to her unparalleled enlivening of Leela.

Supriya Pathak left a powerful impression with her subtle acting skills, impeccable Gujarati accent and by depicting her never-seen-before ardent villainous side as Leela's mother. The actress presented her sheer class and it was perfectly caught by the arclights. This seasoned artist snatched the viewers' interest by illustrating apt facial expressions. Gulshan Devaiah played Leela's brother greedy for gaining power. Deviah gave his best as a villain and proved as the next big thing in the tinseltown. Richa Chadda played a fearless lady with principles of her own. The actress portrayed her part conveniently well. Sharad Kelkar and Abhimanyu Shekhar Singh shined well in their respective short roles. The veteran Raza Murad lent a good support.

Music: Music forms the cremiest layer of the film, being a love story. Composed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the songs like "Ram Chahe Leela", 'Tattad Tattad", "Nagada Sang Dhol", "Lahu Munh Lag Gaya" and "Ishqyaun Dhishqyaun" form the soul of the movie. These foot-tapping tracks captivate the audience by energetic dance moves by the actors. The other songs like "Ang Laga De" and "Yaro Sab Dua Karo" are good, but do not seem to last long in the memory of people.

Final Verdict: The colour-soaked movie successfully walks the line between the art and the mart by not being the usual enchilada of weekend entertainers. The irrestible combination of music, romance, emotions and drama can assist the film to ascend the ladder for being a tour-de-force blockbuster. The hi-octane character performances, melodious music and lavish picturization can make it a czarina of 100 crore club.