GULAAL : A Critique’s Delight may be but its confusion for the common viewer. (Review By Bobby Sing)

Delivering what was expected, here is another quality abstract art movie from Anurag Kashyap. And as the case always is, the movie may win over the critiques but it fails to make a direct contact with the common man coming in theaters for entertainment. Anurag is brilliant in his own form of film-making and will definitely satisfy his fan following, which has reached a higher graph after “Dev-D”, but on the entertainment quotient movie scores quite low.

The movie puts an intense, dark, disturbing and even shocking portrayal of College Politics in Rajasthan locales but lacks the depth we had seen in “Haasil”. The sequences are all well conceived, intelligently directed and superbly shot capable of satisfying the thinking viewers in a big way. On the other hand, for the people coming in looking for the comic factor equivalent to “Dev-D” may find it disappointing on that track. This time, Anurag strictly sticks to the intense narration in the complete movie with no relief moment at all.

The story revolves around young college students who become victim of cruel local politics and it also has an angle of conspiracy being planned against the government by the Rajput families. The first half shows the rusty college campus in Rajasthan, still obsessed with brutal ragging of new students and even lady teachers. It reveals the youth election back-up sources, which include still called Maharajas, local politicians and a hidden Rajputana rebellion force. Later the emphasis shifts to how a brother uses his sister in getting his due name, respect and leadership. Anurag clearly shows how a female character can win anyone and anything in the world if she is willing to forget her dignity and limits. He represents the power of woman in the man’s world in his own unique and captivating way.

In the acting department, the best comes from Abhimanyu Singh as Ransa and Ayesha Mohan as Kiran. Ahimanyu though dies in the first hour only but has the power to light up the screen with his presence. Kiran gives an impressive performance as the girl using her feminist qualities in the best possible manner. Pankaj Jha as Jadhwal, Deepak Dobriyal as Bhaatti and Raj Singh as Dilip are effective. Kay Kay and Aditya Srivastav are first rate as always. Two characters who stay in your mind are Piyush Mishra as the mentally retarded elder brother of Kay Kay and Jesse Randhawa as the ragged teacher who has got no one to help her.

The find of the season undoubtedly is Mahi Gill in a special appearance. She was loved by everyone in “Dev-D” and here also she gives a splendid lovable act as the lover of Kay Kay. She dances and acts equally well with conviction and depth. An actress who deserves more good projects and directors like Anurag Kashayp. A good find indeed by Anurag.

Coming back to the movie, it has some worth mentioning sequences which include the one when Dilip is stripped and thrown in a room where he finds his own lady lecturer also stripped and locked. The conversation scene between Ransa and Aditya, just before he is killed and hanged in the market place. And the sequence where a policeman is shot sending all his accompanying policemen back in their jeep.

The dialogues are strong and hard but also use abusive words in an overdone manner. Many times, abuses are used where they were not needed at all. Cinematography is brilliant capturing the intense moments in the right ambience. But the script has many loopholes which could have been avoided easily keeping stress on the main plot only. There are too many stories moving in at the same time which take away the real meaning of the title “Gulaal”. The main plot of the rebellion force of Rajputana gets lost in other stories and gets attention only toward the climax.

The writer tries to point out the stress felt by all the Rajput Kings, who had to surrender their areas to the government after independence. But at the same time he also dangerously suggests another kind of fire which still may be hidden in those areas of the country. Luckily it’s only a fictional thought of the writer, quite away from the reality.

Piyush Mishra comes up with some good meaningful lyrics and composition just apt for the feel of the movie. The songs are not for everyone but they do deserve a serious listening by all music lovers and chances are that many would like the score a lot.

The movie was in the making for more than 4-5 years and several reasons were responsible for its delay. The project was recently revived, when it was taken over by ZEE Group under its ZEE Limelight Movies. The movie may find itself recognized in the New Wave Cinema but it would be difficult for the film to make huge profits for the production house.

In simple words, GULAAL is not for all and is strictly for the people who know that they want to see this out of the box kind of cinema. Viewers going to the cinema having that in mind will not be disappointed, but it’s not as engrossing as it promised to be.

Rating : 2.5 / 5

13B – Well attempted thriller with a slow mild first half & a red hot iron second (Review By Bobby Sing)

With 13B, Indian film-makers take another tiny step towards exploring new ideas on screen. Gone are the days of those silly and childish horror movies served to us a few decades back. Moving ahead in that direction, 13B can be termed as a good attempt by the director Vikram Kumar who tries to give something new and out of the box in the genre of fast paced thrillers with good suspense.

But like the recent Raaz-2, 13B is also a good thriller and not a complete horror movie as publicized in the media campaign by the producers. Yes, it takes the idea of spirits coming through a TV from THE RING, but the similarity ends here only and the movie takes a completely different path as it proceeds further. The story is about a family coming to their new house, with an address of 13B and within days they start experiencing mysterious and strange events. The women of the house, who are addicted to the afternoon TV serials, catch on to a new daily soap called “Sab Khairiyat” which has just started on a channel. Surprisingly, the happenings in the serial are exactly similar to what they are living in their real life. And as the incidents start becoming violent and bloody, there arise serious problems in the family.

The movie starts off as a cold water kept on the fire for boiling. The first half only raises the temperature to a certain limit which results in just a mild hot water. The viewer keeps waiting for something fast to happen but he is served the hot dish only after the intermission. In sharp contrast to its first half, post interval the temperature starts rising with a great speed and as you reach the climax the water is boiling hot as a red hot iron. The well written sequences unfold the secret in an impressive way, handled well by the director towards the end.

Though there are several loopholes in the script regarding the suspense but they don’t strike you at once since the second half has many disclosures being made at a very brisk pace. In the first half, the writer takes too much time to come on to the main topic and that deprives the movie to be called as a complete entertainer. The Storyline has a good suspense but the spirits roaming in the house are not scary enough as expected from the promos. The movie should have been edited more severely (by atleast 15-20 min) which would have resulted in a far better product for the viewers.

I still wonder about one thing in bollywood, which is regarding its passion for the songs. After so many new & fresh minds now working for the industry, why they all still stick to the idea of adding a few songs in a movie. And that too in a thriller, horror or murder mystery. Ideally these genre of movies should be strictly made as song less ventures to generate the desired impact on the viewer. But I think it will still take a long time for us to get away with this old passion of ours.

On merit basis there are three major assets of the movie. The first one is the Solid Background music and fabulous sound design. In fact in the titles only you get the feeling that some good sound effects are here on the cards. The second merit is the Outstanding Camerawork which is visible in each frame and scene. The creative visuals enhance the experience of this thriller to a great extent, especially the scenes with the blind man and his dog, sequences related to the old black & white television and scenes at the mental asylum. The third worth mentioning plus point is the superb act by Madhavan, which he can easily rate as his best work till date in Hindi Cinema. He acts better in the tense scenes involving encounter with the spirits.

Among the other actors, Neetu Chandra is fine and she looks exactly like a lady next door with the right home wears. Deepak Dobriyal excels in his performance and impresses. Poonam Dhillon is wasted and so is Sachin Khedekar who doesn’t suit the role he is given.

In short, 13B can be rated as good attempt by its team but it could have been much better with a lot of editing and without the unnecessary songs. Fans of thriller cum horror movies should feel about 65-75% satisfaction after watching 13B.

Rating : 2.5 / 5