Gulaal

Anurag Kashyap rightly said that 'Gulaal' is his most angry film yet. 8 years in the making, Gulaal lacked salability due to its lack of stars, bold and convoluted story and the controversy surrounding Kashyap's initial works – 'Black Friday' and 'Paanch'. But here it is now, what can be touted as his best work till date, the film that relates to today's India with the ambitions of the pragmatic youth confronting the deceptive, greedy and zealous hypocrites who breed malice and violence in the name of deeply rooted values. This engaging battle has been brilliantly crafted by Kashyap with an exhaustive script and screenplay that not only amplify a convoluted plot but do justice to the multitude of highly talented actors. Mind you….. 'Actors', and not heroes. But even more than these essential elements is the contribution of one man whose soul stirring lyrics, beautiful compositions, didactic and engaging dialogs and an awesome performance in a supporting role move you if not enchant you. Piyush Mishra, who was so far a theater actor in Delhi is thus a revelation of astounding talents.

Gulaal is a socio-political drama about the President of the Rajputana community who is uniting his people against the injustice that has been inflicted upon them over the years by the government of the very democracy that their ancestors had once fought to gain. Dukey Bana (Kay Kay Menon) is a powerful icon among the Rajputs who strives to bring a new student in law college, Dileep Singh (Raj Singh Chaudhary) at the helm of college politics. Dileep has just walked into this lawless world of autocratic cruelty that has no mercy for the weak or innocent and thus begins his study of law. Dileep, being the righteous individual who does not share the vision of Bana and his supporters is often caught in an emotional turmoil when he wants to be rebellious, but the power in the hands of the mighty tend to vanquish every uprising against them and so he battles his own cowardice and naivety among the radicals.

Some vital characters form the true essence of the film's plot that revolves around love, betrayal, politics, deception, greed, hypocrisy and of course, the ultimate fight to gain power. Supporting this endeavor are Deepak Dobriyal, Abhimanyu Singh, Aditya Shrivastava, Mahie Gill and Ayesha Mohan in well etched out characters. Kay Kay Menon is at his wicked best but with reserved intensity that goes full blast during his speeches or confrontations with his brother or Dileep. Raj Singh Chaudhary has been around in small roles but this film will slingshot him to recognition if not stardom for his natural ability to portray himself as the innocent and vulnerable Dileep Singh whose journey through the tyrannies of cruelty, violence, betrayal and hypocrisy elevate him to becoming an uncompromising individual. Piyush Mishra's character is the film's poetic narrator. His presence on screen is less cinematic and more theatrical and the distinction is evident when comparing with the rest. Apart from being the song writer, music director and singer for Gulaal, Piyush Mishra is also the dialog writer and wisely has he kept the best ones for his part. In fact, every time Prithvi Bana comes on screen, his dialog and message have a deeper connotation which will make you think for days. Listen intently to 'Sarforishi Ki tamanna' being adapted to current times as he calls upon Bismil to take a look at today's state of affairs. Watch him mimic Dukey Bana's mission to claim the state of 'Rajputana'while also denouncing the plan while singing 'sale hai! Sale hai!' . These are powerful scenes that have exemplary direction, screenplay and dialog with equally astounding performances.

The film's music is par excellence. Seldom have we seen or heard songs so timely in the screenplay, so soulful in meaning and so rich in language. 'Beeda' is classic folklore sung so well by Rekha Bhardwaj. 'Aaarambh hai prachand' is a song denoting a strong initiation and so it very much is in the story as the entire election campaign in the college is executed during the song which gives us a deeper insight into battle and victory. 'Shehar' is perhaps the film's best song with its lyrics flowing through every scene that it runs with. The evil times in the city could not have a better narration. Piyush Mishra's all-round deliverance in this song with Anurag's execution of the screenplay makes this song a spectacle in itself. The hilarious 'Ranaji' teases with references to international terror acts. Shilpa Rao's mesmerizing rendition of 'Aisi saza' is truly representative of the emotions after betrayal. 'Yaara Maula' is a deep, soul stirring composition of evil taking over innocence in its most vulnerable state. Once again, the story leaps forward with the simple play of lyrics that translate the emotional turmoil. The movie ends with 'Duniya', the epitome of Piyush Mishra's talent showcase. 'Yeh Duniya agar mil bhi jaaye toh kya hai' sums up what the movie had to say. The final scenes shall give you the chills with the outstanding lyrics playing for the conclusion.

Gulaal is a very impressive piece of cinema that will be cherished by only a few due to its unconventional story telling. It is a dark and evil tale of India itself. As we progress in these times with our ambitious goals, we are often obstructed by our culture, history and orthodox values and Gulaal shows us a shockingly real picture of that confrontation. It is time we adopt this kind of cinema with the richness that it has in its script, screenplay, lyrics, dialogs, performances and Anurag Kashyap's relentless pursuit of his vision.

• 9.34 on a scale of 1-10.

This movie reaches far from what an ordinary Indian movie can be.

I congratulate Anurag for this. He has the vision to understand this kind of movie... not only that but to canvas them.

The scenes like "KYA MAI DARPOK HU?" "USNE TERI MAA SE SHADI NAI KI", "SARFAROSHI KI TAMANNA", " KARAN: RAJNITI JANTE HO?", "POORI FORCE KE SAATH AYA HUN"," KIRAN KO BULA KE KYA KANYA DAAN KARVAYEGA?" JUST imagine we got to this level...

Exceptionaly extraordinary songs which introduces you to the heart of the story like "beedo", " SAHER HAMARO SOYO THO..", " .. Rana Ji mare ..." unbelievably outstanding.. marvelous.

Thanks Anurag.... and keep up.. I hope you keep on doing like this.. please don't change..::)

Gulaal is a compelling narrative set around the members of erstwhile royal community who want to claim back their Rajputana province and royalty regime from the democratic government.

Gulaal excels in all departments of film making as it did in Anurag's previous, DevD. All the actors have done a fabulous job with Kay Kay Menon delivering one of his best performances especially in his stimulating speeches. Abhimanyu Singh is very impressive in his short but strong characterization.

Rajeev Ravi's cinematography is superb with the colors and tone of the film looking . Piyush Mishra does a good job with his acting and delivers a different and decent music score. The film gets a bit slow in the second half but catches up again on you.

Overall, another great movie from Anurag Kashyup.

just moments after seeing the movie, I am speechless about it. A pretty heavy, engrossing and brain-consuming movie, its definitely not for the casual cinema-goers. For the more adventurous or socially opinionated people, its worth a watch. personally, i'd watch it over again, being a brilliant take on manipulative politics. One may compare it with other movies based on politics, but the major difference in this is that it relates with the simple minded, down to earth common man and how certain events can bring a destructive change in his mentality.

Set in a topical theme of Rajasthani traditions, it sets an account of how a straightforward, common, hard working man faces challenges of the grim modern world. The theme is engrossingly fast, manipulative and gripping (provided you don't expect an action filled murder mystery). So much being said and shown in the movie in so less a time, makes your brain racing on the heels of the movie.

Apart from the story line, the other most credulous thing about the movie is its ensemble cast. the only famous star, Kay Kay shines with his aggressive attitude perfectly. The main protagonist makes a stark resemblance with the innocence of superman's parallel life as a worker newspaper company.

Another very important positive are the songs (not all but some of them). Using old classics like 'Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaaye To ..' and Indian Bhajan's/Patriotic numbers and mixing them to make them relevant to the movie is a brave attempt, which has surely paid off for Anurag Kashyap.

Though my only worry about the movie is that for which kind of audience is such a movie prepared ?

Anurag Kashyap may well be the fountainhead that lets Bollywood finally get back on its feet. After the indie movement in the 80's, the Shah rukhs and the Salmans took over....and thus followed years of mindless duds.

Gulaal tells the story of a Rajput boy losing his innocence in the murky world of politics and betrayal. Interwoven with this are tales of deception, greed and apathy for mankind.

What happened in Rajasthan years ago makes it a perfect backdrop for this tale and the clever use of lyrics also let Kashyap rant about all that is going wrong in the world.

Gulaal, much like Kashyap's other film makes the viewer think long after the movie has ended. There are no definite endings and characters cannot be labeled as good or bad.

Even if you are a fan of mainstream bubblegum Bollywood, this movie deserves a dekko for the performances alone. Kay Kay has never shone brighter, Abhimanyu Singh leaps ahead of the pack and the Raj Singh shows a lot of promise.

I like my share of masala ficks, but this isn't Bollywood...this is Indian Cinema at its best....a must watch