pottermaniac_16

A dream to turn Rajasthan into a titular sovereign, Rajputana for the Rajputs, the labyrinthine interplay of politics and the intricacy of emotions and pretension that all come so naturally in the apparent calm but yet turbulent scenario and the quintessential representative of the bourgeois who gets sucked into the whirlpool of these muddy affairs form the thematic thread of Anurag Kashyap's Gulaal, arguably his best film.

A John Lenon worshiper who sings for and about the greatest Hell(o) (T)here(Piyush Mishra), an exploited Lady Macbeth(Ayesha Mohan) and her brother tugging at the puppet's strings(Aditya Srivastava), Shelley's (To The) Moon who teaches Nihilism(Jesse Randhawa), a King Edward who is not interested in becoming one yet living like one(Abhimanyu Singh) form the psychedelic collage around the two pivots in the scenario-the spineless bourgeois(Raja Chaudhury) and the big fish(Kay Kay Menon).

It does not have a helluva plot. Had the treatment gone wrong, it would appear as clichéd as it can be. But the craft is amazing. Every frame is just perfect. I maybe woefully ignorant, but I have never seen such amazing character lighting in any mainstream Indian film. Sample this, the King lounging, and the frame is lighted with a warm halogen glow, as soon as he hears of his son's death, the lighting changes to an intense red. So much said, yet so simply. The art direction is par excellence. Don't miss the Neon lights outside Raja Chaudhury's room as he is about to enter with Ayesha Menon to make out, the lights resemble the yin-yan symbol. Or the neons infront of Che Guevara's picture that resemble a motorcycle. The alcohol brands are named Democracy, Republican, Capitalism, et al………Wasiq Khan….take a bow.

Coming to music, the lovely rustic charm of the tunes is not the only thing that lingers with you, but the masterful words that accompany the compositions. Sung and composed by Piyush Mishra, I could not believe

it's the same person who wrote Ghajini. And what an actor! He has the best lines and the most significant scenes. One of the most dramatic scenes, where he had smeared the red gulaal on his face and asks if people could recognize him or not. When he gets the obvious answer, he demands to know what was the logic of smearing gulaal to hide one's identity in the revolutionary meetings. Instead he suggested to wear a monkey-mask. The context and relevance is just wonderfully conveyed. Or the scene where Kay Kay dies in his arms. The misunderstood genius, the confused psyche, the conventional crackpot…..all summed and molded into one character…..it will be criminal to regard only the aspects the this character has to offer to the narrative…….but I can only stammer my praise. Prithvi Bana's character is so……I don't know what word to use……..I can write a whole post in deconstructing that particular characterization.

Kay Kay is outstanding as usual. Jesse Randhawa and Ayesha Mohan are phenomenal. Raja Chaudhary, Abhimanyu Singh, Aditya Srivastava play their parts well. But one must mention Mahie Gill. I have not seen Dev.D as yet, but I must say, in her almost blink-and-miss yet important role as a foil to other characters and as a catalyst to the drama, she is simply outstanding.

This film is just too good. The amount of stuff that has been crammed in is damn commendable. Bloody brilliant!

It is inevitable to bring in the reference of Sudhir Mishra's previous film,"Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi" , when one sits to ponder over KKC's relevance today. Like his previous film, KKC is also set in a bygone era, a time that boasts of being the "golden" age of Indian cinema, HKA was based set in the most turbulent times of Indian politics(well...it's turbulent now too), but both films have struck the right chord as today's audience could identify themselves with those in the films.

Coming to Khoya Khoya Chand....whatever I had gathered from the trailers and reviews of the movie....everything was very discouraging. But after I saw the movie ,I did not get up from my seat for a good few minutes.I agree with most people , who have taken it to be their sole ambition to slander the movie and the filmmaker, that the story has been told many a times before....but I doubt whether it had received such a palpable treatment.

Sudhir Mishra should be solely championed because of the characterization of Zaffar, Nikhat ,Ratanbala ,Shyamol ,Noni Ganguly....But I guess the best one's that of Prem Kumar's. With a stroke of artistic brilliance, Mishra has asserted the fact that, nobody wants to harm anybody-they just want to pursue their own interests, but if you stand in their way, well only a few would spare you to be busted out. That's how the world rotates on give-and-take policy.

The director creates many cinematic moments and the language of the camera is impeccable. The performance are flawless ,to say the least , and every actor- be it the main leads or the supporting cast ,they have done a brilliant job. The scene in which Prem Kumar's engagement is announced , the broken,cheated look on Nikhat and the compassionate look on Ratanbala , who too has been cheated, superbly portrayed by Soha Ali Khan and Sonya Jehan.The flashback scenes of Zaffer's troubled life in Lucknow, the look of shock and despair on Zaffer's face when he returns from London, only to know that His beau Nikhat was married to his best friend as she needed support in the brink of her downfall, Zaffer's father praying for forgiveness , Zaffer caught by Nikhat making love to Ratanbala and the look on their faces, the drunken brawl of Zaffer with Nonida.....I can go on and on and on.

Rajat Kapoor is marvelous as the talented,charming,sly, opportunist, compassionate , wicked(yes , he is the most humane of all characters, neither fully good nor fully bad)superstar and Sonya Jehan is a good find of Mishra's(she only did a "Taj Mahal" before)as the seductive , fussy, actress, cheated again and again in love. Her portrayal of Ratanbala reminded me of the penpicture of the lonely moon in Shelley's "To the Moon",filled with a sense of nihilism. She is the Khoya Khoya Chand in my opinion. Soha has delivered her best performance till date and Shiny like always delivers this time too.Sushmita Mukherjee, Saurabh Shukla and the actor playing Nonida,do justice to their characters but kudos to Vinay Pathak's Shyamol,Zaffer's friend , repenting every moment of his marriage to Nikhat and to see her suffer.Superb.

The impact of the film keeps haunting you for quite sometime. The music resonates in your memory long after you have actually ceased to hear it.And you can still hear someone saying,"Zaffer, Ab To Mauff Kar De Yaar"(forgive me now at least) or "Pata Hain Tum Apne Bap Se Itni Nafrat Kyun Karte Hon??Kyunki Tum Jab Bhi Apne Andar Jhankte Hon To Unhi Kon Paatein Hon"(do you know why do you hate your father so much?because whenever you reflect upon yourself, you find him)

Superbly written and conceived. It's a story with a difference. Perhaps Bollywood's first take on the twin-taboos of homosexuality and AIDS. We had had films on AIDS before but still MBN stands out.Gay relationships were always a matter of ridicule in Bollywood. This is perhaps the first Bolly flick the looks upon such palpable emotions with so much respect.

This is the story of a man who falls from social grace and ostracized. This story portrays how the closest to us can backstab us at the time of crisis. This is also the story of a sister's unconditional love for her brother.

Purab, the film belongs to you. He is in complete ease with the camera; he portrayed the character of Nigel perfectly.Sanjay & Juhi were great too.

Last but not the least, Onir, just keep up the good work. Looking forward to see more of you.