Gulaal: New Indian Cinema at Its Angst-ridden Best review
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Provocative, evocative, violent, aggressive, poetic, commentative, powerful - prefix whatever adjective you will. Gulaal is all this, and much more. Gulaal is new Indian cinema at its angst-ridden best. It is the full-blown emergence of one of Indian cinema's most-original voices in recent years, who goes by the name of Anurag Kashyap.
Gulaal in Kashyap's film has nothing to do with the Indian festival of colour, Holi, or the colours that one plays with in the festival. Here it symbolises blood - blood that signifies relationships, betrayal, loyalty, patriotism, and many other hues of life itself.
The film may be set in the fictional Rajpur town of modern-day Rajasthan with intertwined stories of student politics, a surretitiously-taking-shape local rebellion and love taking it forward. But Kashyap's deft layering has converted into a comment on quite a few things going on around the world, and Piyush Mishra's brilliant poetry (lyrics, if you want to call it, but one rarely has heard such evocative and powerful poetry in the shape of songs or otherwise within one single Indian film) has taken it to a surreal level.
In making since 2001 and delayed by repeated financial constraints, Gulal apparently was written by Kashyap when he was facing a big low, with his debut film Paanch stuck with the censors. And apparently the whole screenplay was carved out of Saheer Ludhianvi's immortal line "Yeh Mehlon, Yeh Takhton, Yeh Taajon Ki Duniya..Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jayen To Kya Hai" from Guru Dutt's Pyasa. Not surprisingly, Mishra's poetry - be it in the form of songs or recited by the character played by him of a on-the-brink-of-mental-
Dileep Singh, an unlikely Rajput who does not sport a proud moustache but sports a thick, studious pair of spectacles is also an unlikely hero for a Hindi film. Played with great aplomb by young Raj Singh Chaudhary, Dileep is an idealistic man who gets caught in the vortex of student politics and much more, as he gets sucked into the world of Rananjoy (Abhimanyu Singh), Dukkey Bana, an autocratic local Rajput leader who is leading a planned armed movement to reclaim Rajputana for Rajputs (Kay Kay Menon), a brother-sister couple, the illegitimate children of an erstwhile Rajput king who are seething at their bastard status (Aditya Srivastava, Ayesha Mohan) and Anuja, a young teacher who becomes a social misfit in college after a particular incident inflicted upon her by college hooligans (Jesse Randhawa). People would definitely rave over Kay Kay's usual fire-and-brimstone performance, but the real showstealers in Gulaal are Raja Chaudhary, Abhimanyu Singh, Piyush Mishra, Deepak Dobriyal (as Bhati, the loyal assistant to Dukkey Bana, in what would have been one of this brillaint actor's initial releases if the film had got completed on time) and Mahie Gill (the Paro from Dev.D is Madhuri the mujra girl-cum-beauty parlour owner here) - they extra-shine amidst some uniformly-competent acting.
The film has taken eight years to see the light of the day, but it does not look dated at all. In fact, the subject is as relevant as ever, and Kashyap's film would count among the best in the genre, Sudhir Mishra's Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi and Ketan Mehta's Holi included. Kashyap's dig at the system is all-pervasive in the film - Piyush Mishra's poetry embellishes that, but even in small, small imageries, the sardonic and satiristic mood spills over - you have intoxicants names as imaginatively as the "Democracy Beer" ("for the powerful people, of the powerful people, by the powerful people", says a publicity poster for the product in the film), "Constitution Whiskey", "Put-in Vodka" and various other varieties named Capitalism, Colonial, et al.
Almost like a Shakespearan fable, Gulaal is a combination of myriad emotions - loss of innocence, love, desire, identity, deceit, violence....the film has some innovative music by Piyush Mishra, whose presence as an actor, a music director, a singer and a lyricist takes it to another level. The cinematography by Rajeev Ravi has added another lustre to the film, as it captures the ruggedness of Rajasthan suiting the relentlessly-harsh mood of the film. And even though one would expect a film of such a dense subject to be of less than two hours in length, editor Aarti Bajaj lets it creep to nearly two-and-a-half hours. To her credit - and to the screenplay writers' (Kashyap and Raja Choudhury) - you hardly feel it.
As the film's tag line says, it's all about "Love...Power....Revolution". Gulaal is a scorcher, and nothing less. If Dev.D showed the courage in a filmmaker to take a much-used story and turn it around completely to devastating effect, Gulaal is a much deeper study about the notion of democracy, the notion of relationships and the notion of loyalty.
PS: Cuss words flow like water in this film, and after Omkara, the Central Board of Film Certification - the ‘˜Censor Board', that had for long refused to clear Paanch before the courts stepped in - sure has again shown signs of increasing maturity by not asking for their deletion, as the setting of the story very well justifies the use of such language.
Comments( 14 )
First thing to do this week, been
First thing to do this week, been waiting for it for last 5 weeks since Dev.D left me in a hangover
Is this a review? An article? Or a
Is this a review? An article? Or a press release?
@ Ebrahim Kabir: It's a review...didn't
@ Ebrahim Kabir: It's a review...didn't it read like one? Yes, on the Net, one tends to give more details in the form of background, simply because there is no space constraints unlike print media. Why should I write a press release? I am no spokesman for the film, and Dearcinema is not a forum for press release postings. How should a review read like? Is there any standardised template for that? Please enlighten....
yes Ebrahim, it seems you've a lot of
yes Ebrahim, it seems you've a lot of enlightenment to offer, especially when it comes to Anurag Kashyap films. Please do help us learn and prescribe how a review should read.
Greet, you people seeking
Greet, you people seeking enlightenment. I asked a question, and know you want me to offer sermons like Buddha. But more than sermons, I like questions...
Let's look at Mr Borpujari, title " it says " New Indian Cinema at its Angst Ridden best" "
Would he enlighten us what exactly does the phrase imply? And in which context? Story, Acting, directing, cinematography or all three as a " new cinematic expression" does this movie reach?
And if it does break some " new" mould. I would be glad if he could explain it in details with supported evidences.
As per the review writing? Mr Borpujari review is less of a review and more of recounting the plot details. Which any tom, dick and haary could write. Is this the standard of a cinema writing we have in a country from members of FIPRESCI?
What does the reviewer mean?
" Brillaint cinematography"
" Innovative music"
As for how one should write a review? I'm too naive to answer this, after all, I'm not a" critic". But if you want to go for examples. I suggest start with Dasgupta or Maithali Rao in India. Even Jugu and your DVD reivew are way better. Atleast they help you see.
As for aborad.. too many examples. I guess u start with few FIPRESCI critic like Adrian Martin or Chris Fujiwara.
Who is Dasgupta? I know only one
Who is Dasgupta? I know only one Dasgupta in this context... but he is long dead as a reviewer (the person is somehow alive with Alzheimer's. Ray was a good critic. But, a critic is not reviewer, of course he can write a review. Nobody will stop him. But, the points raised are certaily important. Just few days ago, you remember Bikas, I was asking you exactly what is a review? And can you really review a film before it is released? Can or should you talk about the look a film got because it was shot on Reala 500D, undered by 1 stop n a half and then pushed that much, and finally printed on 2393 print stock normally.
Or can you talk about the fast paced edit in the beginning that gave it a look of thriller but at the same time implementing a tonal montage through the choice of elements in the frame or the overall design of the frame.
Or can we talk about the intertextualities or the politics of the narrative if we have no idea about the plot structure? Will that carry any meaning to the prospective reader who has had no chance of watching the film?
This list can grow infinitely. But, the point is what is a review? Is it possible to write a review before a film is released?
PS. Such reviews are written. I've myself written some such things here and elsewhere. But, that's not a point. You can commit a murder, but that does not stop you from asking whether killing people is right or wrong.
Dear Friends, We shall be grateful
Dear Friends,
We shall be grateful if you don't attempt to hijack the discussion.
This place is meant for discussing Gulaal and I'll appreciate if we discuss only that.
You're most welcome to disagree or agree or look for faults in Utpal's review but you neither have the aptitute nor the authority to pass verdicts such as "Is this the standard of a cinema writing we have in a country from members of FIPRESCI?". Please keep such questions for FIPRESCI meetings.
Please, lets discuss the film and the review, nothing less nothing more. Please oblige.
Sanyukta If I'm permitted, I'd like
Sanyukta
If I'm permitted, I'd like to say that nothing can be discussed in isolation. But, of course, a focus is always there. But, it is always interesting when the focal point gives away to some peripheral interests. We can always come back to the focus. Can't we?
Can a film, or a review, or anything be discussed in isolation? Is that at all possible? That's a topic that has been covered long ago by philosophers and theorists. But, here when it has been raised by a serious DC reader, we can start a series on that. The question is important. When I studied literature as an academic discipline back in the nineties, the classes began with an intrinsic and an extrinsic approach to studying literature. But, the intrinsic approach was always a myth. It never existed.
Anyway, a new write up for that. The ways cinema can talked and written about.
@Mr Kabir: Well, the 'angst' that the
@Mr Kabir: Well, the 'angst' that the title of my review talks about is apparent most prominently in the lyrics / poetry of Piyush Mishra, about which I have written in some detail. Yes, I have given some character traits and thematic backdrop, but that's not the plot details. I never said "brilliant" cinematography, and about the "innovative music", well it's there for all of us to listen. I think it is, because of the use of folkish and traditional forms to match the backdrop. I would be thankful if you say why you don't find the music innovative, if you don't.
I am sorry to disappoint you for my lack of standard in writing. But please don't insult greats like (Chidananda, I guess?) Dasgupta, Maithili Rao, Jugu Abraham, Adrian Martin, Fujiwara by even mentioning their names to comment on my writing. I am just a passionate lover of cinema, nothing more. I am sure you can send a note to FIPRESCI on how disappointing its members have been for you. But then, can you have uniformly brilliant standards achieved by all members of any professional organisation? I can only assure you that I will try to come up to the standards expected by you.
@Anirban: I get the drift of your question, posed in your very interesting comment : " Is it possible to write a review before a film is released?" I think it is the same query in his mind that prompted Mr Kabir to ask if my review was a 'press release'!
For your kind information, there was a screening of Gulaal on Monday (9th March) in Delhi, the sort of which are organised for the media prior to a film's release. If you are wondering why I have written this before the release when others haven't, well I cannot answer this, except giving you the plausible reason that newspapers have specific days in the week earmarked for film reviews to appear. Prior to my review, another review has appeared though, on ET online. I am sure you have seen that too. I am not of the ilk who write 'reviews' without watching a film. Just wanted to know: if it will be right to write a review of Little Zizou, which is getting released on the 13th of March, now? I had got a chance to watch the film way back in November, 08, at the last IFFI. I think this will help me in dispelling any 'doubts' whatsoever in your mind about my professional ethics.
And yes, thanks for raising various points that could come up in a review. I feel it will always vary from critic to critic - on what he or she focuses on a particular film. Depends on how you view a film - for its subject, for its technical aspects, or as a combination of both. To add to your comments, I might add - can a poorly-off filmmaker making a film in a non-descript tribal language in North-East India be crucified if his film lacks in high technical standards but has very strong content? Ideally, it would be no excuse to have poor technical standards, but if we know the backdrop of the film's making, it always helps in forming an opinion. In such a case, I would always seek to find the content and the treatment of the subject, and not how the film was processed and so on. That's what I tried to briefly mention in my piece - how and why the film took so many years to make.
As Sanyukta has said, let's discuss the film, instead of trying to set standards. After all, standards can and will vary, and people who are accustomed to the best, will continue to get disappointed by mediocre writers like me.
Yes Anirban, we can always come back to
Yes Anirban, we can always come back to the focus of the post, but peripherals are always welcome. And yes, nothing can be discussed in isolation, including films. completely agree on that.
Hi Utpal, Really admire your dignified
Hi Utpal,
Really admire your dignified response to what was nothing short of a calculated personal attack. Luckily the discussion has stayed on Gulaal and not being hijacked to some vague "standard of reviewing" debate.
I agree with much of what you have said. Gulaal is a captivating movie and its also a simple story told in a unpredictable and stylised manner. But somewhere I also felt the director was also going in for shortcuts (to success) by enhancing the "shock" quotient and too much forced intertextuality with other cinematic works, poetry, street theatre etc etc. In that sense Im not sure whether he has really succeeded in pushing the envelope..still a gripping two and a half hours.
Outstanding review Utpal. I feel like
Outstanding review Utpal. I feel like watching the film 1st day 1st show now. And btw ignore Ebrahim Kabir because he is Khalid Mohamed in disguise :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Anyone who cannot understand the angst
Anyone who cannot understand the angst part of it, need only to go and listen to the "Aarambh hai Prachand" in full.
I read and then I watched. And the word
I read and then I watched. And the word “angst†clawed my mind through the entire 2 and half hours. What angst? Whose angst? It was like watching Dev D all over again with all issues of power, revolution, politics, ideology, et al. subverted to the personal sexual pathos of an individual in the classic melodramatic trope. And it is individuals reigning supreme all through. where is the conflict any way… a tussle of individual cravings for power, money or sex which fits to the “depoliticization†routine of the mainstream media and our contemporary intellectuals to the brims. Individual pathos, fine, but Mr. Kashyap is a miserable failure as far as depiction of politics or revolution or political commentary is concerned; what more proof than the cliched coinages of “Democracy Beer†and Constitution Whatever. The director is so caught up in his trying to cut out a directorial style niche of his own, i wonder how many more depictions of Dev D’s we may have to watch over the years.